Savage or Emaxx?
 

Hi guys, I have a question for you. Purely for bashing, doing silly jumps and in general messing about, would you rather have a Savage, or an Emaxx? The Savage would be a stock Savage 25 converted to brushless, the Emaxx more extensively hopped up - FLM bulks, RPM arms, center dogbones, cvds on corners, alloy hubs, strobe slipper, Tmaxx 3.3 chassis, Integy shocks with UE springs, UE 8 spyder diffs.

For what reason would you choose the vehicle you did? I know the Emaxx has more fancy bits on, but ultimately if the Savage as near stock could match the durability of a hopped up Emaxx, I could make a bit of money back off the Maxx and channel it into other things. I would probably go with the Kershaw designs conversion on the Savage as the motor plate required is more complex than what I can do with the tools to hand. The powerplant is a 9920 with Feigao 9XL and RCM clamp, on 12-14 cells normally, but I do on occation run 20 cells.

Thanks.

well i would go for the savage if your keeping it stock, and getting brushless,
for the e-maxx you can do many different things other then bashing but it will cost to mutch in the end, but if you do choose the e-maxx dont get the integy mrs4 shocks. would rather get some pl power strokes or 8 ue.
dude for the money difference go for the savage.

Thanks for the input. Just to clarify, I already have the Emaxx and the Savage, along with the powerplant. I made so much money back off the Savage bits I won't be needing like the engine, exhaust, radio etc that the car was free in the end.

If I go with the Savage, I would like to keep it as stock as possible, which is why I'd like to know which car you guys think would be the more durable - mostly stock Savage or pretty hopped up Emaxx? Better design and stock materials vs aftermarket alloy and nylon. The Savage is a bit bigger which is in its favor, but the Emaxx I've had working the last few months pretty good.

cant decide eh?? i've seen the rc-monster brushless open and theres one big jump gap and those e-maxxes take a large beating when landing. if you are willing to spend and go wild go with the e-maxx.

right now the slipperencial is being produced by rcm mike so thers a top notch mod 1 gearing setup. only fits the g-maxx chassis though. that might be some thing to highly consider.

Really can't decide. Spend the last 2 weeks trying to..*bangs head against wall*

If I stuck with my Emaxx its doubtful I'll be spending much more money on it than what I have already (the hopups I listed in the 1st post are already fitted).

I have read a couple of things about the slipperencial, sounds good, but unless its priced rather well I'd stick with my strobe mod1 setup. The Savage uses mod1 as standard so my existing pinions should work fine.

i would go with the savage and you can still get some flm parts for it. its durable as it is.

I vote Savage also. There is still something a little more ''special'' about a Brushless Savage vs Brushles E-Maxx. The emaxxs seem to be a dime a dozen now days. While the Brushless Savages are getting more, they are just not as run of the mill as the E-Maxx. IMO

Mike L -Ummm, the brushless open eh? I raced in that. The only reason my maxx took a beating was because i didn't know how to take the jump(didn't control it in the air and didn't practice). Also, with the beating it took, i didn't break one thing, except my electronics. The savages barely made that jump.....also, what do you think Mike ran? He made that jump no problem, everytime. The Maxx had NO PROBLEM with that jump! Half of jumping is the driving!!!! Also, the savage is stronger, but it can't fly!!! Also, the maxx is more versatile with what you can do to it. You can build it to more your liking. IMHO!! Again, i will say....the maxx did not have a problem! It was the driver if anything! Ask anyone who owns an emaxx....

From the few times I've had the chance to take my Maxx over a good sized jump I know its pretty good in the air if the launch is good. Never jumped it higher than 4ft or so yet though as my ramps not steep enough and its not seen a BMX track yet.

Whats a Savage jump like? I've seen some people jump and royally screw it up before (engine mounts ripped from the engine, needed welding back), but the car drives away okay. Never driven one much so don't know how responsive it is in the air etc.

Well, jsut by what i saw at the bash, they jump like tanks on huge jumps, but do very well on smaller jumps. Not very nuch experience but have seen many videos of the two in comparison. I think the savage would jump well if set up for it. Could probably handle it too. I won't knock the savage because it's a good truck and strong, but i drive my maxx and it takes a good beating the way i have it set up, plus it flies well too. So, the choice i think would come down to straight out strength....

I can give you a few good reasons for getting a savage for bashing. In stock form, it preforms more than good.

you only need two aluminum diff housings and hotbodies C8019 cups. the housings are 20-25 dollars each, from GPM. with proper shimming you have got bulletproof diffs.

It comes with a MOD1 spur. A camshaft type of servo saver is cheap to lay hands on (6-8 bucks on ebay, from the K4,6)

the stock plastic shocks are tough. everything is tough on that truck to tell you the truth.. (exept for the diffs and the centershafts) with these items replaced, you have got a tough as nails basher, which takes high jumps like nothing else.

The 6spider diffs are stronger than the UE 6 spiders, if you built them like i discribed.

For bashing i would use 14 cells and the 2speed transmission.

feel free to sniff around on my site perhaps it's usefull for you.

here is a movie of my way too heavy savage jumping.. with bashing keep away from the variaty of aluminum parts available. It gains weight which is harder on the parts. Platic bends back, aluminum doesn't.

The savage takes a little control in the air.
If you get the longer flm extended chassis. it flies much nicer.
Racing I think the emaxx has an advantage.
Bashing I think the savage is tougher.
If I was going to do another truck again. I wouldn't do either.
I like the monster gt by associated.

Very nice Savage. Never have seen one fly like that! Very cool...I likes!

Thanks!

You can built up a savage fair easy. I made several motormounts for it, and they are easy to make.
My new project will be a lightweight savage. I like lightweight trucks..

Yeah, i jsut weighed my gmaxx the other night without the batts, and it's(not very accurate scale i know) about 9lbs, just under. with batts 16 cells its at about 11lbs or so. i need a better scale, but that's not bad at all.

LeRoy,

Explain this. Why would you choose the MGT?

You don't want to bash it. A savage has another advantage over the e-maxx. M4 screws and 4mm hingepins

Wow, thanks for all the responses. I think I'm going to go with the Savage, and part out my Emaxx.

What do you guys think the weight difference would be? My Emaxx RTR is 11.6lbs. Haven't got a clue what the Savage will be.

Serum, thanks very much for the advice. I have the 2 speed, and I think it may already have the cam-type steering. I'll get the diff housings and cups asap. I won't be purchasing any un-necessary alloy bits for it, don't see the point in them.

Are these the diff cases your referring to?

Your collection of Savages is very impressive, I love the motor mount on your bashing one. Is there any chance you could make one to sell to me? Or even a regular one that isn't so fancy :) So far I'm looking at this conversion, but it leaves the motors up high, and I'm concerned the plate might bend because of that. I can create the battery trays out my Emaxx chassis if I need to. I don't really want to pay $80 for basically a motor plate and a pinion.

What sort of gearing do you think I might need with my 9XL on 14 cells? Currently I only have 2x 18t and 2x 20t mod1 pinions. From the normal clutchbell sizes I think this might be too high?

Thanks for all the input guys, its really appreciated.

Serum - I'm going with racing it, but i do bash it actually! LOL, it does pretty good if i jack the stance up a tad!! I mostly run high speed though in a football field. By the time i get done, the field looks like it just got played on!
Anyway, depending on the spur gear the savage has, i think those would be fine on 14 cells. the 20 may a bit high though.

You have got a 51T spur i pressume (comes with the .21's and the .25's)

these are the housings i was talking about. if you insist on getting aluminum cups too, get them from 7075 aluminum. The C8019 is tough as nails. (for only 5-6 bucks each)

About gearing;

this might be usefull. Use 1- 1.1V per cell and the wanderer kv-charts to do the math with and you will be pretty close..

For racing with a savage, you are better of with UE shocks and a buggy kind of shocktower.

I didn't know the UE's would fit properly on a savage, that's interesting! But i suppose with the towers, would work great.

with the right tower, yes.

The Excel sheet is exactly what I was hoping for, but could never find. Thanks :)

I'll get some of those housings you linked to. Is there a guide on how to shim the Savage diffs somewhere? I'll pick up the hotbodies parts as well, are they a direct fit?

If I run 20/49 on 14 cells, the truck should be topping out around 40mph. Sounds good, but does it sound realistic? I was running 20/51 on my Emaxx with no problems heat wise. The transmission on my Savage spins very free compared to my Emaxx. Hopefully the runtimes will be similar.

Are the stock shocks much good? Do you think it be possible to move my Integy Maxx shocks over to it with a different shock tower? I quite like these shocks, not had a problem with them.

You might want to try some LST shocks.

savage all the way, it is a tank of a basher. jump, flip, crash and it will still be going

I would go for the Maxx to be honest. Or keep both....

No pratical reason to keep both, I only race occationally and mostly bash. The 2nd vehicle would always be a bit redundant.

Thanks to an enlightening discussion with a member here I remebered I still have a "Cold fusion" universal motor plate. Looks like I can mount it to the purple nitro motor plate, and if I switch to a 47t spur, I can just barely run 18/47. Which on 14 cells gives 35mph in 2nd. A bit more would be nice but I can't find a smaller spur, so it'll do for now :)

Wonder if it'll be strong enough. I hope so, I have an emaxx chassis to rip apart for the battery trays..thats all I need to do for my conversion?

Just take stock U profile aluminium, padded with foam, held in place by velcro, it works like a charm. If you use two aluminum instead of plastic braces that hold the skids to the TVP's you can use that to mount the U-profiles on.

If you bash most of the time, then you're maybe better off with the savage. But the maxx is just easier cuz there are more options out there. It's really up to you...but i do agree with Squee

What more options do you need? the savage has quite a few..

For me? LOTS! All I'm saying is the emaxx is way more versatile in this area. You don't NEED many options, but it's always nice...

My maxx have been completely upgraded... my savage is still stock and still kicking *ss... I vote for the savage... IMO i think it's the toughest MT... I have a savage, MGT, 2 LSTs, and an E-Maxx.... I stick to my e-maxx because of all the money I invested in SuperMaxx gears.. My savage haven't broken anything Major, yet..

These trucks are hard to compare, they are both different and both have pros and cons. It's what you go with and enjoy. It's always good convo though for the opinions on these two. If i had the money, i would get both and use accordingly....LOL, that would be fun in it's own!

I enjoy seeing everyones different view point on this, and am glad it hasn't turned into a bit of a flamewar like car vs car threads often do on other forums. Lots of helpful info has come from this :)

I agree an Emaxx is more versitile, and I'm fairly certain its more adjustable (as stock you can't adjust camber, or caster, with the savage? And a lot less shock options). I had brief thoughts of trying to make it more ideal for use on a beach and keeping it (but selling off all the expensive bits) just for that. Mostly becuase I live only 10-15 miles from loads of good beaches, and the UK's biggest mass of sanddunes. But..with a bit of clingfilm and careful air cooling, the Savage should be good on a beach anyway? My Emaxx sure is (although I fear for the 9920 when the car gets a bit wet). Only harm it ever did my Emaxx was surface rust on my diff outdrives, center dogbones, and 2 crap bearings went pop.

Serum, I'd always be concerned for my batteries with it setup like that. I don't heatshrink them as I use a discharge try after every 2-3 runs to keep them balanced, so I'm concerned they'd be too easy to accidently short?

Sorry for the double post, but I am curious, if I was to purchase 2 of these, would I be able to use my Integy Maxx shocks? Would I loose any suspension travel?

That would work I do believe. I think if you only bash, the Savage is a good choose. It actually got me thinking about getting a Savy to bash...Hmm...Anywho, don't use the Maxx trays. Get the Twin Force trays from Mike.

I'm dead set on the Savage now, it sounds like a much better basher than my Emaxx could be.

I couldn't find a link to the twin force trays on the site, do you have a link?

Whats the difference between the Twin force ones, and an emaxx chassis cut into trays? I already have TC3 trays from a previous project, might use them. They're designed for 7 cells. Hmm. They're graphite as well so fairly light.

Motor mount is in..18/49 (whats on there now) is a a tiny bit tight on the mesh, so I ordered a 47t spur. It seems fairly secure, and I've added a lexan strip under the rear of the motor so it can't flex downwards. Has a nice low CoG as well so far. I modified the nitro engine purple plate bit so I could run it on the underside of the struts that hold it in place, and then put a small groove into it so the dogbone still runs to the rear diff okay (i did this after the pic though).

http://www.ultimaterc.com/gallery/al...%28001%291.jpg

http://www.ultimaterc.com/gallery/al...%28002%291.jpg

Do you guys think the mount will be secure where it is? Its held in with the two chunky screws. Unfortunately I had to position it quite close to the edge of the plate, but I don't think it'll bend. Might make another brace for the plate up that side out some scrap alloy.

looks pritty solid, i dont think there shouldn't be any problems, it is looking nice due:D