Savage XL-E

[tklemin]

Thanks for the props. I was trying to make the baddest truck Ive ever owned. The motor plate is from KD. It just has a double mount for brushed motors I guess. The weight distribution probably could be a little better, But the batts still sit pretty low in the truck, and I still have the hump pack in the box that evens out a little. That was part of the reason I used the XL chassis. I figured the the longer chassis would even out the weight of the more rear weight of the batts. I just like the look of the batts tucked in, and it might ad a little more clearance under the truck and protect the lipos also. It drives great (not to flippy). As with most 6s trucks it takes a more dialed in throttle control than with gas. It took a few charges to learn to drive again. With my gearing It will still do standing back flips, but its not to bad after half speed.

[Janezki]

My project was halted for a while because of my overwhelming work schedule, but now when I've had few days' vacation I've managed to do quite a lot - so here's what has happened so far:

- Kershaw direct drive reversed for the sake of weight balance and to get the lipos between the TVP's
(gearbox needed quite a lot of trial & error shimming before I got it running smoothly)
- stock radio box removed and replaced with Fastlane servo plate
- broken steering servo & front diff fixed (these broke while my last bash session)

I had one KB45-10L 1800kv motor lying around, so I really wanted to give it a try and see how it runs. The kv-rating is a bit high for 6S but hey, just for the heck of it...

Here's a few photos from yesterday - I was in a hurry to get my truck into running condition so I had to use few "temporary" solutions to get all in place (mainly the esc & receiver).
(click for big pic)






The KB45-10L is quite a power plant - even though there was no grip at all on snow I managed to pull over 2000 watts from it with 6S 5000mAh 15C Zippys according to Eagle Tree.

Here's some chart data:

(there's some glitch there with +8600W & +80V peak values :))

Gearing used was 20t pinion, 47t spur.

I measured 60°C (140°F) from the motor endbell and the ambient temperature was -1°C (30°F).
Summer temperatures may be too much for KB45, but I'm planning to use a different motor then.

The car handled pretty well - although my driving was mainly on flat surface with few minor jumps from snow bank, I'm quite pleased with the weight balance.

Only problem I had was with the pinion which wasn't hardened. It was simply ruined just with one set of 5000mAh batteries...



Next step will most likely be upgrading the diffs.

[Savage03]

Looks good! So the direct drive did ok? Might be time for some meatier tires

[Janezki]

Yes, direct drive does perform well. I'm waiting for the snow to melt for some serious traction...

...Janezki...Agrre with you on the direct drive / center diff...MUCH better feel...

...how do you like those tires? How do THEY like the power you are ruinning through them? Do they balloon much?

[Janezki]

Stock tires are decent, even though they balloon like crazy with full throttle.
I haven't been able to run my truck on grippy surface at all, hopefully the snow melts in about months time.
I was considering ProLine Badlands, but they are so "small" - I wish there was an easy way to put Baja wheels & tyres on Savage.

[Savage03]

If you want bigger next best thing to baja size is LST tires what I use and love em, do very well on all surfaces.