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how to make a savage handle good??

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chickenman242

chickenman242

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straya mate
RC Driving Style
  1. Bashing
so I put a few tanks through my octane and so far so good ,no real dramas but it can't take a decent corner so save its life.
so far my upgrade list consists of trencher x's and a savox 1231 steering servo also I'm looking at the adjustable upper arms but my big question is shocks ,what is a good oil weight for this thing ? also what about springs , the stocker seem too soft . now I'm not a racer but I do like my trucks to be able to bash with being on its lid ,so all you savage experts ,school me I'm here to learn lol
 
I'll be following this. I thought after converting my Flux to XL specs my problems would be solved. Nope, now it just cartwheels further if I take a turn to fast.
 
Take apart your shocks and add fuel tubing to shorten the throw. This mod will help big time. Be sure to add a heavier oil weight also.
The stock oil is way too thin. I can't remember what weight i changed to as it was a longggg time ago. I can probably look through my stuff and recall...will see what i can find out.
 
New tires will be the biggest help. The terrapins just don't handle well. I run hpi gt2 and dirt bones on my XL and they do a lot better. As far a shock oil, I like 40 to 45 weight.
 
I was going to say new tires will help, then read again and see you have Trenchers, so all good there.

I like the MT look, but with all the different MT's I've own currently or in the past, I always find myself getting really tired of constantly walking over to them and roll them back on the wheels....I'm not lazy, but I am disabled and can barely stand up and walk and rollovers always happen when my truck is farthest point away from me....but I digress :D

I end up figuring out a way to get my MT's in more of a Truggy stance which improves the handling in a big way. Some one already mentioned using fuel tubing for internal limiting. That's works well and same as I would do. What I like to see is the front A-arms perfectly flat across and just a tick of up angle in the rear. The thing with using the tubing to limit is that you can reassembly the shocks without oil install them and you know if your in the ballpark. Worry about final fill when you get your ride height where you want. But keep in mind that you will still want some droop, so don't over limit the shocks.

HPI fills there shocks with what they call 30 or 35 weight, but I have found that it is really watery compared to Factory Team AE shock oil. And from many years of experience I only use FT AE fluids and Green Slime for either new or rebuilds. There's no perfect weight shock oil. Everyone is different on what they like. So Id say start with 35 weight and change out as needed.

Same with springs. New springs require break in time too before they 'take a set' to coin an old 1:1 race car phrase. HPI springs are all flat rate as far as what I've experienced with them and all soften with some use. And just like oil there's no one size fits all perfect spring set up. If you make changes to the ride height, lowering its stance will also effect how the shock works as a whole.

So If it were mine, I would lower ride height and get some quality oil in the shocks. Run minimal preload spacers as needed and see what it need from there. If you find that your adding a pile of preload to keep it level and not constantly diving, then heavier springs are the next item. Then worry about the perfect weight fluid last, as it ends up being more of a final tuning option once you get the ride height and springs figured out.
 
the biggest help here is not tires, thats is false, the biggest help would be a sway bar, thicker oil weight(60WT) and fuel tubing in the shocks to help absorb the bounce and roll, these 3 together will make your life so much easier. My savage used to roll all over the place, now i can drift instead of rolling, which makes life so much easier. If you can't afford to do any of that right now, you can tie steel leader wire to your a-arms where the sway bar goes, attach it to the shock tower and that would be an easy temporary fix

---------- Post added at 12:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:16 PM ----------

the steel leader wire technique is almost the same as an actual monster truck technique where as they attach a strap from their axle to the frame of the truck to minimize the roll as much as possible
 
wannarunem said:
Take apart your shocks and add fuel tubing to shorten the throw. This mod will help big time. Be sure to add a heavier oil weight also.
The stock oil is way too thin. I can't remember what weight i changed to as it was a longggg time ago. I can probably look through my stuff and recall...will see what i can find out.
Click to expand...

I use actual o rings in place of fuel tubing the tubing seems not to last as long for me. I took my shaft and shock to to the local hardware store and matched the ID of the o ring to the shaft lowered my height so the arms set almost level. I put the Associated 35 weight oil in them and the HPI purple springs softened up my ride so it handles way better. That was on my Savage 25 SS running one of the HPI 4.6 motors the original 4.6 I still get wheelies and the truck handles great.
 
are the red spring the heaviest spring I can get? I will change the oil to 45wt on the weekend and thanks for the tip on the sway bars.
I weighed my octane against my mates x and it like nearly double the weight lol
 
I got the white springs, and 35wt oil in mine. I'm going to pick up some heavier oil tomorrow, and the sway bar kit on my next weekend off when I can get to a better hobby store.

I'm also going to try the fuel tube on the shock shaft.
 
50wt ??
Seems a big thick , but I'll give it a go.
How much fuel line does one put in? Sorry for dumb questions but I'm popping my savage cherry and need to take it slow.....
 
I put 50wt in the front and 60wt in the rear the funny thing i found was that in the book it says the springs are pink front red rear but mine has pink all round which i belive is the softest ones i have a white set coming along with sway bars and adjustable upper arms coming , slowly....
 
I took her out for a run this morning and it seems a bit better with the heavier oil just waiting for parts before I drop the trenchers on the steering servo is a pig in these things hopefully the new one will fix that

what wheels and tires do you have on your truck??
 
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What do you guys think? To low or what? It's sits at 1.75".

I use it for light bashing maybe seen 6' of air, it's already widened and extended. Thinking about ordering sway bar's and some new tires. Got 35wt oil in the shocks with white springs all around. Wanted to take her out tonight but I was running behind all day today and have no time now Tuesday will be a test day.
 
I was talking to a mate of mine who has a flux and an X and he says the sway bars make a big difference .
I don't know how wide your truck measures but a would say a set of 1/2" offset wheels would give you some decent stablity
 
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One thing I can tell you these terra pins are poo.....
worst tire I have ever seen /used why do hpi put them on their trucks , the dirt bons seem OK but I'll stick with proline.
 

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