armyav8r58d

I just ordered an E-Savage from Tower and I am looking for some advice plus I have a few questions. Before I get to it though, I did check out the search engine for posts like mine and found nothing useful before getting to all of the E-Savage vs E-Maxx banter.
Anyway, I am a NOOB when it comes to trucks and decided on the E-Savage based on the reviews and the common opinion that its tougher than most trucks (my buddy pulled his E-Maxx out of the box and promptly broke it within hours).
Is there any advice that I would find useful as a first timer as far as preventive maintenance and no kidding parts to have on hand?
Also, as for the NOOB part, I have absolutely no tools. So is there a preference to tool kits that are a must to start out with? Anything else you guys can think of would be great (oils, electronic cleaners). I am currently stuck in the desert, so its going to run in the sand and dust, and that also means that stocking up on parts is a must considering that the nearest hobby shop is back in the states (with all of my tools). I also read the post by Sticky, and am looking to see if you guys have anything else to add.
Thanks.

cummins driver

My Feedback: (31)

I havent owned an E-Savage personally, but i do own a nitro savages. The trucks are fairly different from what i have heard, but some standard tools will be needed for sure.

Id say a decent set of phillips screwdrivers(with at least a couple flatheads), some needlenose, and a nice set of metric allen wrenches, along with some 3 in 1 oil, super glue, blue loctite, and wd40. Solder and a soldering gun could be handy with an electric truck too. Im sure there are plenty of things im missing, but these should let you be able to fix most things.

Also, if you are running in the sand, just remember it eats bearings fast! Every few runs, you may want to pull the bearings out ofr the wheel hubs, and spray them out with WD40 the best you can, and lightly oil the inside of them if you can. You dont want oil on the outside though, because it makes the sand stick easily.

You also might want to keep a spare A-Arm set or 2 along with a dogbone, and definately a few spur gears. might want to pick an extra bearing set for the wheel hubs while you are at it since they may wear out quickly depending on how bad the sand gets in. Try and keep the sand out of your motor too. Im not sure if the motors come with heat sinks, but if you are going to be running in some hot weather, heatsinks for the motors would be nice to keep them cooler.

Over all it shouldnt take a lot to keep the truck going though. A few simple tools and spare parts should run you a long time!

Eric

Lilredmachine

Okey doke, there ain't many around that know this truck better than I do.

First off, the driveshafts will break at some point. The truck is very powerful stock and is heavy on the drivetrain, having no trouble simply twisting the shafts into spaghetti knots. It is considered better to replace with the Traxxas E-maxx equivelants which are here:

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXSP55

These are much cheaper than the actual replacements for the E-savage, as well as being quite a bit stronger. You can also do a mod if you buy a few packets where you use two outer sleeves with a center inner so there is a larger area of splines touching. This makes them very strong.

Running in sand shouldn't pose a huge issue as long as you keep on top of bearing care and lubing as suggested above. However, the stock tires are likely to not do the business in the sand for you. There are numerous types of paddles/large tread tyres that will solve that. However, be careful of the weight you are adding, anything over stock will be stressing that drivetrain even more.

The stock motors (Johnson ST550 for reference) are stonkingly quick, however they suffer for it and tend to burn quite quickly. I'm pretty good with motors but had trouble getting them to last much longer than 20 runs on 4s lipo, which I suppose isn't surprising as they are getting a large amount more stick on 4s than they are on 12 cell nimh. You might want to pick up a few spares, they are very cheap. Get a couple of big motor heatsinks, peel the motor stickers off and use thermal paste like the stuff they use on CPUs as extra protection. DO NOT remove the metal rings around the motors, they are called flux rings and are there to increase efficiency and decrease heat. The heatsinks should snap on over the rings. If you are in the desert, you might want to hook up a fan on the ESC. A standard 40mm computer fan will sit on the heatsink with some machine screws and will plug into a hidden port on the ESC. Nothing more annoying than having it kangaroo around when it hits thermal cut off.

To be honest, if you just pull the E-sav out of the box and run it, it will probably be fine. However 50% of this hobby is the maintenance and upgrading of the truck. Get stuck in and you'll enjoy it on a whole nother level. Mine started out box stock too.

Alternatively, a cheapish brushless system such as an EZrun 80amp ESC and a EZrun 74mm motor will give you great reliability, huge power and good protection from the sand.

cummins driver

My Feedback: (31)

Got a link to the EZ run system? Never heard of it... Is it a pretty good brushless system for an 1/8th truck?

cummins driver

My Feedback: (31)

Im assuming this is what you are talking about:

http://www.rcmodelland.com/index.php...=32&s=&lang=en

Doesent look like a bad price for an 1/8 scale system.

Lilredmachine

Yeah, they do a big daddy 150amp 6s controller (a mamba monster rival!) which comes with the big 2350kv motor too. like this:

[link=http://cgi.ebay.com/Hobbywing-EZRUN-150A-21T-3674SL-combo-For1-8-Off-Road_W0QQitemZ260380347308QQcmdZViewItemQQptZRadio _Control_Vehicles?hash=item260380347308&_trksid=p3 286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12% 7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A 50]150a 74mm[/link]

The motor the 80amp comes with is suitable for trucks like the E-savage, but would struggle in a GP savage conversion. The esc would be fine most likely. Reports are very positive on both the 150 and 80 escs.

armyav8r58d

Great info guys thanks for the help. Another question though, where can I find the max cells that I can put into the frame without modding it? It comes with 6 cell packs, but was told that a 7 cell pack would be better. Is one cell really going to be that big of a change?
Thanks

cummins driver

My Feedback: (31)

Not sure where you can find them, but yes, 1 extra cell on each battery will make a decent difference. That is a total of 2.4 extra volts.

t9dragon

My Feedback: (11)

You will have to modify the battery holders to get a 7cell pack to fit.

Lilredmachine

It's pretty simple, you can get 7 cell hump packs that have an extra cell on top of the base built by the other 6. All you need to do is cut the battery holders so that the extra cell hangs out of the holder. See pics.

And yes, the 7th cell in each pack will make a big difference. Depending on gearing, cell quality and tires you will see comfortably over 30mph. You will definitely need a fan on the esc to run 14 cells.