Savage shifting with BL motor.
 

I see that many people lock there transmissions in a gear. Why is this? I would like to hear it shift cause i think it is cool. but i dont want to screw anything up . I had my transmission set while it was nitro and now that i dropped a BL motor in it doesnt seem to shift. I will adjust it to shift if i hear it is okay to do so. So again what is the reasoning for locking your transmission in a gear? Can i adjust mine so it shifts with out hurting components?

Main reason for locking a 2 speed in one gear is to eliminate the one way bearing and use the motor brakes. If you do not mind mech brakes you can leave the 2 speed. My savage has that setup and it works fine for me. I did some adjustment to get it shifting at the correct time. I think I raised the shift point, so it would stay in 1st longer.

K thank you now i realize the point of it. Yeah i use the mechanical brakes so i will just make adjustments to make it shift. It is the 3 speed too so that is why i really want to use it instead of locking it in.

Another advantage to locking into a single gear is that you get reverse as well.

Well i have the reverse module too. But i dont know i might still lock it because i do like the idea of reverse without the module and motor brakes. Ill try both and see what i like better.

Well, getting rid of reverse/first gears (and OWB) from the tranny, servos, and associated linkages/parts can reduce weight quite a bit. Not to mention a much simpler setup.

Yeah i am leaning towards that direction now. Should i lock it into third and run shorter gearing?? I have the 3 speed and want all the top end i can get. I have a 16t pinion and it still is way to powerfull and would like to get more top end.

The only thing I would be leary of is going too far in the top end because at some point, you're gonna start to get cogging.

hi

our experience with a modded 2speed in a BL savage are not very good. we only bash and very rarely drive on a track or tracklike environment.
we had problems with breaking gears and bearings in the gearbox repeatedly.
i can hardly imagine a smooth shifting without a clutch taking away the immediate power and/or a quite torqueless bl motor. but it seems to work out well for some few guys.
i fix the gearbox in first gear with such a shaft. there are plenty of gearing options playing with the spur and pinion.

http://www.jaeser.org/~beat/images/1.../fourpins5.jpg

bye
rhylsadar

The two speed has been working fine for me, but I do run the slipper a little looser than full tight. It shifts better than my revo, that is for sure!

Well i dont see how a BL motor would be any different than the nitro other than torque. It is not like the nitro engine stops spinning when it shifts and the clutch is still engaged when it shifts. I could lock it to save weight and simplicity of the setup but my truck is stupid heavy as it is but i do not race just bash around. Figure i can get a sweet bl buggy to race! OR Better yet maybe a kyosho St-rr. Any way not sure what i am going to keep it at. I know how it behaves with mechanical brakes so i will lock it and see how that goes. The better one will win.

Wasn't Mike going to come out with a Savage slipperential?

It's really the torque curve vs rpm. Nitro engines have low power at low rpm, which BL has high power at all rpms. Naturally, when a tranny shifts up, the rpms drop. In a nitro setup, the lower rpms results in lower force on the gears. In a BL setup, the torque actually is higher because more current is being drawn to drive a taller gearing (torque is proportional to amperage). That high force "snap" during shifting is what causes the breakage.

Okay that really helped out. to be honest i think i will just lock the tranny up to avoid all of theses potential issues. I really cant even think of a con of locking it up. Other than no cool shifting sound but that was mainly the nitro engine anyway. Thanks for all the help everyone. I now understand.

Alright i searched this forum up and down on how to lock the tranny in second. I found how to keep it in second but still wont have reverse or motor brakes due to the one way bearing in the tranny. Any ideas??

Until someone with Savage experience chimes in, I would say you have to find a way to secure the centrifugal clutch to second gear, similar to how the Revo tranny is done. You should try a few ideas and then post the one that works (and least expensive). :smile:

Sounds good to me. I will play with it tonight and see what i come up with. Will post my findings when i figure it all out.

I had come up with two ideas for the Revo. V1 lasted about 2-3 runs. V2 is still working. Just consider yourself in the R&D stage of development. :smile:

The only thing i would like to accomplish is that the mod is not permanent. That way if i ever need the 3 gears i can still use it. And not to mention i only have the 3 speed and it would be a waste of money if i couldnt EVER use it that way again.

Well, that might be difficult. Clutches don't have a lot of spare material that you can modify and still allow it to work if you decide to. But, you could always pick up a spare clutch/second gear and put it in a ziplock bag with all the other unneeded gears/parts you pulled out as a result of the mod. Most likely, once you get used to the simplicity of fewer parts to break and having brake/reverse, you'll probably never want to go back unless you decide to make it a high speed only vehicle where all the gearing is needed.

I think I've thought about retaining the two speed on my Revo twice and quickly changed my mind. Wasn't worth it for what is gained.

Well i was thinking more along the lines of if i ever had to sell it. Would bring a little more value if it was actually a 3 speed and not modded. but like you said i can always get the 2nd gear stuff as extras to replace it back to stock. I really dont see me selling any of this but you never know i guess. I have had 3 savages. I sell them cause im bored than buy another cause i want one again. this last time was to convert it to BL though. I do the same with the kyosho st-r. Have had 4 different ones. Gonna get a 5th to convert that to BL.

Okay i think i got it. I took the tranny apart and took of the 1st and 3rd gear. I took the 2nd gear clutch and took the grub screw out that adjust the clutch sensitivity. I then held the clutch open and soldered it. I then put the clutch back in the gear and soldered it all the way around and held it to the gear. So far it has worked great. If it doesn't hold i will tact weld the clutch to the gear. Problem i have now though is my motor is very hot after a run. But just the motor. According to the rule of thumb i am under geared. But i am already at 16/47. I know the motor will run hotter because of the motor brakes but i am just worried about smoking the motor. I will have to get exact temps, just have to find my telemetry for my nomadio.

Cool. I'm curious to see how well the solder holds up. Is it the typical lead/tin type? If that starts bending too much (solder tends to be kinda soft), maybe JBWeld can be the next step. I tried something similar with my Revo tranny (mod V1) except with epoxy since the gears are plastic. It didn't hold up, but then again, it was epoxy, not metal. Be careful when welding since the heat may make the gears more brittle.

The rule of thumb usually holds true, but if increasing your gearing isn't helping, try reducing the gearing instead.

I haven't played with the gearing yet. I loaded a whole bunch of solder in there so i am not sure how long it will hold. Like you said it is soft. Didn't really expect a whole lot just a test to see how well this setup would work and i like it. But if it holds like this i am going to leave it. Once this is all said and done i will do a write up of how to lock it in 2nd. The motor brakes are great, and the speed is incredible. And now i need taller gearing which will make it faster, :gasp:.

I think you can loosen or tighten the shift point screw to a point where it stays in top gear and doesn't shift back down. I haven't tried it yet, I am waiting for the mmm combo. With this, I dont think you will have motor brakes though.

I am wondering, when the motor brakes or coasts, does it act as a generator and put electricity back into the batteries? That may be a good reason to lock the tranny. I still have mechanical brakes, so this would be another reason to lock the tranny. Would it be too difficult to make your own tranny?

Well i am not sure if it puts energy back in the batteries or not. But the one less servo will save power and weight. Also the motor brakes are amazing. You could seriously get going good and slam the brakes and make it do a forward flip. Not recommending it but you could. So far i like the locking option better.

I have dual metal brakes and I can easily do a frontflip as it is.:wink: I dont need more braking power at all. I have the stock steering servo. It may have helped a lot that I modded my brake lever like this.

The slipperential would solve all these problems. I wrote Mike about it twice now and received no reply.