HFX / BrimStone

...one day I should just learn to leave it alone...

nice......

[magman]

Very nice indeed, I have yet to see one of those. What is your power plant?

[What's_nitro?]

Is that... A TVP truggy??!!

...more later but basically it is Savage front and rears with HF shocks mounted to HF towers mounted to Savage bulkheads...REALLY easy once I saw where the holes lay...Rear tower is BACKWARDS so the countersunk screws can mount the wing with the nut INSIDE the wing mount...

...HF center diff with an overhead motormount gripping a Medusa 36-69 2200...Batteries are nothing special right now; lipo to be purchased 'eventually'...

...MMM to run it, no battery / servo box and the steering servo mounted inside the right side TVP...

...Yeah i needed something 'special' to showcase a new GCM savage chassis about to be released ;)

[What's_nitro?]

Pretty sweet man. I had never heard of HFX and/or Brimstone before, so I thought it was a completely new truck!

[MetalMan]

Excellent work! What is the wheelbase on the chassis that is about to be released? (assuming it's not the one shown in the pictures) You MUST let us know how those Hellfire shock towers and shocks perform on there, I am greatly interested in seeing some close-ups.

Also, are those Integy rear uprights?

...thanks fellas...I am stoked to be finally able to bring something to the table that is as inspiring as the things I have picked up from here...

...The chassis that is being made is an extended bolt-on for the Flux...The maker, Generis, has earned quite the following for his E-savage stuff and is taking the dive up the big leagues with his POTENT MT geometry...the extension will be between an inch and 40mm..

...the plates you see pictured are actually TWO right side GP Savage plates I picked up out of the trash at the local track :D Stock lengths, stock angles...Luckily i got two of them so you get that sexy symmetry going on...

...The HF shocks I was using on my E-sav for ages (with MT2 FRONT towers on stock E-Sav bulkheads) and they are great...I love them...LST never interested me because I am a weight weenie at heart and dont really like to add bulk...I never really understood the 8-shock theory anyway :D the shocks themselves though and strong and smoth...Set and forget...They dont leak or squeak or do anything they arent supposed to...FYI yellow springs and 35 weight oil...pistons are 'normal'...

...Close ups I can do for you no problems...

...Ahem...Yes they are Integy uprights...As has been mentioned elsewhere, they are typical Integy POS...One went straight on...One took THREE hours to get a bearing into LOL...one smashed up bearing, (later removed and replaced) and a beat up 'bearing' tool later it was finally in there though...I had to laugh because the Integy logo on the one that took ages to do was lasered on upside down :D But i really wanted to use these because they gave me ZERO toe-in (or thereabouts) and they meant that i didnt need the rear turnbuckle, which i can no longer fit on anyway because the shock tower uses the turnbuckle holes...I guess all that will be revealed in some better closeup shots...

...i reckon every good build needs a name and Brimstone was what I was calling my straight brushless Hellfire conversion...That never really worked out the way I wanted it to and never went very far...That build is in my signature and has pics of the motormount I am using now...HFX stands for Hellfire X (Savage)...Admittedly HFX sounds more like a new Kyosho platform than HPI but i like it...

[MetalMan]

Originally Posted by BitHed

...Ahem...Yes they are Integy uprights...As has been mentioned elsewhere, they are typical Integy POS...One went straight on...One took THREE hours to get a bearing into LOL...one smashed up bearing, (later removed and replaced) and a beat up 'bearing' tool later it was finally in there though...I had to laugh because the Integy logo on the one that took ages to do was lasered on upside down :D But i really wanted to use these because they gave me ZERO toe-in (or thereabouts) and they meant that i didnt need the rear turnbuckle, which i can no longer fit on anyway because the shock tower uses the turnbuckle holes...I guess all that will be revealed in some better closeup shots...

Those Integy parts sure are low quality... I've got the same rear uprights on my Savage, which is why I recognized them. On mine it seems the bearings don't line up with each other because the axle doesn't spin as freely as it should. But in the end it doesn't matter so much because we have eliminated the rear toe link. And did you know that the Integy uprights/hardware weigh only 2.3oz, while the stock parts they replaced (carriers, knuckles, toe links, pins, etc) weigh in at 4.5oz?

[Finnster]

really nice truck so far :)

Thanks fro teh heads up on the uprights too. Eventually I'd like to get some to get rid of the rear toe, but the HPI's are so expensive. I was hoping the integy were not crap but...

[lincpimp]

Does New Era make anything that would work?

[MetalMan]

Originally Posted by lincpimp

Does New Era make anything that would work?

Just looked, and they don't. As far as I have seen Integy and HPI are the only companies which make standard 1/8 uprights for the rear of the Savage. And in the US you can only get the HPI ones if you buy the whole $150+ suspension upgrade kit...

...I love this truck...The HFX is up and running...I am really happy with it...I dont know if its running more like a Savage or a Hellfire...

...it jumps VERY flat and straight and controllable...Shocks could go a tiny little bit harder...Diffs are X factory grease and diff action is pretty much spot on right now...The HF center functions flawlessly and powerfully...Medusa 3560-2200 is spot on and is staying cool, though admittedly i will have to start to play with the gearing soon...its ESavage 66 spur on a HF center diff...

...Batteries are reasonably far forward and the front stays down though that COULD be due to crappy batteries...But even at full charge it just squatted briefly and then popped back up four on the floor...

...The function of the wing is debatable and it might come off for the weight factor...Looks so cool though...

...I traction rolled it once on pavement last night, well actually at 1am this morning, but it seems to prefer to pop up on three wheels and haul itself around a corner...Will have to change the rear a little bit so it slides a bit more...

..its 4.6kg RTR with 12 nimh and Warlock rims...Will change to kyosho 10 spoke after the next pay day...Tires are TBC but will PROBABLY stay with dirtbonz...need to check the weights today...

...mate if EVER there was a need for lipo its now :D I will sell off a whole bunch of stuff and invest in some...Again, advise will be needed...

...I reckon i can get it down to 4kg, or maybe even a hair UNDER with lipo and kyoshos...Body is TBC because I want to see what length Generis shows up with first...Not having the stock body mounts mean i am VERY on the edge of not having a body that will fit...I wanted to fit the stock (shape) Savage body but wiring could be an issue under the rear bed...

...Still looking forward to trying it with the esav center and jedi mount...Still VERY anxious to keep the motor in midship as opposed to off to one side...

...I am thinking the Aggressors might be a better choice on lipo than the dirtbonz...hmm...glad i had that thought...

...imagine that...A 4kg Savage :D

RE: the rear uprights...Atomic does some in gunmetal that are quite square...They look ok and are similar in price depending on where you get them from...

...I can get the 'parts' seperately from the upgrade kit...I might fit the upright braces that lower the upper arm...If anybody would 'like' parts from the set LMK and I will look into it...

...it had started to snow / rain...usually i dont go out in the wet but it was either that or wait days again until everything dried out...So we got a bit muddy...its not the mud that worries me...its the angry wife cleaning up the trail of crap that worries me :o

...4900 4S lipo...ok...i switched to lipo finally...and am very happy...lighter faster stronger...The friggin Bionic Man of RC...Great stuff...not TOTALLY enthused about the mounts but they work, stay cool and are 98% secure...Slight slippage in one...

Homework: Totally encase the packs, get rid of the unsightly velcro...

...Hellfire center diff...At WOT the front would pop up slightly and the front would balloon...Other than that the system worked FLAWLESSLY and was begging for more...Punch was set at 50% and I will probably change that to 60 or 70 next time out...Very easy to control the wheelies and the difference in speed with the front DOWN was impressive...It didnt wheelie much at all...

...the spur is actually a stock esav 60 with a 20t pinion drilled to 5mm...I wasnt totally excited about running 32 pitch but it worked for starters...

...After about 10 minutes of dirty fun the pinion screw left the building, i lost mesh and the pinion snacked on the spur...Its all good...

Homework: Kyosho spur to 46 M1 and a 16t pinion for the time being...Also will stiffen the fluid in the center once i have it out...Still going with plastic spur metal pinion for a while...

...DirtBonz...Hmm...the jury is still out...The sidewall is inherently soft so will fold and give you more chassis roll; hence causing the rear to catch a little more and not be so slidey...they do hookup on pretty much everything though...the Warlock rims are great, sit there and do their job...

Homework: Switch to lighter Kyosho 10 spokes which COULD be asking for trouble...might grab some Aggressors and play with the tread a little; aiming for a more Badlands type of tire...

Medusa 3660 - 2200...whats to say...Works great...stayed cool and just belted out the power...The wires coming out of the Medusa annoy me though...MMM is 10 gauge, batteries are 10 gauge...The Medusa wires look like something i would pick my teeth with...had to grind my own flat spot which is very ghetto but my own problem...more on that in another thread...

MMM...Again...Flawless...Set it up on the PC while Baby Bit was asleep and even Analog Mrs. it was impressed with that lol...Forward to brake to reverse and punch @ 50% were really the only points of interest...everything else was default...The plugs on the MMM annoy me but again, more in another thread...

...The integy rear uprights did the trick and hummed without issue...I flipped it, crashed it, nosedived it, cartwheeled it and smacked it into a tree and that chunk of concrete that i KNEW i should have moved before i started...A few anxious moments here and there but in true Savage fashion it just rolled over and kept on going...its the first time i have seen a NON-flying vehicle do a flat spin 2 meters in the air and it was nerve-wracking but no doubt it will happen again lol...

...Video camera was rolling but the position sucked so al the footage I have is really far away...I will play with it though and try to make SOMETHING of it...

Homework: The HPI braces that lower the roll center and change the upper arms will be purchased today...Have to redo the center diff and the battery boxes...Generis chassis is being discussed and should be finalised very soon...Medusa 3100 is waiting in the wings and will need some run time...Gearing needs to be played with and some new pinions wil be ordered...Sticking with M1 for sure...

...At 4.4 kg and VERY fast the HFX is a success and will get LOTS of runtime as the weather gets drier...I just have to wait till the mud dries and can be brushed off but a few projects for it in the meantime...

Thanks for reading...Peace...