RE: -=OFFICIAL HPI FIRESTORM THREAD=-
 

Standback - wilecoyote already addressed this after you asked twice. This is covered several times in the forum, almost every five pages on average. The forum is here to handle new questions as well as provide a history of questions and technical issues to look back on. I am not trying to sound snotty here but there is 195 pages of documented questions here at your disposal - if you want our insight please take the time to read back as well.

There are no standard instructions for tightening the servo saver - you know where the nut is so just clear things out of the way until you can reach the nut Then put loctite on it.

RE: -=OFFICIAL HPI FIRESTORM THREAD=-
 

By the way, how are the other big block conversions going?
No new news to report here - my ribbed front tires/wheels arrived but I havn't been driving because of the excessive rain.

RE: -=OFFICIAL HPI FIRESTORM THREAD=-
 

is it that bad in cambridge? we have been getting really nice weather here in ottawa lately. hot and humid right now and looks like its gonna be like this for a while. cant wait to get back to the track

RE: -=OFFICIAL HPI FIRESTORM THREAD=-
 

All you basically need to do is take the top deck off then you will be able to put some lock tite on the nut ant tighten it.

Igained all my R/C knowledge from this forum just read the past 50 pages or so and you will learn a lot.

RE: -=OFFICIAL HPI FIRESTORM THREAD=-
 

It has rained in almost half of the days the past two weeks and every weekend for the past five or so. The spring was very wet too. I havn't watered my lawn or really had an effective weekend outdoors almost all summer (last summer too).

RE: -=OFFICIAL HPI FIRESTORM THREAD=-
 

No real news to speak of other than the Sav rollcage is being fitted. Trying to make my own brackets and cut nothing off or bend on the cage so I can adapt it to our car and be able to just bolt it on my Savage. I probably wont flip it back and forth between the two just want it done that way so if the need arises I can. Also would be a great jumping off point for everyone here so ya'll can order one up and make it fit. I know some will want to modify it even more but its a stout cage and looks well made. Motor is about half broke in with 3 tanks of fuel through it. One at idle, two at half throttle in long sweeping arcs. On gas off then on and again. So much more power with it, it amazes me even at half throttle the torque it has. Burns tire at the drop of the hammer like noones bizz. When the tires do hook up, its about at a third throttle and the front comes up and rides nicely on the wheely bar. ROADWARRIOR has given me a few tips on keepiung the front down and they seem to work. (lowered front shocks) Been waiting for a decent non-humid day to open it up a bit more. The Savage is broke down with a busted axle. Yeah, Im hard on my ****! HAHA Wound up full throttle into a brick wall. Doesnt say much for my driving skills but when your hoofing it after a local stray cat ya gotta expect something to happen. Anybody have any knowledge about the extended axles they make for the Sav XL? Like will they fit without any other parts needed. Seen a bunch on fleabay but cant touch them for under 25 bucks. I get outbid everytime. Would go as high as 20 but thats it. HPI wants like 65 buck IIRC. Oh well, you boys have fun, be safe. Hammer down!!

RE: -=OFFICIAL HPI FIRESTORM THREAD=-
 

STANDBACK, dude use the search with the words servo saver in the storm threads and you'll see a bunch of pages to check out. Like Ive said, find the nut, clear out what you need and tighten it down. You'll need to use locktight on the threads to hold it in place. Its all in the manual too. You may want to just take the front end apart, get it tight, and put it back together. That way you'll learn how to do it and whats in there. Little wrenching will teach you alot about your truck. Dont be scared just pay attention to what bolts go where and how things go together. Im not being a smartass but it seems like maybe your new to the Storm. Its very user friendly. School your self by fixing it and you'll see its not difficult at all. Besides, when your done you'll be proud of your work and see what we are talking about. Other than fixing it for you, thats the best I can do. Best wishes bro.

RE: -=OFFICIAL HPI FIRESTORM THREAD=-
 

Someone can send me a gear of 2 speeds for the firestorm of the HPI rs4 as the one that it put chevy77 for that here in ARGENTINA I do not obtain it. Thank you very much

RE: -=OFFICIAL HPI FIRESTORM THREAD=-
 

I bought a actual radar to see exactly how fast i can get this thing to go. Haven't been able to drive it much since work started back up and the humid rainy weather but in 132 feet it averages 63. I only got the numbers from one tank of fuel and didn't tune it much before it had to get put back up. My brother followed it in his real car to make sure that the radar was accurate and let me tell you that this is not as easy as it sounds. We did it at night and I was so scared it was going to get ran over. all of the roads by me are way too busy to try to do this during the day. It also seemed like we were driving in fog with the smoke from this thing in the head lights it was pretty fun though. The top varied because I only did it twice before it ran out of fuel. It was 68 and 71 and due to the limited gearing it is never going to get any faster. I will let you guys know when I find the time to post a video so you know that I am not trying to pull anybody's leg.

RE: -=OFFICIAL HPI FIRESTORM THREAD=-
 

Wilee- I tried to get the wider axles for my savage X as well and gave up on the bay and just bought an XL. Send pictures of your cage project, I am interested. My new era roll bar isn't very good at protecting my engine and is pretty much just a nice handle. Are you strictly on the road with the truck or do you bash?

I am disappointed with the selection of 2.2 inch tires available - all the cool ones are rock crawlers or 5" and all want 4 to 4.2 inch tires. The only decent ones I found for dirt are Dirt Hawg, Gladiators, Geolanders and the various pin tires that are available and resemble the stock rears. I run the dirt hawg and glad's most of the time - anybody know of any others? I flipped through the tower site and nothing really popped up.

Hollow - I lived in Ottawa for a year and loved it. Its my preferred place to live and in my opinion the best city in the country to live in. I was on Boteler street, just down from the national gallery off of Sussex drive.

RE: -=OFFICIAL HPI FIRESTORM THREAD=-
 

Road Warrior - that is some sick speed you are hauling. The scary thing is that although I am not a traxxas fan at all, their truck can do 65 almost out of the box without the extreme measures needed to get the storm up there.

Do you think you can get more out of it? Have you thought of going bigger than a .21 doing some grinding to get more gearing in it or do you think you will need two gears if you go any taller?

Wilee - good advice, man. Half the hobby is the mechanical side and the other half is the driving.

RE: -=OFFICIAL HPI FIRESTORM THREAD=-
 

I dont really care too much for traxxas and they have noting but false claims on their boxes and nobody actually checks it. The jato isn't a st in my book because it has the 2 speeds and if you take it and lock it in second gear only you have a slow ass truck off the line. You have to spend 80 on the trans too to make it withstand any kind of significant power too. My truck can take a hit at these speeds and drive away like nothing ever happened. And even with a single speed it can beat it from a stop all the way until the jato runs out of steam which is about 61-63 with a leaded out tune running at 270. It may have been expensive but it is one of those things that is priceless when you see the look on some bodys face when they loose. And for a bigger motor there isn't any kind of real gain it is more of a trade off. a 21 has more rpm as to a 28 having more power either way for a 1 buck engine that is hard to beat. The gearing I would have to be let loose in a hobby shop in order to try to change that and I have contacted all of the major gearing companys and nobody will make me a gear with the 1.0 32 pitch and I am pretty happy with it right now it is almost ideal for doing the 1/10 quarters

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yea ottawa is very nice, lots of stuff to do downtown. ive lived here all my life, and even though sometime i feel as if there is nothing to do around here, there is quite a bit. the weather here is supposed to be in the high 30's low 40's and sunnyfor quite a while it seems. im down to brampton for a car show this weekend so it should be nice. gonna be busy with trying to get my car ready for the competition, and taking my storm to the local track.

RE: -=OFFICIAL HPI FIRESTORM THREAD=-
 

i got a question about getting traction on the track. i dont know if its just me, but i have a hard time sometimes hooking up at the local track. mind u it is a smaller track, and im only at about 1/4 throttle most of the time. i can get it doing wheelies, on the dirt, down the straight though which is really cool. my wheelie bar helps with that. so my question to you guys is, how do u get better traction on the dirt tracks? i just put on a set of geolanders for the back, with the stock ribbed tires up front. seemed to help but i do find the truck wanting to spin out if im not paying attention to the throttle. would pin tires all around be a better fit for dry dirt track, or should i start looking at suspension mods?

also, i managed to lose the screw for the header three times the last time at the track and had no idea why. it was the long screw that connects the block to the header, the one closer to the outside of the truck. i was finally able to loctite it in when i got home, but still curious as to why it came lose 3 times that day. i eventually went over all my screws, and tightened everything later that night after a real good cleaning. it looks brand new now

RE: -=OFFICIAL HPI FIRESTORM THREAD=-
 

Yo HOLLOW,

This whole traction issue is very arguable because there are many factors that influence grip.
First of all I would say that the standard Ground Assault tires are a better choice for dirt compared to the Geolanders but dirt comes in different "flavors" too so there are other tire choices to consider. There are many tire designs and each design comes in different compunds ranging from (very) soft to hard. You should ask the guys at the track about the tires they use and consider that as a starting point for you but only take what they as info and not hard evidence. Your driving style is also a key factor in tire choice.
Check out [link=http://www.rc-truckncar-tuning.com/rctire.html]THIS[/link] link for more info on tires and wheels and you may want to read the other articles in the site, it's pretty good info.
You said that your car is doing wheelies on straight lines and in my opinion that means pretty good forward grip, you need to check the grip when going round corners.
Because I talked about driving style, I guess that being smooth and consistent is critical especially with 2WD cars. You need to learn throttle control because it's very important and once you learn how, it will be very rewarding.
In order to further improve the car handling you should tune a bit your suspension according to the track by using different oils in the shocks and altering the position of the shocks. This is also covered in the site that I linked above in the "Suspension Tuning" section.
You can also play with the camber angle on the back wheels but make sure you know the base settings so you can go back anytime you want.
And remember : Only one change at a time because otherwise you won't know what each change in settings does to the car handling. For example I spent half a day playing only with camber settings then next day I went to suspension position changes and so on.

As for the screws coming loose the solution is to use loctite ona all screws that go into metal because the vibrations of nitro engines can loosen them up. I regularly check the important screws to see if they're tight.

As a side note, I'm still waiting for the damn header for my new engine and can't wait to take it out for a spin. The OS .18 TZ will certainly prove to be a difficult beast to tame.

Have fun guys !

RE: -=OFFICIAL HPI FIRESTORM THREAD=-
 

I agree with wipout and would add that in general racers run pin tires and play wiht compound and pin spacing depending on the conditions.

RE: -=OFFICIAL HPI FIRESTORM THREAD=-
 

WOW! I remember when this forum had about 2 pages, a few years back. The firestorm must of really took off. I still pull mine out once in a while to drive around the streets, but I just got tired with having to order parts and totally rebuild after a curb collision.. Im running a .21 crvx and jato 3.3 rims and tires.. i know I should be hitting 60+.. well guys have fun with your firestorms!!

RE: -=OFFICIAL HPI FIRESTORM THREAD=-
 

Good to hear from you harrold. The thread is doing well. I don't know how long you've had the .21 in there but there has been a big block movement lately in the thread. I am running an OS .21VG myself and try to stay off the street and mostly hit the dirt and grass with my storm. I have other RC's and many have come and gone (and will come and go in the future) but the storm will stay forever along with the savage (...or until they are discontinued or replaced).

RE: -=OFFICIAL HPI FIRESTORM THREAD=-
 

i knew i shoulda got these instead of the onroad tires. i think i may just get another full set of pin tires all around. i dont see how the stock front ribbed tires grip at all in the dirt. i would assume the pins up front would be much better

RE: -=OFFICIAL HPI FIRESTORM THREAD=-
 

thanks for all the great info wipeout, much appreciated. as for the suspension i may go with the upgraded suspension option part that hpi offers, but maybe in a cpl months or so. as for tires, like i said to nitro, i think pin tires all around will be my best bet. i was thinking about messing with the camber and shock oils, but figured i would leave it for now till im a little more comfortable with firestorm. i find that when i give it some gas in a straight right before lining up for a jump, it tends to get a bit squirrly and lose control. thats one thing i wanna figure out, because if i cant take the jumps properly at the track, i find it throws me off a bit. i havent got that much time lately to use it as ive been getting my car ready for a car show and what not, and its been in the shop for the last little bit so im paying more attention to that.

next week i think i will be able to have a little more fun with it now that my car is outta the shop and i can actually get to the track. thanks for the link btw, i will read over that and see what i can learn from that. im sure there is plenty of great info in there that will prove very useful.

RE: -=OFFICIAL HPI FIRESTORM THREAD=-
 

Hey HOLLOW,

Try to lay down the shocks using the innermost holes on the shock tower and the outermost holes on the A-arms. See if it helps, it may "read" the track surface a bit better and help with traction. I for one like the standard tires on the storm, they are pretty good as an overall choice and since I'm not a racer they fit my bill nicely.
And yes the Storm is squirrelly and you gotta work that steering and throttle to keep it in check.

Looks like tomorrow I'll be receiving my exhaust header so I'll be able to go out and break in the engine. I just hope it won't rain.
If all goes well I'll have some pics of the car to post on the forum.

RE: -=OFFICIAL HPI FIRESTORM THREAD=-
 

When I upgraded the suspension and put the big block in my storm began to handle much better - I thought the engine would make a mess of the truck but it didn't - seems like the front end is down more if the throttle is used right.

I havn't had the storm out for about a month but will get it out tomorrow.

RE: -=OFFICIAL HPI FIRESTORM THREAD=-
 

Got a good discussion going here and want to add my 2 cents for what they are worth. Maybe you want to soften up the shocks a bit so there is more weight applied to the tires therefore aiding in traction. Lowering the truck will help in that aspect too. The truck will suffer a bit from this but will aid in traction. I agree with NITROROB, the pin tires are probably the best for loose dirt or even hardpack, HPI knows this from racing. The Geo's arent really a race tire but do a fine job for bashing. The road tires are just that, FOR THE ROAD. They work great and make the truck handle well because of the low profile and tread pattern. If it were me I would go to pins and maybe try different cuts. Like remove pins from different spots giving away traction on the sides or even in the middle. It will take alot of playing around to find what works on the track. But remember, track surfaces change almost as much as the weather. The rears are not as hard to figure but the front will give you fits. Pushing in the corners is a bit tough to work out as if one side is lifting in the corners that tire is no longer in play so the other side has to work twice as hard. In that case youd need to tighten or firm up the side that does the most work. But, your not running an oval so it cant be firmed up to the point its no good going around the corner in the opposite direction. This brings up the idea of throttle control. I like to drop off the gas just a bit when going into a corner thus setting the suspension for the turn.Which also brings up a good point, dont hammer the throttle, ease into it or roll on the gas. Dont just drop the hammer, ease it on. This is one reason driving is a tough skill to master. There is alot of little nuances that make a good driver good. Knowing the track is very important. Knowing braking points or I like to call them throttle point as I hardly use the brakes. It takes time and patience to get it right, otherwise everyone would be a master at driving. Take your time, be patient, and take notes. Thats right, NOTES. What works, what doesnt. If you run one track and can get practice time, do just that, PRACTICE. You will be amazed at how much it will help. Remember, its not the fastest truck that makes the truck fast, its the driver. Do you watch Nascar or any other type of racing? Its usually the winner that knows his car and the track inside and out. So, getting back to tires, yes, pinners all around may be whats needed. Try it and see what happens. I still have my stock pins that are in great shape, you can have them if you pay for shipping, thus giving you another set and the wheels will go with them too. Shoot me a PM and let me know. That said, I wish you nothing but success. Let me know how it works out as I am always interested in learning from others experiences.

RE: -=OFFICIAL HPI FIRESTORM THREAD=-
 

RWHARROLD, welcome back! You have missed quite a bit of stuff here and yes, the Storm has taken off as a relatively inexpensive truck thats well worth the money. Im one of a few that has gone with a big block conversion. Irun an Axial 28 and am in the process of getting it right. I hope you intend to stick around a bit to see how this forum continues to grow and flourish with great peolpe with tons of good info. Its always good to check in to see whats up as we see new and now old people bounce around with different ideas and different problems that maybe you can help out with. I hope to "see" you here. My best.......................................Mattu.

RE: -=OFFICIAL HPI FIRESTORM THREAD=-
 

I have been using Blue thunder 30% in my O.S CVR andI am running a bit low on fuel. Can I run O'Donnell 20%and just retuneor do need to rebreakin the motor with 20%. Or should i juststick with 30% fuels?

Thanks