Flux my first Monster is on the way.
 

Well I have wanted a monster truck since I was a kid sweating the kyosho nitro monster trucks in RC Car Action back in the day. They looked so cool and I knew even then I didn't want to mess with the nitro thing nor did I have that kind of money as a youngster. I have built a few truggies now, the latest is my current xt8. I dunno how much I am going to dig the MT thing but I plan to make a solid go of it.

Last night I bought a Savage BL Flux NIB display model for $440 on ebay. I really have been doing alot of research the last few days. I have alot of ideas but want to try my best to make good choices in my upgrades. I would like to thank the members that post there savages on this site, they have inspired me to give this a run.

I would like to run a extended chassis...which one I dunno yet. I want monster more then speed. Preferably like 40 series tires with some sick wheels. Cool body and a sick motor like a Neu monster which is undecided as well.

I invite all suggestions and I am watching the other savage builds daily. Really looking forward to this new direction in a brushless build. I was also looking at some LST2's on ebay but I though the Flux BL wouldnt hurt to have since I am down to only one other MMM 2200 combo in my XT8.

Good price, well done.

Well, big wheels is fine and longer chassis too for that proper monster look, I am digging that completely with all my builds. I would say a castle 1518 or 1520 motor on 5 or 6s lipo would provide plenty of grunt to move the bigger wheels and larger chassis with ease, you just have to have a realistic speed in mind to prevent the drivetrain, esc and lipos from failing prematurely; 40mph is like the magic number these days.

Diffs are easily upgraded is needed, and drivetrain too- plenty of options for aftermarket driveshafts and props. I think you'll enjoy rocking the big MT thing alot, its rather different to precise feeling & handling truggies, much more unweildy and a handful to control, which makes it all the more exciting :yes:

Keep in mind those 40 series tires are gonna put alot more load on your drivetrain, ESC and lipo's, especially on 6S. You may experience more differential failures from that extra weight and you wanna drop down your pinion tooth count or the extra load could fry your ESC/Lipo's.

I recommend getting the bulletproof diff upgrades and the castlink so you can modify the ESC to your liking and get used to the speed and power of the Flux.

The 2200kv motor with the Flux is pretty hard to beat without spending alot more money, its a high end brushless motor for its price range so I'd drive the truck with that first before you get any crazy ideas of a high end sensored Novak or Tekin BL motor

Freezebyte is the man to speak to on how to scam free bits from HPI, say the same thing on 25 different forums and push your way into a magazine article with minimal modifications besides some window dressing.

The stock motor is a Neu / Castle, so leave that there, I'd enjoy the truck stock and only upgrade as you need to. Oh and keep the body as a monster truck, why people think a Stadium Truck body looks good on a Savage is beyond me, what's next a 2 inch Sports Exhaust on a Prius?

Thanks guys. I am pretty excited, I feel like my christmas present is in the mail on the way but nobody knows thats what it is but me.

Im runing the 2200kv combo in the truggy and quite pleased with it. The adjustable with the castle link is really nice. I was thinking of getting a Neu later for the Savage.

The jury is out on the 40 series. I run some badlands with this BL setup and they produce heat by themselves. I can only imagine the stress and drive wear with 40series. I actually have a weird compulsion to have my rigs looking nice when chillin on display so I usually have a nice body and wheel set for each of my rigs....I know a little A.D.D. So knowing my compulsion I will probably have some expensive wheels and tires in 40series just for show and smaller more reasonable shoes for runners.

Oh snap on the lipo thing....I am digging the hyperion g3 or whatever. I was hoping to know what you guys are running successfully. I REALLY wish they didn't take two lipos but oh well. My happy place with this motor seems to be 5s on a truggy (i know this should be a bit heavier from what I've read) so this poses a problem...but it just dawned on my that I could run 2 5s in parallel even though it be more expensive, and then get some 3s for series running. I will have to search for the box dimensions. Sorry rambling.

Oh I was looking at some of these to run but dont know about them?? They com stock so who knows...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...:B:WNA:US:1123

Sorry for the multiple posts but I am shopping hard....
Do the Savage XL parts all bolt up, I.E. the 3 speed tranny for the xl??

WTF is a high end Novak???? Novak doesn't make a motor that will power a truck the size of a Flux.

I'd second all the opinions so far to just run the stock motor for a bit and see how you like it before dumping deneros into a motor.

I've seen your stuff - don't be ashamed of your ADD!!!

I'd stay away from the 40's until you run the stock tires first. Sidewall flex is hard on the handling of stock flux. However, if you do much jumping, you'll come to like the added padding of bigger tires. I've looked around at different tires/rims and the only thing I found that I would consider are the stock rears from a BAJA 5B - but I'll need to figure out how to adapt the 24mm hex's.

If you are going to extend the chassis to an XL length, or longer (I cant remember but one company makes a 3 or 4 inch extended chassis - massive!) you could also relocate the reciever and possibly put the battery in the center same as folks do on the FLM conversions. I agree that 5S would be a nice fit on this truck. I run mine on 6S all the time - zippys so far.

I thought the XL came with more of an MT tire, not a nubby style. Those look like massive ballooners to me.

Dont know for certain on the tranny. The Flux tranny is one of the nitro cases, just with different gearing in it. I know the drive cups are XL size (I originally bought the FLM diff cases for an X, and the drive cups wouldnt fit through the holes).

Oh - dont do like I did and try to run it the first time without the wheelie bar on it - put the BIG wheel on it, or you'll be pulling out the wallet for another body!

You run a DX3 on your other rigs, right? Get another reciever, and dont even bother with the stock radio.

Ahhh, your so cute when you let loose your grudge against me Baja! Can I give you some good quality cheese to go with that whine? :rofl:

No matter which way you try to justify it, you're actions make you nothing more than a petty thief in my books.

Try and laugh it off all you like mate, Karma catches up with all of us, at the end of the day, you'll have to answer to someone far higher up than anyone on a chat forum.

Hope you sleep well at night :party:

I appreciate "helpful" input, BUT Lets be civil...open your own thread to rip on one another. :lol:

Anyways I thought the XL wheels were just dirt cheap to tear the shizz out of. Maybe I will give them a go unless someone says they are crap.

Def not buying a novak:rofl: and the stock radio wont even leave thee box and will probably collect dust like my sc10 and bltz RTR crap.lol. I do love my dx3r but I have one of the OG models with the "loosing bind" problem. I would send it in if I had another to use while gone. It doesnt loose bind on like th3 sr3001 but on the but on the dsm2 RXs it does almost everytime I turn off the radio. Then you have to go thru the bind process all over. Not hard but a pain nonetheless.

I was actaully looking at the kershaw extension kits...the 5t kit looks pretty wild but I dunno. I will probably like something like the kershaw ext that is 2" longer then the XL...different but not over the top you know.

JThiessen thanks for the compliments. I have read your thread on your savage. I too have always been infatuated with the LST shocks and seeing them on your rig made me drool a bit, but am now a bit leery after the tower flex?? I dunno. do you recommend, I hate the way the stock shock look. By the way seeing the new XL body on your rig is what hyped me on the ext...good stuff!!

I'd do the LST shocks again - now that I know that a simple brace across the back holds them in place.

I haven't looked at the Kershaw site to see their TVPs yet. The 2" extension would keep you in the range of XL length - at least for buying bodies. Anything longer, and I have no idea where you'd go for a body - maybe some of the 1/5 bodies might fit? One thing about going longer - you'll probably want to figure out how to widen it also. At the XL lenth, they seem right at the limit of length to width ratio - but maybe that's partly due to me being used to Revo's and truggy style.

Congrats on the nice score. My sav is my favorite to run. They aren't as fast or precise as my trug, but I still enjoy it the most. Its just a big baddass bruiser of a truck.
My 40 series rock, and the terrapins are great for rough offroad driving (but not much else.)

I love the lst shocks too, tho have not had the probs JT did w/ the FLM towers. I do see where the weakness is tho, so who knows. Depends on luck and driving demands I guess. There are other conv kits, else I was wondering how 8 Flux shocks would do... :) Seems like it would be cool. The Flux shocks look like they work quite well, but the one small lonely shock looks like its just missing something.

As far as the other nonsense goes.. I'm not sure what the history is.. but thumbsup to HPI for taking care of their customers. HPI is freely replacing failed flux and XL diffs as there is a clear defect in the original design, they've redesigned it and now are making the BP diffs std equipment. You do not have to lie or trick them into giving you something. I still had my original failed diffs from my XL when it was nitro, before I did the CEN diff conversion (which its popularity showed weakness of the oem design,) I called them up, talked to a CS rep and explained the whole thing and they voluntarily offered to send me the revised part right off the bat. All they wanted was a pic of the parts to verify purchase and they shipped me the parts. Awesome. Same as an auto dealer repairing a car under recall IMO. Actually, quite a bit better. I'll likely try them out when the CENs fail again. That's the way to keep customers coming back.

Way better than when the one time I called Traxxas, after laying down $wayytoomuch$ for their revo CVDs just to have two diff cups shatter and two drive pins shear within 5 mins of very average use (because they used cheap cast steel) and asked if this was normal. The CS rep basically told me to GFYS. F that, I was done w/ TRX after that and all the $$ I poured into the Revo trying to get it reliable and decent. (overpriced rear brake & CD kits, the TRX pushrods, motor mount, loads of springs, god knows how many tranny gears, slippers, and diffs, HD servo spring, ext arms...etc etc.) Way to kill a cash cow.

Yawn.... i've grown tired of your childish internet grudge baja. Here's a quarter, call someone who cares in ignore land.