Monster-What kind of engine are you running? That will ultimately determine what ratios you can or cannot run. If you have a .25, forget about anything higher than a 18/49. That engine just doesn't have the nuts to pull a higher ratio. If you have a .28, start with 17/47 and go up from there until you notice the performance decrease.[8D]

Sorry for late reply mate, you guys use different clocks

I have the Savage X and it says the engine is HPI Nitro Star F4.1, not sure if it's .25 or .28[] Atm, the truck is running like a dream, if I need to replace the CB and SG I'll stick to your recommendation of 18/49

Apologies to Stu, didn't mean to hijack your thread mate[8D]

Your engine is a .25.[8D]

Cool........I'll stick to 18/49 then

Thanks[8D]

Run about 16/49 on your .25 and you'll have good all round power.

-Josh-

Will try the 18/49 first and if I don't like it then I'll get 16 CB[8D]

I have the stock 47t steel spur gear in my Savage X SS. I just installed the 3-speed from my LE Savage and noticed the clutch bell teeth were chewed pretty good and there are shavings all over. I thought the mesh was good, but I think I need a hardened clutch bell now.

I have an S-25 engine is good shape (tuned aluminum pipe), stock 47t metal spur gear, and the LE 3-speed. What's going to be a good tooth count on a hardened clutch bell??

You have to run a hardened CB when you use a hardened spur. A 17T CB is the "smallest" one I'd run with a 47T spur. This may be too steep for a .25 though.[8D]

I bought an HPI hardened 18t clutch bell yesterday...was on sale for $12. I have the LE 3-speed in there now so I think the 18t will help tame the wheelie-king down some (or so I hope).

Give it a try. It probably will tame that deeper first gear of the 3spd. Hopefully you can pull that 10% higher 3rd gear though!

Good point, but it won't see 3rd gear WOT enough to bother me I bet.

I'll find out today for sure when I get home and fire it up. weeeeeeeeeeeee

Ok... I tried out the new steel spur set and racing clutch and here is what happened. By the way, I went with the silver springs with the set screws on the aluminum clutch shoes.
And to rule out settings. The mesh was wonderful and I did reassemble the clutch and clutch bell as it should be. So that leaves me where I am now. Asking why this could of happened and how can I solve the issue.

After I ended up losing a pin for my front upper arm and had to stop for the day, I noticed a deep groove in my brand new spur set....


I was a bit worried that this just wasn't right. hmmm.

So I got home and tore it apart for cleaning and inspection when I took off the engine to check out the problem, I noticed that the brass washer was wedged against the screw.


After trying to unscrew the screw and realizing that it was only starting to strip my threads, I then stopped to try to move the washer but it wouldn't budge. I used a socket and knocked it down with a small tap with the hammer. WOW what a groove in the washer.


I then noticed on my drive shaft where the washer was riding, there was a small groove in the top of the shaft.


I guess my questions are.

1. How could of this happened, when all was put together right and proper meshing?
2. What can I do to fix this and keeping it from happening again?
3. Is that groove in the drive shaft going to affect anything?

Thank you in Advance.

Phoenix_stu

The X SS uses a steel spacer instead of the soft and somewhat "loose" brass spacer. The HPI p/n is 86171. I put one of these on mine when I put the racing CB on and haven't had any issues. [8D]

Well bro look at the gap in your picture here...there should not be that much space between the screw and brass bushing. This will cause the clutch bell to *walk* back and forth along the crank shaft. That's what caused all of your issues here...I can see from mine that your clutch bell could have walked over far enough to hit the spur. Also I noticed that you don't have a wasker between the screw and brass bushing...that caused the screw to sink in like that under the pressure.

PM me if you want to...I have some suggestions for ya.

There should be a washer between the screw and bushing...that will do a world of good and you could honestly keep the brass in there (my X SS came with brass BTW). Steel is stronger, but the more steel you put in this area the harder it will be on the drivetrain...you gotta set it up real tight to avoid breaking things.

I took a file to my crank shaft and got it down to where there was virtually no slack. There is a *tiny* bit, but nothing like what was in there before. I was actually fussed in another thread for fixing it this way. [sm=confused.gif]

I will always appreciate some suggestions.

Actually, when the washer was not riding into the screw, when I first assembled it, there was only a total of 1mm gap. The picture here is with the head of the screw actually recessed inside of the washer about 1mm giving the space between the two after the incident up to 2mm space now.

You missed what I said. The brass part isn't a washer per se...it's a bushing or spacer. There should be another much thinner washer between the brass bushing and screw. That would have prevented the screw from being sunk in like it did.

I think your crank shaft is fine, but I'd still suggest cleaning it off with a VERY fine grit sandpaper just to get the brass off of it and smooth any roughness. Get a new steel bushing like Gravedigger mentioned, and then you should be set.

The Savages never came with a washer between the screw and the bushing. Some guys add them. I'd shy away from that as it may cause more bad than good if you take too much "slack" out. You need a little bit of play between the CB bearing and the screw or else the CB won't spin freely and the bearings will just grind into the crank snout and then you'll have a whole different problem. The easiest fix if you have a spare CB bearing lying around is to use it as the spacer. I did this when I got tired of eating up brass bushings. I later fixed it right with the X SS steel spacer. I believe the Hellfire also uses a steel spacer. HTH

I was thinking the same thing. Why would a washer be necessary if it didn't come with one. As always gravedigger your advice is on the money. I will go pick up a steel replacement. Thank you!! ROCK ON

go-to... I will take your advice on getting any grit off of the shaft. Thank you.


[sm=shades_smile.gif]

Each to his own.

One thing for sure...leave that thin washer out and you will continue to chew up the brass. The steel piece is sure a good asnwer. Simple metalurgy here...a steel screw will chew up the brass every time...the weaker of the metals will lose. And do you think HPI will think of every little detail and miss none?! Come on now that's not fair is it. hehe

I'm not talking about a washer the thickness of a nickel buddy...I was meaning more along the lines of a piece of paper thickness.

You actually don't *need* play or slack there provided it still spins freely or doesn't bind when tightened down. I've never killed any drivetrain parts doing this...and actually the lack of play helps things to not wear so quickly.

I keep assuming people will *get* this stuff on their own...I know assumption is a bad thing.

Please don't take me the wrong way. Your advice is very much appreciated.

No sir I didn't.

What I meant was that you can solve this problem adequately (3) different ways...take you pick as it were.

We're cool bro no problem. Sorry didn't type that one well... []

Cool

http://www.hpiracing.com/graphics/ki...s_comparem.jpg

Trust me, you need a little bit of play and you do not want it tight. That's neither here nor there at this point, but anyways, the HPI X SS steel spacer works great and once you install it you can just forget about it.[8D]