yeah, they are the rearshocks Country!

The UE shocks are rear ofna buggy shocks, but they have coated shafts, which are shorter than the standard buggy rear shock. Longer than the front, though.

The ofna front shocks I have are just a tad longer than the stock traxxas shocks. Anything more wouldn't bolt up without binding up the pivot balls from my experimentation. If the UE shocks actually are OFNA rear shocks with shorter shafts, I would think the bodies would bottom out on the spring retainers before full suspension compression with the shorty shafts ecause the bodies are too long. My total length from center to center of the shock eyes is 115mm. The measurement from the center of the top shock eye to the top of the rubber shaft boot is 45mm. My bet is that the UE shocks measure exactly the same.

Whoa, lots of shock tech.....but back to the topic at hand. I ripped into the truck this afternoon, and after many many screws were pulled out and having to take many things apart, I found at least one of my main problems: the front diff's pinion gear had 3 teeth blown out. I don't know if this is the only issue, but I'll check the tranny by spinning the spur witout the front stuff attached to see if there's still some resistance. If I wanted to, I could even hook up the batts and see how it spins via the motor, but that might be too much. Either way, this truck is a pain to work on, so I'm hoping that tear downs will be few and far between, because you have to take the whole truck apart just to fix one dumb little thing!

Welcome to the world of Savage wrenching! I once helped a friend to replace a diff, I don't look forward to do this ever again.

That is why i like my e-maxx, you only have to take apart one sectionto get to a particular part.

that is why i recommend to use the aluminium diffhousings and the hotbodies C8019 cups and the use of M3X 18 machined screws.. the brakes killed your drivetrain. proper shimming and changing the housings would have prevent this. a proper build savage diff is just as strong as a UE 8spider.

I've already got the 4 spider mod on these diffs, so I know the guts are strong enough, I'll just dump some grease in and seal them back up. However, I would think that shimming the pinion and bevel correctly would really help, this was a SS kit too.....aren't they supposed to have stronger gears?

No, like i said, you need te aluminium diff housings and the HBcup to make them bulletproof. no way around it. The 4spider mod has got nothing to do with the play on the pinion and the ringgear.
this pic probably looks familiar..

Nah, there's grease on mine. :D

So where do I get the stupid alum. version of the cup anyway? And are we talking about the diff case (as in the thing that holds the diff in the front of the truck), or the case that holds the spider gears in? All the results for "hot bodies C8019" I got on Google made it look like it was the spider holder thingy.

Two things, that C8019 is a diffcup, that uses a bigger bearing for one thing and the aluminium diffhousings are the ones that hold the entire diff. only maker on the block so far is GPM (FLM is currently making the bulkless for the savage)

So it'd be wise for me to get the metal version of the cup? i've seen them for $4.50 around on the net, but are they still the metal ones and not a cheapo plastic version? Usually the metal stuff is more expensive, so this kinda throws me off.

No, the HB cup is very good, those cheap aluminium cups are no good. i've a FLM cup, but i don't know if that is up the par, i like the HBcups, because they use a larger type of bearing. and use a metal piece on the output.

I never found any metal cups, I didn't see a description of what the "C8019" was either.

Let's just boil it down to this: should I get one of those Hot Bodies parts for each of the diffs on my Savage?

Um, yeah, can anyone shed some light on this? :)

I have the FLM aluminum diff cups for the Savage. The HB diff cups also work well, according to Serum(I also have these). Eitehr should be an upgrade compared to stock.

Alright, so I guess I'll just get some from Stormer or something, now that I already got a pinion gear to replace the one I killed.

those HB C8019 have got a metal part, (molded into the plastic) that carry the output shaft. They use a other size bearing as well (which is good)16X8X5 instead of 16X10X5. the plastic is such a good quality, that you can make M3 thread in it, and crank the bolts really tight. (M3X18mm) they are the ones you want (about 5 dollars each) if you use a thin sheet of spring metal (such as .2mm thich) and make square plates from it, perforate it with your paper perforator, for the shafts to go thru, you will be able to build the toughest diff possible.

check my diff, so you know what i am talking about with that square plates.

Looks like you just shimmed the inside gears of the diff Serum, don't know if I'll go that far. So they take a different size bearing? I s'pose that means I gotta buy more crap while I'm at it......:M:

the bearings are the same that are used at the wheels.

And no, i did not just shimmed the diffs, i made 4 square blocks at the end (with HB cups this is not needed) and made the diameter of the crosspins smaller, to fit in these blocks..

Shoot for yourself, if you want aluminium cups, they are more expensive, and now you are complaining about the price of two bearings.. It's only a hint to keep the diffs going. ;)

You also need to shim the diff on the outside.

Well, I understand how to shim the pinion and bevel gear, that's not the difficult part either, I just wasn't sure what the thin strips of metal did inside your diff.

As for the diff cup, I'll just go with the HB ones, non need to blow it on the more expensive ones.........yet.

Wow, long time since I saw this stuff, just placed a special order with Hot Rod Hobbies for 2 of the HB C8019's and they should have them by noon on Friday. Gonna be kinda close though, because we're going out of town that day, so I might have to delay leaving until after lunch......I'll be mad if the part doesn't come in by then though and we can't leave early.