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Drag Racing Savage

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rlouis12

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Hello again fellas, It has been a while since I have been on this forum and I have missed you all. I am back with some very important questions, so please help.

Over the pasted several months, my friends and I have drag racing. We currently have three classifications, which are
1. buggies
2. monster trucks
3. on-road / touring / freestyle

The winner from every night gets to wear WWE championship belt for a week, and the loosers must all crown the winner his belt at the same time! The pictures are lovely.

I now have this problem, I need to make the utlimate drag racing savage. Please answer the following because they all relate to drag racing.

1. What are the best tires to use?
2. What should I do to not have my savage doing wheelies off the line? shoud I put batteries in the front, weights in the front, or etc..
3. Drag racing is all about the take off, so what kind of wheelie bar should I use?
4. What transmission is better for drag racing, a two-speed transmission or a three-speed transmission?
5. What are the best gearing for drag racing, both for take off and top speed?
6. Should I move my fuel tank around, or should I do some kind of fuel tank mod?
7. What is a good drag racing body?
8. Should I keep or remove the reverse module from my transmission?
9. How should I lighten my savage?
10. Please share on input or advice which you may have?
 
1. street tires or slicks
2. use a HPI rush battery box and mount it in front of the font shock tower and put your batts in there. and get or make a wheelie bar
3. a long one that keeps your front wheels on the ground.
4. would most likely be the 3 speed for faster acceleration and higher top speed.
5. see #4
6. a mid tank mod would probably help you out but isn't necessary although a smaller fuel tank mounted behind the rear shock tower would help drop some weight.
7. a good body for a savage dragger all personal preference but me I'd go with either the HPI Charger or the Hemi-Cuda bodies for the savage.
8. ditch the reverse.
9. loose any aluminum that won't help it go fast. IE skid plates tank guards side rails, arms, shock towers. get a smaller 75cc fuel tank or a 2oz airplane style tank all you need is enough fuel to warm it up and run down the drag strip the stock tank is just over kill. also loose one spring from each corner of the truck this will lower you center of gravity as well as get you drive line components (axles) in a straight line therefore not wasting any power. also clean and lube all your bearings mainly the axle bearings and the diff bearings.

since you won't be doing much turning lock up your rear diff and/or put heavy weight oil in the front, I'd use silly putty to lock up the rear this way it's not permanent and for the front end I'd put in at least 100K silicone oil 300K would probably be better or just put the silly putty up front as well.


hope this helps you out or at least gives you direction.
 
evil pretty much nailed it for you there.
2. and extended chassis would help with that as well. flm makes a good set
3. you should make your own wheelie bar. look at the integy one and incorporate the design to how you need it, long and close to the ground.
5. depends if you stay with the 2 speed or goto a 3 speed and what engine your running.
6. like evil said a midtank would work but if your strictly dragging just get a smaller tank and custom mount it in the back or where the stock one used to be.
9. same thing evil said. u can get titanium stuff here and there that would replace some steel and lose some weight. make carbon fiber parts.
 
I'd go with a lighter oil in the rear shocks, get it to squat on take off. Also depending on the tires, use a soft foam or no foam to get the sidewalls to wrinkle some and grip better. You can get an alloy diff locker on eBay for $8, I use that in the back, and maybe a bad idea, but I'd try pulling the dogbones and completely removing the diff in the front. 2wd will want to wheelie more, but with the right wheelie bar and set-up, should be fine.

I haven't tried these ideas, just my thoughts if I were to go drag racing. Give us an update on what works, PLEASE!
 
This sounds like fun. You want to run as light as possible.

You want to run a very light tire, avoid the original GT tires. The newer GT-2 tires would work well for this, as would the recent HPI Savage Dirt Claws. I’m not sure which tire is lighter but I would go with the lighter one. The Dirt Bones are very light but they might not provide the best grip on pavement. I’ve never seen my Dirt Bones lose traction on pavement but I’m guessing it could happen. You could go with the Dirt Bones and cut off the pins.

I'm not a fan of the 3-speed but it makes a lot of sense for this application. Shift point adjustment for both shifts is very important. The shift RPM needs to match up with your motor/pipe combo. I’d run a 47T metal spur and alloy diff cups with 4-gear diffs and 30K diff lock fluid. I’d start with an 18T clutch bell and see what happens. You could drop to a 17T if you need more acceleration or go to the 19T if you need more top end. I would definitely leave the bones in and run 4WD.

You will need a big, bad motor with a Motorsaver filter and a dual chamber pipe. Opinions vary on the motor so I won’t make any recommendations. I'm assuming that these races will be fairly short blasts so you will want to tune on the lean side.

Suspension setup is key. You want soft springs and light weight shock oil for good weight transfer. That will help to prevent wheelies as will lowering the truck by removing the shock spacers. A low CG chassis would be beneficial.

The HPI wheelie bar is a nice general wheelie bar but you cannot depend on it to keep you off your lid. The HPI bar allows the truck to come up very high and a violent wheelie will quickly overwhelm it. It's basically for showing off, not keeping the wheels on the ground. I don't think it will work well for drag racing. You should look for a bar that sticks further off the back of the truck and is closer to the ground, like a real 1:1 wheelie bar.

Revos and T-Maxxes will give you a lot of trouble.
 
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My step up

Well here is what i have right now
engine picco .26
cvec pipe
modded rear fuel tand.
6volt battery
three speed tranny
18/49 spur/clutchbell
reverse module
ofna throttle mode
good motor saver
645 steering servo
street tires, and yellow rims

So far, the drag racing is going ok. I have more overall speed than other monster trucks that i am racing. I can run them down, But i still can not win many races.....reason Wheelies!

Getting my savage to stop doing wheelie is a problem. If i go slow off the line, the race is over. If i go fast off the line, I wheelie. I have currently purchased the new era savage wheelie bar. I hope that will work. I currently had the hpi wheelie bar on it, and i could wheelie the whole drag race, but of course I would not win. So for now, fighting wheelie is the battle i am fighting right now.
 
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18/46

Will I be able to go with a

18 / 46 spur clutchbelll combination

or maybe a 19/46 combination
 
if wheelies are the problem slam the truck, run just one spring per wheel, or even get buggy shocks. softer in the rear will let it squat instead of lift the front tires. once you get it LOW then make some sort of wheelie bar where the wheel is only about an inch off the ground, (watch this as to much squat may let it hit early).
 

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