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savage engine swap

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Patch_Man

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I've been wanting a MT for a couple months now and after reading thru different forums I've finally decided on getting the Savage because of it's reliability and size. The stock engine is the only thing holding me back from getting one right now. My question is will a Savage with a picco .26 outrun a stock tmaxx with the 2.5? I've read the shootout between all the major MTs in the new rc monster truck magazine and it shows the savage having a 31mph top speed and the tmaxx 45mph top speed. Will a savage with a .26 do better than 45mph? I realize top speed isn't everything but it sure does make things more interesting! And for those of you that have both a tmaxx and a savage, which one do you personally like better? Thanks.

Patch
 
I dont know how fast mine goes now (no radar gun to check) but I assure you, that with my Picco .26, I can smoke any 2.5 in the short (no I dont own a 2.5 but have driven and tuned one). If you dropped this much power in a new maxx you wouldnt be able to keep the front end down. The Savage soaks it up MUCH better IMO. Guess I'd have to find someone with a 2.5 to see what it has on the top end side by side.
 
Well having both a Tmaxx and a Savage. I prefer the Savage. The stock savage I find alot more durable then the stock Tmaxx. If you are wanting a .21 in a Maxx you'll have alot of drivetrain to upgrade to even be able to handle the torque of a low end .21. I jump my Savage alot higher then the stock Tmaxx and it handles like a dream( Savage that is). If you are wanting the speed out of the box then a Tmaxx is it, but that is all. Yes people say that there is alot of aftermarket parts for a Maxx but look at the amount of time a Maxx has been on the market. Given time there will be alot of aftermarket parts for a Savage(I want Titanium Skids). The only parts I had break so far on my Savage is the dog bones, but I contacted HPI and I am getting them replaced free of charge. They stated that there was a flaw in the earlier dog-bones. As for reverse in the Maxx well mine nolonger has one and it cost me to convert it over to forward only. So I am not wanting reverse in my Savage. The thing that HPI cut out they use those cost to beef up other areas of the MT.

If only the Savage had of been out when I was looking into the RC-MTs. I would have had the Savage from day one and all the money I sunk into my Tmaxx for aftermarket parts I could have had one heck of a Savage. My maxx costed me about $2500 Canadian approx $1600 US(this is with all the aftermarket parts)
 
no radar speed trap

I've seen alot of posts about speed traping cars. Not all of us have access to a radar gun, but most of us do have access to a video cam. I got this trick off a micro rs4 site, so I can't claim it as mine.

Find some pavement that is traffic free. Take a video cam, a tape measure, and some masking tape with you. Measure off some distance (15-20 feet is pretty good). Video some runs. Count the number of frames it takes to go through the measured distance (camers tape at 30 frames per second). Now you have a time and distance in feet per second. Convert to MPH and there ya go.

Off topic, but kind of cool. Plus you can post the video to say "HA! Here's the proof my car does 90+"
 
Thanks for the replys! Think I'm going to go with the Savage. From all the videos I've seen the Savage just looks more stable. I'm definitly going to upgrade the engine later on though. Other than that the Savage looks better in every other category.

Patch
 
If a T-Maxx 2.5 goes 45mph, then I'm thoroughly impressed and amazed. My Fantom powered old style T-Maxx has smoked a stock 2.5 T-Maxx. Does that mean that mine goes faster than 45mph? I doubt it. I've had mine clocked and with a good tail wind down hill it tops out near 38mph. It is geared for the lower end power, so I'm certain I could get another couple mph out of it, but speed is nothing when offroad bashing. Torque is life in the offroad world.

I think Alein covered most of the high points on the two trucks, and like him...if the Savage had been around when I was chosing a new MT back about a year and a half ago...I'd have one super-duper hopped up Savage. My T-Maxx (I love it to death) is a money pit. It can handle just about everything I throw at it or throw it at, but it has taken me nearly $2000US to get it that way.

Pound for pound out of the box, the Savage is the better truck. Throw an Outlaw into it, and it will eat T-Maxxes for lunch until the cows come home.
 
Originally posted by SkyMaxx


Pound for pound out of the box, the Savage is the better truck. Throw an Outlaw into it, and it will eat T-Maxxes for lunch until the cows come home.
Click to expand...


and how!!!!
 
my .26 savage does around 50mph, it seems to be running out of gear, I am still running the stock gears
 
Supafly...I'm having the same problem with my Hyper 21 8-port powered Savage. Time to regear to get the power to the wheels.
 
SkyMaxx, I have a Hyper 8 port and an OS .21 RG-X(P) sitting in their box's.

The hyper 8 port has alot of highend power, but it doesn't have the low end torque needed for extreme offroad bashing.

The OS RG, has tons of low end torque and a nice top end, but I still wanted more power, so I went to the .26

I am having problems with the ofna 3 shoe clutch I installed, it feels like its slipping, I think there isnt enough room inside the clutchbell for the clutch shoes to open to the right point where they have the most grip, on the 2 shoe stock clutch the tips of the shoes is where they got worn the most, with the 3 shoe its in the very center of the clutch shoe. I think I need a bigger clutch bell or maybe should just go back to the stock 2 shoe clutch with aluminum shoes

what do you guys think ?
 
Hmmm...interesting comment on the Hyper not being hardcore bash worthy. Did you change the gearing to change some of that high end power into some low end torque? If not, then you're right it won't bash well. I have a high end performer in my T-Maxx and have it geared for low end and it works just fine.

I guess the proof will be in the pudding as they say. I'll let you know what I think after my first session with Pirata.
 
I never changed the gears, couldnt find any that would work at the hobby shops around here, can you reccomend some ?
 
I wish I could. At the moment, I am thinking the stock set up is good for now. But were I to start researching which way to go for gears, I'd start with this link:

https://www.rcnitrotalk.com/reviews/ratio.htm

Then, I'd start pushing some searches on the online hobby shops to find the products that met my requirements. From there, I'd hit the LHS and buy what I need.

As it is, I'm kind of broke at the moment and have not looked really closely at the gearing of my Savage to determine which way I want to take it.
 
Ok, where are the dang Picco 26's? I'm about to call Italy and pitch a..... Nevermind...

Which engine is better for general running and bashing, but still had buttloads of power? I'm really looking at the Hyper 21 8P, or the 26. But noone has the 26, and the 21 is in stock...
 
How patient are you? I run the 21 8-port and it is great. Christian runs the Outlaw and swears by it. I think both are great engines with monster power.

I think the end result is going to be driven by the lead question. How patient are you? Can you wait for the Outlaw? If not, the 8-port will provide the scratch for your itch.
 
Not very at any given moment. The only things keeping me from getting the hyper is the PS and the desire to really run the piss outa the 21bb. My 21bb is getting long in the tooth and I have to grear it with a 13 CB. It does put out some torque, but the top speed, the max altitude and the pitch control in the air suffer. It still gets up to speed, but it could be faster, and get redlined faster for my taste. If I can get it to wheelie, redline at insane speed, jump high and long, and be controlable in the air, I'd be happy with either. The rated HP is just a gnats ass different (26 wins), but the hyper has a few extra RPMs.

I guess I should be asking, which engine will allow me to really hurt my savage faster......
 
LMAO--I like the way you think.

If that is your question, then the answer is the one you have available quicker. If you want speed on the Savage, I'd say properly geared the Outlaw in a Savage will crush anything moving in the MT class (this does not include the multi engine Frankensteins out there) and give some onroad racers a run for their money.
 
Extreme RC Motorsport has the Hyper for 129, what else would I need? The (formerly) pruple header gasket need replacing, so I'll need that. Is it adviseable to run the stock flywheel and clutch shoes? And what CB is about right for the above parameters? Chris is gonna hate me for going with a Hyper, lol. (If you're listening, they all burn nitro). Oh yeah, better dogbones (got some replacements today, and they're the temporary HPI blackies). Anything else to make the rotostart work right? Thanks.
 
I used the stock header, gasket, (purple thingy), and pipe on my Hyper. I also used the stock flywheel, clutch shoes, and clutch bell. It meets the requirements you listed. BUT if you want to gain extra oomph on either the high or low side of things you will need to rethink the clutch bell and spur gear. I suggest, you see how it runs with the stock gearing and decide from there which way to go to fulfill your needs.

The rotostart thing is something I can't speak to. I use the pull start. So far I have only heard problems with the rotostart gizmo. To make it work on this engine, I would imagine you would need the appropriate rotostart backplate attachment to make it work. What that is? I do not know.
 
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Yeah they all run nitro ;) The 8 port is nothing to throw stones at. You will like it a lot. My roto start hasnt had any problems yet aside from me not taking into account that it wasn't made for the Picco. However, a simple bearring took up the slack on the shaft and all is perfect. Cost a buck to make work 110%. Aside from that, its an AWESOME addition. No more yanky fingers.
 

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