How many would be interested in a Savvy conversion?
 

I'm working on a couple savvy conversion ideas and want to know how many guys out there would actually buy one if I ever got them to market. Here are what they will probably end up like.

Stage 1: A $15 to $20 drop-in plate that uses the stock tranny.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ge1blsavvy.jpg
Stage 2: A center slipper clutch mounted on two plates that mount to the center skid plate. Built for any TVPs that can use a center skid plate. Probably going to run $75 to $100.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ge2blsavvy.jpg
Stage 3: Basically the G2R of the Savage. Milled TVPs, center slipper mounted on plates that are mounted to the TVPs, a center skid, a battery mount, the works. I'm aiming for a price of about $200 to $250. That might be a bit low, but I think it's possible.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ionmounted.jpg

I'm still a while away from being able to sell these as none are finished and I don't have the SolidWorks commercial license. Please give me some feedback.


JB

WOW! If only I had a Savy...I kinda like #3.

Wow man! That is pretty sweet, well if it does hit the market at a reasonable price, i might just get a savage and buy this conversion!

Ben, do you still want me to prototype the older versions you sent? I haven't got the files for these new versions to prototype yet. Send the new ones on and I can get them cut for you. My machine is finally up and runnning again it seems(been struggling with controller issues for while).

Looks good to me. I just bought a savage X and if i decided to go brushless, I liked 3 as well

I've worked a bit on 3. Heres an update. I'm glad you guys like it.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...onmounted3.jpg


JB

Mike, can you do my prototype as well? (the pictures i did sent you)

And did you ever cut carbon Fibre, Mike?

@ben, i spent alot of time making a savage conversion as well, mine will have a centerdiff. and you need to make the lower supports from one piece, those small things (i guess they are based on a FLM skid) won't hold up in crashes.

And the first motormount;

How is it supported? the two screws that are in the frame are not beefy enough to hold a motor.

No doubt there is much testing that needs to be done, but I have made something like the first one using some chassis braces and a piece of alum-polyethylene-alum sandwich and it worked surprisingly well. Hopefully it will be able to take a beating, but if not it's back to the drawing board. I did make the holes M4 because M3 seemed extremely small.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...y/DSC03064.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...y/DSC03066.jpg

Which lower supports are you referring to?


JB

The supports that hold the skid. (the 4, you need to make them like 2 long ones.

The mount on your pictures don't look too reliable to me, the thread of the M4 screws will eat it's wat thru the TVP's and cause play sooner or later. You need to make a brace to support the motor.

I will post a few pics of my current low cg motormount later.. And a few pics of my centerdiff converted savage

Cool, I'd love to see the pics.

Personally, I didn't think it looked reliable either, but my 2 speed clutch failed. before that mount did. I didn't have it locked in second, which is what I'll do once I get my savvy running again. Don't worry, if it's not reliable, I wont make it. I am a basher and know how frustrating it is to buy parts and have them fail. I will test the heck out of all of these parts. If it works well, I'll pursue it. If not, I'll drop the design.

Don't forget these are basically concepts as of now. I'm very opent to all critiques and comments.


JB

Serum,

Remember I wanted to make my top plate out of carbon? It cost's 25 euro's to water cut it here localy + material cost. I *may* still do that in september or something, need (more) money for mtb first. But I got the chassis today, and it is absolutly sick.

Very nice conversion idea's there Jagboy. Can you really mill those fillet's? Cause that really set's off any design.

Most can probably be milled. There may be some places where fillet meets chamfer that cant be milled, but who knows.

What about the price range guys? Would you buy 3 if it was around $250?


JB

Only if it where a full chassis, with center slipper or diff option, spurgear, pinion, tpv's, skid plate, brace's, hardware everything ready to go. Like a drop-in chassis upgrade.

personally i like #1 because of its simplicity. i think that it would be good for a basher because you keep the 3 speed.

@Sneek: That's what I'm aiming for. I'm also going to try to use as many stock savvy parts as I can. Hopefully it will be able to use savage spurs.

@cemetery gates: That's the target market; people who want the power of BL but don't want to spend a ton on a conversion. The problem is that if you dont lock the tranny into second, you don't get reverse and need to use mechanical brakes. That's fine for those who are dropping it into a stock savvy because they would already have mech brakes, but then you also have to worry about the clutch holding up. Locking it in second is probably the best idea.


JB

I won't argue with you about the price, but i think it's too much.
Here is a motormount i designed;

and here are a few pics of my current projects/tests;

http://rc.stuurmijmail.nl/dump/savage/1.JPG

http://rc.stuurmijmail.nl/dump/savage/2.JPG

http://rc.stuurmijmail.nl/dump/savage/3.JPG

http://rc.stuurmijmail.nl/dump/savage/4.JPG

http://rc.stuurmijmail.nl/dump/savage/5.JPG

And Come to think of it;

I also designed a direct bolt on battery tray for the FLM ext TVP's..

http://rc.stuurmijmail.nl/dump/Throw...xt%20addon.jpg

One of my main goals through all this is to keep the weight centralized. The batteries on these conversions sit between the chassis plates. What diff is that that you are using?


JB

Owh, bytheway;

The cool thing about the low cg motorconversion is that it's possible to adjust the gearmesh, without too much effort.

My current design is holding M4 nuts, so if they wear out, you can just replace them.

And the motor is fixed to the moving plate, So you don't need to worrie about stripping them either when adjusting the gearmesh.

But the way you are doing it, makes the motor sit skyhigh.. my goal is to make a low cg. I dislike wheelies. That's a pure lost of acceleration and power. And with the right amount of power, you would still be able to pull wheelies. that's an ofna diff, soon to be replaced, but it's okay for testing. The centerdiff isn't as stressed as the front and rear diff.

I had another plan though, this would more centralize the batteries and still keep the motor in the center, it just uses a savage front/end, and a whole different frame.

I dislike the batteries laying so wide, with the flm add-on, but like i said, it's just a brainfart, and i am sure people would be interested in such a battery holder. It's nicer than the common U profiles imo.

not to hijack the thread, but who are you guys getting to make your parts and roughly how expensive are they?
thanks

the parts that are on my trucks are made with a jigsaw/dremel/rasps and patience.

I am in the race for a CNC mill, but i need to finish the house first.. (demands of the Lovely Lady..)

@jagboy;

Did you see my first motorplate?

http://rc.stuurmijmail.nl/Savage/newborn/slides/10.JPG

http://rc.stuurmijmail.nl/Savage/new...20onsavage.JPG

I'm not quite sure who I am going to get to machine all mine. I think there is a CNC shop in my area. My summer job will hopefully be able to pay for some machining. I hope to have prototypes of at least stages 1 and 3 by the end of the summer.


JB


Serum: No, I hadn't. It looks pretty nice. I found that it needed to be pretty much vertically aligned w/ the spur to allow the batts to sit on the stock motor mount plate, so thats how I designed it.

if i decide to a Keep my savage and b change to bl i'll prolly go for #2

Nice Job!

I will be very interested to see final product and will be happy to find you couple customers back in Russia.

Artur

Hey guys, I'm working on a center slipper that would accept savage spurs. How important would that be in a decision to buy a conversion? Is there a different brand of spur that would be better to build the clutch around? It's not quite done, but I should have a few screenshots within the next day or two.


JB

Why not a center diff? Anywho, the Ofna 51T plastic spur is one of the few.

Maybe a center diff option too, but this is mainly geared towards bashers and hence the slipper. It wouldn't be too hard to make the spacing good for both, though.


JB

Well I figured I post a pic of my conversion. I got my buddy the owner of the site to hook me up with some parts. I designed and he cut them. Thanks mike!! But there is my pic.Attachment 1333

It is not perfect but it makes me happy for now.

Not done yet, but an update. I need to measure a couple things and probably move the motor further back, but this is the general design. I still need to take off a bunch of material from the TVPs and find somewhere to mount more cells. Or maybe a whole different battery mounting system. Oh well. Help me out with you C&C. Thanks.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...rsionfull1.jpg


JB

real nice conversion

So, did you win? (The Dr. Pepper peel thingy on the cup) :)

It is a long story of how I got the cups. They are out of date and didn't come from a store. I can't turn it in. I don't peel them no more.

...lol...i know this is an old thread but kinda neat how it looks like the Savage Flux ;)

If you decide to make them I would think about buying the 2nd one.

Haha... It's been a while since I've been here. Actually, it's been a while since I've done anything with RC cars. I found a guy who wanted a chassis and I designed one but unfortunate circumstances did not allow the project to see completion.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...y/HQ422072.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ssy4220701.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ssy4220703.jpg

Now I'm designing a race car with a team at UC Berkeley, majoring in mechanical engineering, and having a blast. I don't know if there's much RC in my future, but if someone was legitimately interested in buying a chassis, maybe we could work something out.


JB

Ok sounds good. Is that another new design?