Savage XL al diff cups w/ Cen 26t Ring Gear & 9t Pinion - RC-Monster Forums

Gee

I finally got all my parts in for this install. Was starting to look like I might not get to install them because my shim job on the stock hpi gears was holding up. Well that didn't last long. I think I've been through 8 of the 13t pinions since I got this XL so I was ready for something different.

This has been tested by a person over at Savage Central on his flux. http://www.savage-central.com/module...&highlight=cen

Seems to be holding up for him. From what I have been reading (the link above) the cen gears are not real consistent. Some have reported that the cen ring gear has fit fine onto the savage cups with no modifications needed. Some have reported the holes didn't line up on one but did on the other. Some needed to lightly sanded around the rim of the the savage alum cup to get the ring to fit correctly. My expereince was both of the ring gears holes did not line up and needed modified. The ring gear fit onto the cup just fine though. The 9t bevel gear needed to be shimmed a lot to get it to make contact with the bevel gear. It still leaves plenty of pinion sticking out the otherside for the grub screw to clamp onto. I am going to be patient this time and not run the RC until 24hrs is up. Maybe giving the gasket material and loc-tite time to fully cure. Been guilty of rushing things in the past. While I am waiting I thought I would post up the pictures of the install I did on my Savage XL.

Gee · 05.29.2009, 07:53 PM

Gee · 05.29.2009, 07:54 PM

doo540 · 05.29.2009, 08:25 PM

Very nice write up. What was the reason for staying with the savage diff cup instead of using the Cen Gen diff cup? Price? Or? I have already done and installed the complete Cen Gen on my savage XL and love it.

Finnster · 05.29.2009, 10:20 PM

Yeah, IDK tho. I think the CEN diff gears are much tougher than the HPI ones, plus you end up with the crappy 10x16 bearing.

why the red locktite? If you ever need to replace the pinion gear or bearing its gonna be a bitch to get off. Very nice write up tho.

Gee · 05.29.2009, 10:49 PM

Thanks.

I think the full cen mod is the way to go. Some of it was price, but mostly it was just to see if it would work. I had been messing around with different ring and pinions on the xl diffs. Tried the strr and they didn't work out so was thinking the cens might when I found the link about the guy at SC using them on the flux diffs. If it doesn't I have half the parts needed to do the full cen diff upgrade. The price for the cen diffs on ebay has gotten higher as the popularity of the cen diff mod increased.

I was really reluctant to use the red loc-tite. I read of other having problems with the grubs staying screwed in. I don't think they flattened the ends of the grubs though. I flipped a coin and the red loc-tite won. There's enough for the grub to grab a hold of but not like you have a pin going through the beveled gear. I had some problems with them also when I tried the STRR ring and pinion gears. They didn't hold on them either. Found lighter fluid will help loosen your loc-tite if needed and if it doesn't you can thrown in a match and solve the frustration. Plus I am optimistic that I will never need to get in there again. lol

scarletboa · 05.30.2009, 06:52 PM

i heard that the easiest way to loosen up red toctite is to touch a soldering iron to the screw. the heat is supposed to break it up.

plaviblue · 09.21.2009, 10:13 PM

What is up with the 10x16 and 8x16 bearings on the same diff?

plaviblue · 09.21.2009, 10:19 PM

In the exploded view of the xl they are both 10x16

MetalMan · 09.22.2009, 01:23 AM

The CEN ring gear uses an 8x16 bearing. HPI (stupidly) uses 10x16, and since the diff cup is the Savage cup, it still retains the 10x16 bearing

JasonB · 02.05.2011, 12:47 AM

I've often considered doing the reverse of this; Flux BP ring gear with the CEN cup. Advantage: Bigger spider gears and of coarse the 8x16 bearing. I'm thinking that would be one tough combo!

Thoughts

Jahay · 07:54 AM

AWESOME DETAILED WRITE UP! Thanks for all the pics!!!!

there is a thread going, trying to work out the strongest diff combo...

So far we have come up with the

BP Ring and pinion
Nova Hellfire Cup (uses 8x16 bearing) or IRC alloy lightning diff cup.
HotBodies Hardened Spider Gears (larger and thicker than stock savage gears)

This way you have a tough alloy cup getting rid of the 10x16mm bearing
Stronger, thicker internals,
And the strong BP Gear...

BUT if the CEN Gear is a drop in gear and can make use of the savage stock SHD Axles... THAT SHOULD BE A MUCH STRONGER COMBO NO???

has anyone got a full CEN diff to drop in a savage bulk to see if it works with the SHD Axles?