Freeze's Savage Flux "Frostbyte II" build thread

[bryan]

Has anyone GOOGLED the title of this thread?

EDIT;I am not to offend anyone. No harm intended by this post

[Bondonutz]

Interesting to say the least.

I read we here on RCM were accused of bashing his build ? (Not by Freezy)

[Arct1k]

Originally Posted by Bondonutz

Interesting to say the least.

I read we here on RCM were accused of bashing his build ?

I don't see Freeze calling RCM out but yes he was unnecessarily bashed here and on RCTech as well as other sites as far as I can see.

Some may not have liked the fact that he was posting the thread on multiple forums etc. Whilst I'm not one for the drama, I just think think its a loss to the site and the community if people are driven away from the forums and the hobby.

We all know that this group can be a tough crowd (don't get me started on Maxamps) this kid had enthusiasm and could have one day done some builds worthy of Sean...

PS If you don't know who Sean is then you've not hung out in the Project X and Revo pages...

[thzero]

Just as a counter point, might want to check out certain responses on the thread over on Savage Central.

Upon further reflection iv'e decided to say to hell with all naysayers and haters because their always gonna hate and or b1tch about something in life anyway . I'm very surprised and honored that I do have a few people and even fans that really do care and wish to see my project continue step by step and see the eventually completion of it. I don't want to let those people down or myself for that matter, so I'm gonna press forward! Any further harassment will be reported to the moderators and i'll be adding people to my block/ignore list, i'm not playing this game with them anymore. I also ask people to please feel free to report others inappropriate behavior/posts as they see fit to.

Now, back to the project!

[scarletboa]

Originally Posted by Freezebyte

Upon further reflection iv'e decided to say to hell with all naysayers and haters because their always gonna hate and or b1tch about something in life anyway . I'm very surprised and honored that I do have a few people and even fans that really do care and wish to see my project continue step by step and see the eventually completion of it. I don't want to let those people down or myself for that matter, so I'm gonna press forward! Any further harassment will be reported to the moderators and i'll be adding people to my block/ignore list, i'm not playing this game with them anymore. I also ask people to please feel free to report others inappropriate behavior/posts as they see fit to.

Now, back to the project!

now that's more like it!

who gives a damn what people say about your savage. at least you are doing things better this time and you still bought the best out-of-the-box basher out there. if you ever plan on bumping it up to 6s, i have some neu 3s packs that i might be parting with soon. i'll let you know before i make a FS thread if i decide to sell them.

as far as upgrades go, some swaybars would be a good, inexpensive upgrade that would really help handling. they are next on my upgrade list after driving my revo with swaybars. the difference is night and day.

can't wait for the new bashing vids....

Part 3: Diff Rebuild and motor sealing



Seeing's how I have not heard back from HPI in regards to a possible replacement diff cup with the broken screw, I decided to just go ahead get get the parts I needed from the LHS and proceed forth. "Frostbyte I" originally had 100k diff oil which resulted in a very hill climbing machine and could power through just about anything. In hindsight, the 100k did decrease my steering and handling a fair amount so I wanted to go less then 100k but I still wanted to keep the wheels from unloading too easy in rough terrain and gain some handling and steering back. Decided just to come to the easiest conclusion and go for 50k in front and rear.



Again, the Team AE green slime is excellent for lubricating the diff seals to help reduce leaks and seal failure.





With the old, stock oil removed and our diff cup replaced, were ready to put in some fresh, bashing diff oil. FYI, only fill up to the top of the first axle shaft to allow for heat expansion and or prevent locking the diffs





Yep, were using the good green stuff on all the seals and lubricating the diff shafts as well so they slide on easy.





And after putting on some fresh bevel seals and screws with a LITTLE bit of blue loctite, our diffs are ready to go!





Brushless motors are incredible pieces of engineering, its amazing how little we have to maintain these things compared to brushed motors. To help extend the life of my new Flux Tork motor as well as reduce maintenance intervals, I'm gonna seal up the front endbells openings with some set screws. I asked Patrick del Castillo, president and principle Engineer of Castle Creations at the RCM forums about doing this last year. He stated that there should be no issues with sealing the endbell of the 2200kv motor up. Never hurts to double check when your dealing with a $200+ motor and asking the president of the company who designed the motor is about as good as you can get! Major Kudo's to Castle Creations for their help and support at RCM in dealing with customers questions and issues on a face to face basis.





These small set screw with a small amount of blue loctite will help keep the motor pretty much sealed and safe from the dust and debris during bash sessions, extending the life of the bearings and reduce cleaning/reoiling. Sounds like a winner to me!

Part 4: DeAnodizing and Steering upgrades


Because I once again have a blue/silver/white color theme for "Frostbyte II" just like the original, I decided it was a must to get rid of the stock, purple Savage anodizing. Luckily, thanks to practicing this on my 5T to get rid of its ugly orange, we can rid ourselves of the boring purple quick and easy!




Enter the easiest and fastest way to removing your ugly anodizing, Greased Lighting! About $8 at my local Lowe's.





A nice half hour dip in this stuff will quickly remove all traces of any anodizing on aluminum. Though this stuff doesn't smell very bad, it is fairly toxic so its best to do this outside and keep your animals from licking it.





After just a few minutes, you can easily see the anodizing being removed. It takes about half an hour and results in a slimy, gray layer on the aluminum that needs to be cleaned off with a sponge or rag. Some aluminum parts will need two baths to get rid of all the anodizing as well as any visual impurities.





After a few hours of soaking, cleaning, resoaking and wiping down, here's our result! Mucho better if you ask me! Some peeps actually polish and buff their aluminum parts like this to a mirror shine. I didn't feel the need or desire as its just gonna get dinged and scratched anyway. At least its not purple anymore.







Next on the agenda is upgrading servo saving spring. I'd heard since my first Flux last year that the stock spring isn't very good at protecting your servo unless you crank it down alot. After removing the stock spring, I can see why, its very easy to compress with the tips of your fingers. Were gonna solve that by putting in HPI's heavy duty spring. This sucker is alot beefier and stiffer! I highly recommend upgrading to it, even if you have the stock steering servo.





Now we need to reassemble the bulkheads and the steering assembly. During which, my next upgrade is to ditch the low end bushings in the steering columns and put in HPI's steering upgrade kit with bearings. I had also heard for awhile that these improve steering quit a bit. Lets find out......





Because im anal about such things, I gave each bearing a nice coating of light bearing oil and wiped off the excess





With the bearings in place, I gave the steering assembly a little try. All I can say is....DAYUUM!!! The difference is night and day compared to the bushings! The steering is so buttery smooth in comparison, its amazing the difference a few bearings can make! $15 well spent!





With the bulkheads reattached to our shiny, non purple aluminum parts, were done here!

Sidenote update: I had a few extra shims from the replacement diff cup I purchased, so I decided to go ahead and put these in the middle tranny shaft to reduce its side to side play. This will help reduce wear and tear on the stock gearing until I decide to replace them with HPI's light weight, machined gears.







Well, were making progress step by step! Now I'm waiting for USPS to bring me some more goodies so we can continue with "Frostbytes II" transformation , stay tuned!

[Manne]

I am very glad to hear that you will continue the project Freezebyte, keep on going strong!

The project looks to come along well, really makes me want to buy a flux. Are you going to make a seal for the bearing too or are you going to leave it open as it is?

Thanks for staying.

[Bondonutz]

Good Job stepping up to the plate young man !

You have great photo skills, nice clean crisp pics.

Originally Posted by Manne

The project looks to come along well, really makes me want to buy a flux. Are you going to make a seal for the bearing too or are you going to leave it open as it is?

Seal? I'm not familiar with that

Originally Posted by scarletboa

as far as upgrades go, some swaybars would be a good, inexpensive upgrade that would really help handling. they are next on my upgrade list after driving my revo with swaybars. the difference is night and day.

:

A good idea but because im gonna be bashing in a variety of terrain vs doing track runs, i'm gonna need the suspension to be independent, articulate and absorb alot of punishment for my needs, especially if I land jumps poorly.

[reno911]

Love the grub screw idea, I would have never thought of something like that. Going to LHS tomorrow to pick up a bunch of them to do the same.

[josh9mille]

Originally Posted by reno911

Love the grub screw idea, I would have never thought of something like that. Going to LHS tomorrow to pick up a bunch of them to do the same.

It does sound like a good idea, but what if one vibrates loose to the inside? I know hes putting loctite on them, but im just saying...