How to Disassemble and Clean The Savage X

I always hear alot of talk on all the popular forums that the HPI Savage is a difficult vehicle to work on and clean, so I am making this to possibly help out a little bit. Since I went mud bashing the other day, I thought it would be wise to tear the truck down and give it a good clean. Here are pictures, and a detailed explaination of everything that I had done.

Before break down, it looked like this.

A very dirty Savage X

After disasembling it.

Disassembled

Disassembled

Disassembled

Disassembled

And then, this is what it looked like after cleaning:

Freshly cleaned Savage X

What you will need -

• Large Phillips Screw Driver
• Hex Set
• Possibly a Flathead.

Instructions:

Disassembling your Savage is actually quite easy. Here are the screws that you will need to remove to get the front and rear end completely off.

You will need to remove these screws on BOTH sides of the TVP.

You will need to remove these screws on BOTH sides of the TVP.

Front end removal: Un-screw the eight yellow screws in the front remove the complete front end, radiobox and all. You will need to slightly bend the TVP's to remove the entire piece.

Rear end removal: NOTE: The red arrow is pointing at two screws that attach the motor plate to the transmission, you will need to flip the truck over to remove these. There is one on each side of the bottom, at the furthest point forward on the TVP. Remove those screws, and the other ones highlighted in yellow on each side. You will need to slightly bend the TVP's to remove the entire piece.

To complete the disassembly process, pop the ball cup off your carburator, and remove the screw from your servo horn. Also, remove the exhaust manifold spring, and un-screw your exhaust from the mount. If you don't want to loose screws, Invest in a small tuppaware container with dividers in it, availiable at most grocery stores.

A standard divided container

How I like to clean my truck:

What I used-

• 30gal air compressor (Yours can be much smaller)
• Simple Green
• WD40
• Shop towels

Once I had my truck torn apart, I shot the front and rear ends generously with Simple Green. I then fired up my Air Compressor and let it fully pressurise. Carefully clean the TVP/Transmission portion with one of your Shop Towels, spraying small amounts of Simple Green, being carefull not to get the brakes wet. Now, work your way back to the front and rear ends. Give them another light go over with your simple green, and then blast them with your Air Compressor, until they are clean to your satisfaction. Be careful with the front end of your truck, you don't want to get your servos or receiver wet. Once they are clean and dry, blast your bearings with WD40, and if you would like, blast the entire piece of the truck. It gives it that like new shine, and also protects it from rust. Now, once your truck is completely clean to your satisfaction, re-assemble it doing the exact opposite of what you did to disassemble it.

FINAL STEP: This is by far the most crucial step. Sit back, and look at your beautifully cleaned truck!