Savage Wheel Nuts Stripping Out!

[gbarmore]

Hey everybody!
I just got a savage and ran about 10 tanks through it now. Love the truck but now I have 4 wheels that have the hex nuts stripped out and the truck won't even move if I gun it. The Hexes just spinn in the hub of the wheel. Bummer! That is a pretty big deal given the cost of a new set of rubber and rims....... Probably looking at $75+ and the Tires are brand new! Anybody have this issue and know what to do about it? Think this is a warranty thing I can bring up to HPI? See YA!!!!

[wizen2002]

get 2 sets of PRO2656-01 Pro-Line Chrome Outback Wheels T/E-Maxx ....The aluminum hex fits very snugly in them and while your at it change the tires foams to proline impact ultra firm tmaxx tire foams these will give ya a pretty neat set up....Keep the stock tires and don't waist your time on HPI piece of crap wheels cause even if you send them back you will still receive the same piece of junk...

[RS4Tinkerer]

Hate to say it, but that happens. HPI thought they would be nice to us and make the hexxes compatible with the T-Maxx rims so we could use rims and tires availible for that truck. great idea, but our little savages put out a lot more power than the standard max, and then we go annd put Hyper 8-Ports (like I did), WS-7's and the new monster- .26 in the trucks and something will give.

I would suggest you look into Maxximizer beadlocks, or aluminum rims. if you break the maxximizer rims they will replace them.

Here is a link to Maximizer BeadLocks (http://www.maximizerproducts.com/)

By the way, I stripped all 4 of my hubs out, and fixxed it with JB Weld. I mixxed it and rad a coating inside my rim where my hexxes go, and then pressed in the hexes. Only bad thing is now that my Hexes are part of my rims. If I finally get my wife talked into the new rims, I have to get hexxes as well. and if the JB weld fails, (which it has, Ive been running it for about 2 months now...) I just grind off the old glue with a dremel and re-glue it with new JB Weld.

Which ever way you go, good luck.

Mike

[wizen2002]

I think the problem with HPI wheels is the design in the area where the hex section of the rim....I checked how the hex fitted in them and found out that there was excessive play when putting the aluminum hex inside the rim....I think they should of made it deeper and snuglier....That is the problem with the stock wheels....Just look at the picture its eeasy to see that there is way to much room for the hex to strip inside the rim....

[Mr. Furious]

HPI says to crank the nuts down tight and chck them often. Supposedly a tight wheel nut will keep it from stipping out.

[RS4Tinkerer]

Hate to say it, but HPI just dosent want to admit they made a mistake. I like the fact that they were trying to make it easier for us to use different rims/tires that were already on the market, but we just have to much power for the rims. and I agree they are a bit on the loose side. they could definately have been molded a bit tighter.

Mike

[gbarmore]

OK,
Thanks for the advice everyone, it's too bad that there has to be a weak link somewhere in the 'drivetrain' but I guess that's inevitable. HPI has no doubt done an awesome job of building this truck and I have found very little that I do not like (the radio tray could be easier to get in and out tho). Anyway, I guess I will look at the Pro-Line rims. BTW, how have you guys kept your original tires when changing rims? If you do the Acetone trick they will be toast right?! I can't see replacing tires I have 10 tanks on, what a waste..... I think I will loctite my axle nuts on with the next rims and use a impact wrench to tighten them down just to be safe :D See Ya guys!

[RS4Tinkerer]

boil the rims. the glue will loosen and you can take the tires off.

Mike

[dan7532]

I have the exact same problem. I just got a Savage too. Ran it three times and they stripped. I did notice that the wheel nuts loosened very easily and frequently. I was going to loctite them after I cleaned the truck after the third run only to find that the wheels stripped. I think I will send them to HPI, wait for replacements, then loctite then nuts on the new wheels with blue loctite. The silver reverse-threaded nuts seem to loosen even easier. I guess HPI though wrong about putting on the reverse-threaded nuts to prevent loosening.

I have another question that is slightly off-topic. I feel that the stock steering servo is very underpowered for my liking. What should I upgrade to? I will move the stock 90 oz/in servo to the throttle/brake position and put in a new steering servo. Should I shoot for metal gears? How much torque? The airtronics 94358Z looks good at 200 oz/in, but it costs $110!!! Maybe something a little cheaper? I don't want to skimp on this servo. I want something that will last and will keep me satisfied; but I don't want to break the bank!

[gbarmore]

dan7532,
The Airtronics you mention is the best servo out there for steering a big-ol-beast like the Savage. Unfortunately in the world of servos you have tradeoffs you will almost always have to make if money is an issue. You can either get a powerful /slow servo or a fast weak servo. There are servos in the middle ground area but they compromise a little of each. That's where the Airtronics 200oz servo comes in. It has the best of both worlds, power and high speed, speed is very important for a steering servo. HiTec makes good servos for steering if you are on a budget but again you will sacrifice a bit. The HS5945MG is about as close as you will get to the Airtronics servo for a little lower price. One thing that is nice about a Digital servo is that it will return to exact dead center every time, more important for on road racing but nice nonetheless. Here is a link to a page that has the specs laid out. http://www.hobbyhorse.com/servo_specs.shtml[/URL]
I have the Airtronics servo and a custom servo saver and it will turn the wheels on the carpet no problem with a good battery pack. Good Luck!

G

[gbarmore]

dan7532,
Forgot to answer your other question...... Yes, always get metal gears for a steering servo. HiTec has a guaranteed unbreakable warranty on most of the metal gear servos they sell.

G

[dan7532]

Does airtronics have a warranty on their servo gears?

Also, what servo do you recommend for my T3? My dad was driving it and I think he broke the gears in it. It makes a crunching noise when turning and sometimes the servo won't grab and it will just rev up without moving the servo horn. I am looking to replace it with a metal geared servo. I would like something with a little more power/speed than the standard futaba servo. It does not need much more, but a little would help. I don't need a high-dollar servo for it. Also, the servo saver on the T3 feels like it has much more resistance than when I first built it. It seems to bind a little. I loosened the spring on it and shot some WD-40 in there. It still seems too stiff. What's going on? I don't have more than a few hours on this truck.

[gbarmore]

I am not sure if Airtronics has a warranty but my best guess is that they do. Anyway, if you break a gear, which I highly doubt you will, they are very inexpensive to fix compared to replacing the servo.

As far as your T3 goes I would bet based on what it sounds like the servo is doing that either the output spline on the servo or the servo horn is stripped. Pull off the servo horn and take a look at it. If that is OK you have stripped the internal gears. Prolly not worth fixing either. Look at the HiTec HS-625MG, it's only about $40 and will be more than enough servo to swing the bells on the T3. I would dissassemble the entire steering set-up and clean and relube it, check for bent parts, replace anything that is not quite right and reinstall, that should take care of the problems.

G

[dan7532]

Thanks for the advice. I will clean and rebuild the servo saver and replace the servo in the T3 with a metal-geared servo.

As far as the Savage, I plan to get replacement wheels and tires from HPI and use the stock tires on white Pro-line MAXX Velocity Wheels. These should be strong, won't have holes to let dirt in, and are the lightest maxx-sized wheels, right?

[kydo32]

buy some jb weld at auto store and put in right postion let set 12 hours they should hold mine do :cool:its the cheapest and works

[kydo32]

Originally posted by dan7532
I have the exact same problem. I just got a Savage too. Ran it three times and they stripped. I did notice that the wheel nuts loosened very easily and frequently. I was going to loctite them after I cleaned the truck after the third run only to find that the wheels stripped. I think I will send them to HPI, wait for replacements, then loctite then nuts on the new wheels with blue loctite. The silver reverse-threaded nuts seem to loosen even easier. I guess HPI though wrong about putting on the reverse-threaded nuts to prevent loosening.

I have another question that is slightly off-topic. I feel that the stock steering servo is very underpowered for my liking. What should I upgrade to? I will move the stock 90 oz/in servo to the throttle/brake position and put in a new steering servo. Should I shoot for metal gears? How much torque? The airtronics 94358Z looks good at 200 oz/in, but it costs $110!!! Maybe something a little cheaper? I don't want to skimp on this servo. I want something that will last and will keep me satisfied; but I don't want to break the bank! jb weld works better then locktight try using on hex nut to keep in position worked on mine mine wernt full stripped though

[dan7532]

My recent decisions: When I get the new wheels and tires from HPI, I might epoxy the hexes in the wheels (dad says it will do better than JB weld since the wheels are plastic) and will definitely use blue threadlock on the wheel nuts.

I am thinking about upgrading the steering servo on the Savage, but I can't decide which one yet. The Hitec HS-5645MG looks good at 164.2 oz/in of torque for $55.

For the T3, it's my dad's truck and he wants to just replace the gears in the servo for only $4.79. I took the servo apart and found the broken gear. It was missing some teeth and other teeth were bent. As far as the servo saver, I took it apart and it looked good. It was clean. I don't see why it seems to have so much resistance. Maybe it's me, but it feels too tight.