Manne´s Flux bash build

[Manne]

Well, I have built a bash revo, modified trough the roof And now I´m stepping up, leaving Traxxas and building a little Hpi monster instead

First of all I took a look at the weakpoints of the flux, this is what I came up with:

*Gearbox - HD gears is okay but not good enough in the long term.

*Rear tierods/knuckles - If you don´t break the knuckle you break the "tab" of the bulkhead.

*Chassis - can you say candycane?

*Hexes - I personaly can´t stand with those 17mm hexes, rims breaking all the time and I keep stripping the hexshape in the wheels.

*Internal gears in the diffs are to weak and doesn´t have enough shims from factory.

*The screws to the bumpers breaks sometimes and you can´t get them out.

*The upper hingepin retainers aren´t doing their job very well.

*The hingepin braces are too weak.

And worst of all, as Mc once said, it´s a big fat pig, and I don´t like that

So, I started to ask around on ebay if any seller that are deassembling new fluxes and parting them out were willing to remove the parts I didn´t want and just ship me a "roller". My request were answered by the seller Integrajspec.

This was the parts I didn´t want:

*No Esc.
*No reciever.
*No gearbox.
*No knuckles/steeringblocks ( the whole assembly out on the end of the a-arm).
*No bulheads.
*No wheels/tires.

Everything went smooth and my package arrived, I started to do some mokeups to see how I wanted things, so I ended up ditching the radio box and the whole motormount/plate assembly.

And I couldn´t find any site that had Goldenhorizons aluminum bulkheads in stock but I was lucky and accidently got some stock bulkheads from the guy I bought the roller from so that will have to do for now, I also ended up buying plastic knuckles for the front and Rear tie rod eliminators for the rear.

All the stuff:


I started with the diff shimming, I used four 0.1 shims ( like it came from factory ) under each small internal gear:



And then I´m using one 0.2 shim under one of the big internal gears and no gasket between the ringgear and the diffcup:



I will later on change to using the gasket and one 0.2 shim under each big internal gear.

Then I started with the project to get this little bugger in:



This was the first mokeup:

[Manne]

And then I changed to this:





I´m using dual rear dogbones in order to get the extra length that was needed while using the revo gearbox:



It still has about 2mm of play:



But ofcourse the dude called problem would show up, the radiobox wasn´t no where near to fit...:



So this is where I ditched the radiobox and started to think of other possibilitys:




I made some mounts for the gearbox:



Made some mounts for the servo:



And mounted the reciever box among with all the other stuff:



I installed bearings in the steering bellcrank:

[Manne]

And mounted the bellcrank by using a bulkhead brace with the holes updrilled to 4mm:



Mounted:



After that I tried to mount my 23mm hubs from the Revo with Lst cvds...That didn´t turn out too good, I had forgotten that the savy doesn´t have the regular 1/8 setup when it comes to hubs... So I ordered some new ones.

Revo Vs Flux, Flux uses the bigger brighter ones:






I also mounted the rear tierod eliminators, sadly I didn´t get the version I wanted ( wasn´t in stock ) so I got this one with a hole that makes the hub weaker....But it has been holding up great so far:





After that I made a mount for my MMM:




And installed the "braces" from the motor mount to stiffen up the chassis and to have something to mount the escplate on:

[Manne]

I drilled holes in the bumbermounts to be able to use longer screws in order to get them out when they break:





I glued the foams togheter and glued them secure in the batteryboxes:

[Manne]

I also cross drilled the bodyclip holes to prevent them from bending and popping out when flipping over or landing on the roof:



I installed a enginehead protector from a X 4.6 to give the rollbar and the rear tower some support from eachother:



And as you can see I did put a nylon sock outside the MMM since my outwears cover hadn´t showed up at the time

It all came along nicely! :



I would like to say thanks to all the members who builds and modifies stuff each and every day for all your informational threads and posts.

I still have alot of work to do with the truck, I haven´t decided if I´m going for rpm arms or not, If I should go for Tcs 5mm chassis or not or If I should stick with the stock bulks, get bashcat braces or alu bulks. I have ordered more stock braces and will first of all try to do my own cheap version of the bashcat braces. Only time will tell what needs to be upgraded.

And... The MMM got it outwearscover now and I changed my castle/neu for a 2350 that I had laying around Since I´m only running 4s for the time being

Thats all for now I guess

[Manne]

Small update:

The truck has now been used for a few hours and this is the results:

I bent the living crap out of the chassis so I bent it back and reinforced it with some scrap metal I had laying around:



The Intejunk hingepin that came with the tierod eliminators also got bent...But I hade stockers ready I knew this was coming:



And.... I cracked the bulkhead braces front and rear:





So I ordered some alu braces and I have thoughts of placing an order of a tcs chassis BUT, I want to know how much heavier the Tcs chassis is than the stock, I really doesn´t want that "pigfatpig" style to come back If It weights alot more I will just make a nicer support for the stock chassis.

I also ordered some Gt2 tires to use in the front, I really dislike those truggy tires in the front, they look silly and they don´t balloon enough for my likening in the air!

[Ola]

I wondered where you went Manne ;) Looks like you`ve done youre homework!

Tell me, do you like driving the Flux?
I hated it so much i sold mine again after just 3-4 weeks. So now i`m building a new RC8T CE truggy instead..

[Manne]

Hello! I'm always glad to get your response Ola

I'm still around, but right now I am sitting in the sandpits pushing the truck every single hour that I'm not working , I broke a rpm knuckle on the Revo and then I gave up the hope I guess... But I will com back to the Revo later on

I hated the handling first, and then after I tuned it I started to love it! It's now very light and agile, I really want to weight it, It feels so much lighter than my friends flux ( he is using a eight shock setup tho..) so I really like it!

What didnt you like with your flux? Post some pics of your new ride!

[Ola]

:)

I just felt the Flux was VERY top heavy.. It wheelied for nothing, tipped over to easy, and rolled forever if it got started lol

I`ll post some RC8T pics right away, as i am alittle proud of it LOL! If it runs as good as it looks, it will be ALOT of fun :) Check for new thread here on RCM..

[thzero]

It's a Monster Truck, of course it is. ;) But yeah, I like my RC8T... although am running it now with Baja 5B tires!! But they are definetly different animals.

I don't have the standard Flux TVPs only the nitro TVPs, but I do have the TCS Flux TVPs. Unfortunately I don't have exact weights, but I would say they are about double (2.5mm vs 5mm) the weight; but what you make up in weight you get back in more strength. Again, its a Monster Truck not a truggy!

Nonetheless, I like your build. Is the Revo tranny really that much better than the HPI? From what I've seen and remember from running a T-Maxx 3.3 its really not. But I'm curious. One of the PITA parts of the Savage Flux is changing pinions (you have to pull the entire side of... wtf?!) [no Jahay, I'm not going to use a center diff!] and by using the Revo tranny looks like its much easier to get to.

I've switched to using FLM's draglink and body braces on all my Savages. The later definetly help reduce flex and the former works better when using high-torque servos.

You should probably want to ditch the battery door tabs and use velcro straps instead; maybe even flip the battery boxes around so the doors open up. I've found for me that by cutting off the battery door tabs, getting rid of the 'hump' at the rear of the battery door, I was able to use all my batteries without going to reversing my battery boxes (which caused issues with bodies too boot).

I'm also running GCMs (get them through tcscrawlers) battery box attachments. Much more solid than the plastic versions.

Originally Posted by Ola

:)

I just felt the Flux was VERY top heavy.. It wheelied for nothing, tipped over to easy, and rolled forever if it got started lol

I`ll post some RC8T pics right away, as i am alittle proud of it LOL! If it runs as good as it looks, it will be ALOT of fun :) Check for new thread here on RCM..

[Overdriven]

Thzero: The trans he swapped in is the newer E-revo/3905 brushless trans, which quite frankly is the most bulletproof thing about traxxas monster trucks. No upgrades needed for it to survive, except maybe the slipper. The nitro transmissions wouldn't be worth swapping in unless you like cleaning plastic shaving from the gears out of the trans case.

[E-Revonut]

What hexes are you using? That is really my number one complaint with the flux! I have new bumper braces on the way for mine and I intend to put some beefier screws in as well. Other complaint is the lack of hex head screws.

Thzero: As for changing the pinion, I don't know how you do it that you have to remove the entire side but all I do is remove the 4 screws for the motor and I can easily change the pinion. Yes it takes a little longer than a E-Maxx but this truck is much stronget than the E-Monster trucks from Traxxas.

[Ola]

Originally Posted by thzero

It's a Monster Truck, of course it is. ;) But yeah, I like my RC8T... although am running it now with Baja 5B tires!! But they are definetly different animals.

I know it`s a MT, and thats probably what i dont like ;)

The E-revo is more like a muggy than a MT i guess, but i cant think of much the Flux can do that the E-revo can`t do, so i kept the one of them that i actually enjoyed driving :)

It`s all down to preferences i guess..

Manne is`nt afraid of his tool box, so i know this will be one c0ol Flux when it`s "done" :D

[Manne]

Ola:

I agree, It can be top heavy, but mine isn´t, the half offset wheels and the truggy tires really helps to prevent side rolls and wheelies I also think that the reduced weight makes a difference.

My friends truck is a totally different animal, he is using stock tires with stock rims, his suspension is HARD, thick oil and heavy springs, you can´t imagine that it´s the same platform when you see the two truck togheter, we will be working on his suspension setup asap.

Thzero:

Overdriven is right It´s not the nitro gearbox, it´s the gearbox for the brushless trucks, and I would say that it is the most durable one out there. I have used the same gears in the gearbox for two years, and that is with the slipper locked with screws, the gearbox is the only thing that I didn´t break on the revo, It´s very rare to see these gearboxes breakdown.

Yes! changing pinion takes about 30seconds. Open the setscrew-take of the pinion-add locktight-install the new pinion

I have thought over this whole battery box situation, I have pushed It bretty hard and yes they pop open so I will get some velcro right there, I have also managed to "break loose" small pieces from the lower mounts to the boxes so I will get the Gcm kit :).

I don´t think I want to flipp them around, I have no problems like it is right now and I´m afraid that I will break the tabs on the batterybox if I flip them around since you have to remove the little "triangle" support on the upper tabs on the box itself but thanks for the tip anyway, I´m glad that you like the build.

E-revonut:

Eeehh.. I don´t want to say it because it´s GPM hubs..... but they have been working really good so far! And I am not gentle with it

I´ll post some pics from the last bash, sadly we only took pictures when I jumped the smaller jump in the pit

[Manne]

Nothing to major, we will be taping hopefully this week If I can keep the truck in one piece