Recommend some great beginner hop-ups for this noob

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M Shark

RCTalk Basher
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Location
McAllen TX
RC Driving Style
  1. Bashing
I am new to the RC world and this is my first ever RC vehicle. So far I am having a blast!

I have an extra $200 bucks to spare (at the moment) and I want to spend it on upgrades for my stock Savage X 4.6

A few things come into mind, steering servos, rechargable battery pack, quality servo horns, wheelie bars, etc.

Tires: I think the stock tires suck. They have too much flex in them. Any great recommendations for use in dirt and pavement?

Are there metal bumpers? and a better quality rollcage? My Savage is still new but the bumpers and stock cage have already taken a beating and in certain areas have about 3/4 left in the diameter from scraping on the pavement.

Help me create a better truck! thanks!

I've already bought the basic maintenance stuff.
 
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U should deff get ur self a nice steering servo. I recommend a Savox SC-1256TG, it's about $70 bucks and has 277 oz of torque.

Hump receiver packs are a great addition as well, the XL hump pack is about $20 bucks on ebay with charger.

As far as tires go, Badlands 3.8 and Trencher X 3.8 are awesome. Big and beefy knobby tires for sure, I too hate the stock rollers lol. There's a lot of street tires out there too; Phautlines, Road Rage 3.8 ect.

Forget about the metal stuff u dont need it... U want certain aspects of the truck to have a weak point, a part that will give upon impact. Any time u add alloy parts all it's gonna do is disperse the energy else where and break something else.

Get ur self a tuned pipe too, something like a cheap SS/XL pipe from ebay, those are about 15 bucks. If u wanna splurge u can always place an order for an ERCM pipe :)
 
Another thing to note would be IMO to drain out the shock oil (assuming u have plastic big bores) and replace it with something along the lines of 40-45wt oil. The stuff they use in the big bore shocks from the factory is pretty thin. I found that 45wt was a perfect match for the "pink" springs that come on the 2011-2013 X.
 
Ok so first things first:

1. Steering Servo
2. Hump Reciever packs
3. Tires
4. Tuned pipe.

I'll weigh in on the recommendations before buying ones. I do have the stock plastic big bore shocks. What does a thicker oil provide? More resistance, absorption capacity?
 
Thicker oil will provide a less springy feel, the truck should tip less in corners, less bounce when landing, I like a smooth swoosh myself, and less rebound upon big landings

Myself I'd buy a better drivetrain, maybe some aluminum clutch shoes for your clutch bells

When you get a hump battery pack, look into getting an aftermarket charger, mines from dynamite, it'll charge a hump pack in about 30mins, it also trickle charges after the main charge cycle. $25.00
Another good buy is differential oil, it just works better than grease

---------- Post added at 5:11 PM ---------- Previous post was at 5:01 PM ----------

I picked up a roll cage from r/c solutions......but low and behold it doesn't fit my HPI LCG Kit....they fit on stock savages though

IMO, EH23 is correct about the metal, unless you just want it, I've built a couple of savages and they have gotten really heavy with all the aluminum I used, but bolt holes strip that's why god invented taps, and easy-outs
My first pipe was a JPG 3 I liked it until I broke it.

---------- Post added at 5:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 5:11 PM ----------

I've got my eye on kershawdesigns extended upper and lower a-arm kit
 
Ok, another question. I just spent 4 tanks this afternoon of bashing this truck and I noticed the spur gear already thinning out. How many tanks of gas do these plastic spur gears last? Maybe I should upgrade to metal as well?
 
Ok, another question. I just spent 4 tanks this afternoon of bashing this truck and I noticed the spur gear already thinning out. How many tanks of gas do these plastic spur gears last? Maybe I should upgrade to metal as well?

If the mesh is right they should last a very long time
 
I have a photo I'd like to upload on the gear mesh. It seems a little bit off center. Is there a way to get the spur gear and clutch bell to align dead center?
 
I went metal just cause after I replaced everything with HD, I noticed them on one of the shelves at a place called game-n-stuff....(it's closed down)
Now their the ones I have in all my savages, haven't tried to many others except for a steel spur from GHhobbies, it had inter changeable spur teeth, the bolts kept backing out and I'd lose them, IMO that particular one wasn't worth the trouble...or the coin.

---------- Post added at 10:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:27 PM ----------

Oh sorry I use Robinson racing spurs, HPI HD vented clutch bells

If you go Robinson racing spurs get extra spur bearings, I hammer a 48T flat one afternoon, after the bearing let go
 
I've had spur gears last for years in my rigs. If your wearin it out that soon on a new truck something's out of line. Spin it with your finger it should be nice and smooth. If its rough when u spin it again something's out of line. They usually come pretty well set up as rtr's. How many tanks of fuel have put through it so far?
 
Well, the first spur gear burnt while still doing the tuning process after the initial break in period. This 2nd spur gear appears to have some small indentations on the teeth which you can see at a certain angle. And at a closer look it seems the teeth have about a 1/8 peice of it thinned out.

I was wondering, this 2nd spur gear appears to wobble a tad bit, maybe about 1mm off. It spins better without tightening but as soon as i tighten the nut a little bit it starts to show some very slight wobble. Now as I tighten it down and loosen it about 1/8 turn it shows a more prominent wobble.
 
That's partly why I changed to Robinson racing spurs, I had though that i had bent a transmission input shaft (spur gear shaft), when I asked the LHS, the guy said he didn't think I could have bent one of those, then I seen the RR spurs and thought that they would wear out less, so I grabbed a couple of each size......I'm still not sure what the right tire size is for them though, I use what ever I have on hand and still they hold up really good
Don't know if a stock savage would break anything in the trans......I change out the drivetrain before I assembled my savages.
 
Ok so my throttle Servo gave way! which was a good thing as I switched over the HPI SF-20 steering servo to control the throttle and I upgraded the steering servo to a HiTech HS-7955

I also upgraded to a hump reciever battery pack and I'm amazed by the difference in power and response with just the 2 above upgrades.

Even the stock SF-20 servo (with metal teeth) on the throttle responds much better than the SF-10

My next buy is a HPI wheelie bar and better tires. Next month I'll have another $200 to spend give or take.

---------- Post added at 4:24 AM ---------- Previous post was at 4:15 AM ----------

If you go Robinson racing spurs get extra spur bearings, I hammer a 48T flat one afternoon, after the bearing let go

I'll stick to the stock plastic spur gear for now. I want to master adjusting the mesh to perfection before I go into metal spur gears and clutch bell upgrades.

I'd rather practice on a $5 spur gear than tear up a $48 spur gear. So I actually bought 4 plastic stock spur gears just in case. (not bad for about $20)

What about quality tools? Do you guys buy tools built for RC cars? Or just the usual stuff from your local Home Depot or Sears?
 
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If you have automotive tools you'll be fine with those, as for hex key look for ball ended ones if they're available........post pic of your stripped nut, if you have a pencil bringer that will work to grind down the nut and threaded shaft, or you could try a vise-grip pliers
 
If you have automotive tools you'll be fine with those, as for hex key look for ball ended ones if they're available........post pic of your stripped nut, if you have a pencil bringer that will work to grind down the nut and threaded shaft, or you could try a vise-grip pliers

I'd like to upgrade the wheel nuts to more easily removable ones. The stock ones need precise tools and patience to prevent them from stripping.

Are the nuts I posted worth it?
 
If you have automotive tools you'll be fine with those, as for hex key look for ball ended ones if they're available........post pic of your stripped nut, if you have a pencil bringer that will work to grind down the nut and threaded shaft, or you could try a vise-grip pliers

I wouldn't get ballend drivers as your main set, they're great when you need to get in at an angle but not for everyday use. They seem to strip screws much easier than normal hex drivers. Look at Team EDS tools, I'll be getting a set soon. If you want to get a cheaper set now and then maybe grab some better ones, look at the Dynamite sets.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
 
Make sure to get the titanium nitride coated hex tools. I agree that ball end should not be your main goto tools because of the stripping out of hex heads all too often.
 

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