The first RC-Monster Savage
 

Well guys it's finally done and let me tell you, the wait was well worth it. Mike has created a masterpiece for me and I'm very proud of her. She's got a FLM Ext. chassis, FLM ext. arms, FLM hybrid bulks, FLM skid, FLM Shock towers, and FLM servo mounts. It uses a center diff instead of the two speed. The electronics include: Futaba 3PM 2.4Ghz radio, a Hitec 5955TG steering servo, Quark Monster Pro 125B, Neu 1515/2.5d, Castle Creations BEC, and is powered by 5s Apogee 5800mAh packs. Hope you enjoy.

Here's a few more body off shots. Oh yeah, and if anyone wants, I've got all of these photos in really high resolution. PM me if so.

Nice. Really nice. I can't wait to finish my brushless savage. Any chance of a video of her in action? PM'ed for high res pics too. That is unbelievably nice. Mike has done a sweet job and you definitely have something to be proud of.

Thanks for the comment pic's are on their way, I dont have a video recorder so it might be a while until I find someone that can film it for me. I'll see what I can do. Tomorrow will be the first day driving it as it hasn't seen any action yet so I could get some decent pictures. I'll def. report its performance.

WOW! Super nice! I think I'm gonna sell my revo and get a savage now....seriously.....

Bye

Can't wait to hear how it goes. You may need to put a wheelie bar on it though. You don't want to destroy that body too quickly.

Also What body is that. It seems to fit very well on the extended chassis.

The body is a proline F650 lst sized. I was told that it shouldn't wheelie that much with the diff setup, I have the wheelie bar just in case. Oh yeah and it's painted with parma fasflip maple

It probably won't wheelie with the diff either. Could probably fix that with some really thick silicone though :diablo:. It's good to know what paint that is as I like that paint job too.

What a master piece. Such an amazing job that Mike did. You are lucky to have a truck like that. Take care of it and enjoy it.

Very impressive.

Yeah I'm really having a hard time about deciding on whether I should run it or not, it's sooo nice that I just hate even thinking about messing it up, it's one of a kind and I seriously doubt that I'd be able to fix it if something major were to happen. Unfortunately, It may just have to be a display model.

Awesome truck, I run my trucks in parks, big soccer fields, and my favorite golf courses, nice soft grass keeps your trucks looking new.

I agree with nl12. You HAVE to drive it. lol But to keep it looking good, with no broken parts (doubt there would be anyways) just run on grass. I have never ran on a golf course, but would really like to. It can make an awesome bashing spot with all the hills for jumps, etc. :smile:

hi

please not another shelfqueen. please go out and bash it through the pit in the dirt and sand, jump it and all that. its a monster truck thats what they are built for imho. :yes:

just kidding. do whatever you feel like.

my only problem with all those super nice monster trucks and their shiny pics is that when they are driven in such an environment there is not much information about how the truck really holds up. and so i can not profit from the experience. ... what a selfish view right. i want to profit from the experience of others...:angel:

bye
rhylsadar

Rhylsadar, this is a very sturdy truck. I was there when it was built.
And it has a canter diff... should be more track-worthy than a regular Savage.
Whatever 2Fast does with it, it's an awesome RC. Have fun, and keep us updated.

Daf

hi daf

that may be true. its an awesome truck no question about that.

"track-worthy" is just something i do not care about at all. i care mostly about durability. of course just my view.

but speaking of center diffs. what kind of diff is in this savage? and does it actually make sense to put a torsen diff in the center to give the power where the resistance is biggest?

bye
rhylsadar

Torsen diffs are not strong enough for BL power, nor are Kyoshos LSDs. They are good for as long as they last, but they won't last long.


That Savage has a Hotbodies Diff.


BTW, racing is just as tough on the trucks as is bashing, IMO. Because you push the trucks real hard, non-stop. All you need is a good track, a real track :whistle:
I started as a basher too. But since I have been to a couple of races I don't care about bashing anymore... bashing is fun on big BMX tracks and stuff, or trying to hit rails and boxes skate-style, but once you have done every flip or trick you can imagine, it just gets boring. Racing is pure adrenaline, and a lot of fun for me.

To each his own, cheers.

Daf

ups so torsen diffs do not hold up. ok. thx for the info.

bye
rhylsadar


ps: racing requires imo quite different features from a model than bashing imo.
but i have no doubt that racing is fun though. thats for sure :yes:
sadly i do have neither the time nor a good track available. i guess that would change my requirements to the models or maybe i would choose other models after all.

Yeah, the torsen and LSD diffs are/were expensive experiments... only place I could see them last a bit longer may be in buggies up front. But nothing with big wheels, don't waste your money.

It's sad that we have no good tracks here (yet), isn't it? I hope our efforts get rewarded soon, and we can build one. In the meantime, you'd be welcome to come and try our 1/18 track... we race RC18s, Vendettas, Minizillas... the CRT.5 is too big for that track. But like I said, if you have a small RC, and a spare day, call me up.

Take care
Daf

Any idea when Mike will have these kits for sale in the store?

I personally have no idea but it's what he talked about during the build process and I'm sure he's working on it. Thanks for all the great comments guys its really appreciated. Oh and one more thing, I've got a Hyperion 1210i charger that I got with this truck and I'm completely new to lipo/li-mn any tips I should know before I charge the packs up? Should I charge them individually or together and should I discharge them before I charge them? Please help and thanks again.

Charge them individually. At least for the first few cicles... when you see they always take the same charge, you can charge them in series.

If you drive them until the LVC kicks in, there's no need to discharge them any further.

Hope that helps

Daf

wow - i'm constantly amazed at the trucks that Mike builds! so clean and tidy, and no wasted space anywhere.

incredible truck. almost too incredible to just let sit on a shelf - but i do understand your dilemma.

oh - and where's the RCM sticker on that body?? :wink:

Yeah I asked him for some but I guess he forgot. Hopefully he'll send me some soon.

That thing is pure filth (in a good way), I just cant stop oggling it.
Q. How long is it, must be about 30" nearly- its bleedin' huge!

The wheelbase is 14.5" and from bumper to bumper is 23" and weighs 13.2lbs. She's a beast that's for sure and I've yet to drive it because I'm unsure of the charging procedure, it seems I need 2 LBA10 balancers to charge both of the packs at the same time. That's a few more bucks than I can spare right now so I may have to wait for a week or two until I actually get a good run on it without having to worry of leaving my packs uncharged. Oh and if anyone knows what brand of balancing tap is on the Apogee Li-Mn's it would be greatly appreciated as I'm not sure it will work with the Hyperion lba10 balancer. Also is it possible to use another brand balancer on the Hyperion 1210i as I'd like to not have to cut the balancing tap on my packs? Thanks

Edit: I just read on their site that the Astroflight Blinky balancer is the balancer they suggest. Now the question still remains, can I use this balancer with my Hyperion 1210i?

I love how the batts are in between the braces!!!

Nice Sav dude!

you will need to order the plugs to match the balance taps from pfm distribution. They say they don't need balancing, but I balance mine.

Just looked at the Astro Flight Blinky balancer and it says that I can balance the packs after I finish charging the packs, this seems kind of odd to me. If I order this will I need 2 of them to balance both packs at the same time while charging and can I use my hyperion charger with this balancer?

Edit: One more thing, how long can I leave the packs uncharged for? Like if I want to go out and run my truck and run till the LVC kicks in, can I leave them dead for a while or do I have to recharge ASAP?

I would balance the cells as a set if you are going to run them as a set. You need to make up a balance harness to balance both packs together. Refer to BrianGs rc calculations website. It has a great diagram of how to do it.

As for discharged batteries. You can leave them for a little while with no issues. I wouldnt go more than a few days or so though. The batteries do slowly self dicahrge over time. Not a fast as the older NiMH cells, but they do still slowly discharge. If you are the bottom limit for the cell and leave for an extended period of time you could theoretically let them drop too low. But, Its not like you need to run them to the charger right away or anything.

Thanks for the advice. This balancer is really weird, it doesn't have the normal inputs from the charger like normal balancers, it only shows an input for the balancing tap itself. I guess I just buy two of these hook 1 up to each pack and then charge through the battery wires. I seem to be getting more and more intimidated to charge these packs each day :( . I'm starting to think that the easiest way to charge these packs it to use the (2)LBA10 balancers, and get the balancing adapters and go straight off the diagram in the manual from the 1210i charger, even though it will be more costly it's probably my safest bet for a good and safe charge. Darn, though I was gonna get away with saving a few bucks with the blinky.

that truck looks awfully familiar for some stupid reason..

lol it should, you guys did a wonderful job on it, I'm very very happy with it Serum.

For the different batteries refer to manufacturers instructions on when to charge the batteries. The batteries I use at the moment say to not charge until a few hours before use. My Lipo's can puff if stored fully charged. My lipo charger has a storage profile for lipos. I have never used it and don't know how it works but it's there. My batteries also say that it is better to charge the batteries after a little bit of use then to discharge them fully (basically there is no need to discharge them at all other then in the car). I am fairly sure this applies to most lipos.

bashing to me is going out to random spots and hitting jumps hard!! finding new places to jump! hill climbing, rock crawling, racing around the are with your freinds. its all apart of bashing.

and yes bashing CAN be the same as racing just depends on the drive and the track. if you know how to land every jump smoothly and dont case anything you arent bashing imo... yes you are running the electrics hard but your not testings the trucks durability.

A sudden change in priority
 

Wow, this is really embarassing and hard for me to say but the Savage is now for sale. Reason being is I just received a HUGE bill in the mail from the hospital from earlier this year when I had a heart attack followed by heart surgery, you can imagine how much it is. I just can't believe my luck, waiting for half a year for this to be done and the week after it arrives I get the shaft from my insurance/hospital. As of right now my priorities have changed drastically as I'm in debt up to my eyeballs, the savage must go. If anyone is interested or knows someone who is interested please PM me or e-mail me at godofwar@gvec.net . The savage is still brand new, I didn't even get to drive it. As of today my I'm forced to leave the hobby for as long as it takes.

I sent you a PM. Sorry to hear you have to sell it, that's really bad luck.

PM replied. Sorry if I'm a little vague on the replies its very disheartening for me to have to sell her. It includes everything in/on the truck including the radio & charger, batteries, servo, motor, esc, BEC, etc... and savage x ss parts that were left over in the buildup of this truck, the savage x ss was built from the kit and directly shipped to mike, it never even touched the floor so all parts are new and unused, it has a few nicknacks on it also like the LED battery level indicator and Orion 1600mAh hump pack. It's basically 70% of the kit left. Thanks for all of your kind words.

Oh man, so sorry to hear that. I hope you and your heart are well now.

Man, that is terrible news. Interesting timing though what with michael moore releasing that new film/documentory 'sicko'. If only you lived in the UK it wouldnt have cost you very much at all for the surgery, though you may have contracted CDIF or MRSA and had to have you legs amputated.... :whistle: