Savage FLM extended LCG chassis installation!

Well, I got a special package from Mike yesterday....

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a5/4718/DSC03316.jpg

That's right, FLM's extended LCG chassis plates, servo plate, and center skid! Now to find the victim!

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a5/4718/DSC03311.jpg

Aw, there he is.........now prepare for MASSIVE surgery, muwahahaha!

Left battery tray gone, most of the screws on that side too.....
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a5/4718/DSC03317.jpg

Both trays gone, all screws out.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a5/4718/DSC03320.jpg

Sudden breeze causes freak accident!
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a5/4718/DSC03322.jpg

Oooooh ahhhh........check out the pretty-ful-ness!
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a5/4718/DSC03324.jpg

Hey, while I got this thing taken apart, why not lube the tranny? Just a few screws, it's ready to be split:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a5/4718/DSC03326.jpg

Hmmmm.......looks okay, gears might be a bit dry though.......but what's those shavings from?!?!
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a5/4718/DSC03327.jpg

WTH?!?!
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a5/4718/DSC03328.jpg

Getting closer?
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a5/4718/DSC03331.jpg

2 speed missing a tiny screw that holds on that square-ish plate......not a good sign......
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a5/4718/DSC03332.jpg

A bb got stuck in between the 2 speed gears here somehow, just a precursor to what comes next........
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a5/4718/DSC03336.jpg

Holy crap, so many things went wrong here! Obvious one is the lack of a bearing for the 2 speed to ride on, not sure how that even managed to work like that.......
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a5/4718/DSC03333.jpg

........and it gets WORSE! Note the strange metal disk to the right of the top shaft? That's a spacer that should have been on the end of the 2 speed's shaft, it's now lodged in the side of the case. There's also a axle pin type rod jammed into the hole just to the right of the ring, but it's not quite as dramatic as the rign actually jutting out of the side of the case.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a5/4718/DSC03334.jpg

Note the lovely pattern the ring augered out inside the tranny case before lodging itself in the side.......how did things go this wrong?!?!
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a5/4718/DSC03335.jpg

Anyway, that tranny's now gonna be a trophy to how crap can go wrong inside my trannys, now for what a GOOD tranny looks like.......except for the stinky and yellow grease that is.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a5/4718/DSC03338.jpg

Gasp! There's supposed to be a bearing there?
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a5/4718/DSC03339.jpg

This one's locked in first with epoxy, done very professionally I might add (not joking on that part), who knows what kind of horrible crap was attempted on the other tranny.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a5/4718/DSC03340.jpg

Anyway, that's it for tonight, it was super windy outside and kinda getting cold so I called it a night. Good news is that I go into work late tomorrow, so I can work all morning on it!

[MetalMan]

Wow... Could any of this have happened to your tranny that night at HotRod's?

Maybe, that'd explain the grinding noises and crappy runtime, but how it all fell apart inside in the first place I'll never know. I'll try to get most of it back together this morning, at least get the new tranny in there, and start peicing all the other stuff back in place too.

[Serum]

That's the reason i recommend getting a heavy duty 2nd speed.

The stock one isn't up the par...

You need to keep a close eye on the length of the screw for a mechanical brake as well. That might cause some damage too..

[coolhandcountry]

That didn't look good dabid. I think it would effect run time some. Have to see how it does when right now. I like the looks of them new parts.

Finished up most of the build this morning, I just have to clean up the servo wires and stuff tomorrow. I think I will also pull most of the screws out and loctite them, but we'll see. The guys at Hobby People were pretty impressed with it, as am I, and I'm surprised that it still has quite good center ground clearence.


What's that peeking outta the shadows?


Ha ha, take that nitro dorks!

[stampy]

looks disgusting :D whats the wb on that bad boy?

[coolhandcountry]

looks like you need more batteries now. The packs looks small on the side of it.

[nbcaznmaster]

ya. Wuts the poitn of a logner chassis uf i dont put more cells? Looks really nice. looks like a LSP for a sec..

looks nice but i also think it needs more cells

[coolhandcountry]

What kind of body you going to run now? It looks about long enought for a mgt body or something.

Yeah, I think it needs more cells too, was planning on putting a 9xl in and running at least 18 cells......the 7 cells on each side right now just looks too small. As for the body, don't know yet, the wheelbase is somewhere around 14.5" (haven't measured it to be sure) which is about as long as the Hot Bodies Lightning ST and other race truggies, so that opens up some cool options. According to Tower, the MGT's wheelbase is about 14.5", so the bodies for that one would work as well. The old F-350 body I had won't work though, it'd look retarded because of how short it is anyway.

[coolhandcountry]

I think my double extende maxx is about that. I havea mgt body on it now. It looks better than the others i had.

I set my Twin Force's Suburban body on it just to see how it'd fit, it was way too short, by at least 2" on each end!

Well, I finally ran it tonight, pretty crazy! The 9L was overgeared at 16/49 (I think that's what the pinion was), so I bumped it to the 52 tooth spur and it ran great. It bombed up and down a dirt hill next to my house with ease, even flew across the grassy area at the top real quick too. System stayed stone cold during the short 3 minute run until the pinion set screw backed out.

Oh yeah, the wheelbase is between 14.5" and 14.75".....had trouble reading the little marks and keeping the front lined up with the middle of the wheel nut. My only problem with the body choices is that no matter what I get, it'll ride kinda high on the low slung chassis. Just so long as there isn't daylight visible though, that's one of my major annoyances.