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First Impression

Assembly/Installation:

My biggest complaint about FLM products is the fact that they come with no pictures or instructions on how they are to be assembled. This wouldn’t be a big deal if there were better pictures to follow on their web site or if a lot of other people on forums already had the parts. I started my assembly a little different then the average user would because I had already had some modifications and was currently trying to make a mid-tank mount. So once I got my FLM goodies I got started on making my dream truck.

First I installed the transmission onto the TVP’s and then started building from there. Soon to follow was the motor mount. So far things are going great and I wanted to go faster because it was looking so awesome. I really like the way the edges are angle cut on the TVP’s so they are not sharp. I do think that in some spots they should be cut strait to make nice tight fitting joints.





So I am moving right along and I hit my first hurdle. I have the tranny and the motor plate mounted and I put my new extended drive shaft in the cup on the transmission to find that it binds and hits my dual disk brakes because of the pin being too long. I then got my caliper out to check the lengths and first measured the stock, which I got about 13.5mm of length and then the FLM pin was 16mm long (2.5mm LONGER THEN STOCK!). Once I found this I stopped and got in contact with FLM and spoke about the issue. I was informed by FLM that I got an old drive shaft and the new ones are revised and the pins are now 12mm long. Being told the good news I was also informed that I could correct the issue myself or wait for a new revised version to come. I took the matter into my own hands and dremeled the one pin down so it would fit in the brake hex without binding. After getting this issue cleared up I moved on and bolted up my steering servo. I really like the way this mounted real low and out of the way. I did this fairly quickly and lined everything up as best as I could and moved on.



The servo is a very tight fit with my Hitec 645mg in fact I had to shave a bit off the bottom skid plate holding cup so the servo would clear, but in my opinion that is a small task to do for having such a trick servo mount location. My biggest complaint about the servo mounts is the included flat head screws that could break the servo tabs if they were tightened too much.

The next step was mounting the bulkhead to the TVP’s. This went together real nice and there was no modification needed at all. Once I had a pile of parts that resembled a Savage, I went ahead and mounted the factory skids up to the TVP’s and bulks. This is where a nice trick came into play. I used the old motor mount braces on the bottom for the skid plate braces and then used flathead screws to secure the skids to the braces. This was a lot better then using the stock plastic braces.

Now we approach my favorite part of the build, motor placement!!!! This was pretty standard except for one minor problem. I can’t really say where the blame goes on this issue because of me using aftermarket screws but when I tried to place the motor in the right side mount cap head screws would not clear the chassis. Now this could be FLM’s fault of having the brace too low (see picture) or the fact that I used cap heads, but the problem was an easy fix when I just replaced the two screws with button head screws.

Once I had the motor mounted I moved on and did the header and pipe. I had no issues with any clearance but I do know for a fact that there have been reported issues of clearance because of the design being the same for both sides of the TVP’s.



Staying on the backside of the build I started with my linkage from my throttle servo mounted beside the engine with two more of those trick servo mounts. This is a frustrating ordeal and not on my list of fun things to do, but finally I got something I was happy with and made it work correctly.

So far I have got almost everything on and getting a really sick looking Savage. I decide to work on the fuel tank mounting and location. This was made very simple by Fast Lane with the servo plate that they have made. It has 3 cut outs for servos and then many holes for mounting a mid-tank. Now this is where I would like to have a set instruction because it is a guessing game as to what tank will work in there and fit the way that FLM designed the plate for. I went with an Ofna Hyper 7 buggy tank and mounts. I liked this tank because of its uniform shape and the nice size it has. I also like the stock mounts because they allow for flex. I had to trim the mounts up just a hair to make them fit in the holes and be screwed down. Now I could have just taken the mount peg off the bottom of the tank mounts and they would have screwed right in, but I like the idea of them not turning at all.






After mounting the tank it was time to worry about electronics. I always use some sort of a receiver pack for my cars and with the Savage it would be no different. I was on the LCG kick and found that a hump pack will fit UNDER the servo plate next to the front drive shaft. I used an Airtronics 2 channel fm receiver and glued an on/off switch to the side of it. Once it dried I plugged in all of the connections and then covered it with a balloon and zip tied the hump pack and the receiver down to the servo/tank mount.



Finally I closed off the bottom with the skid plate that fit perfectly into place on the supplied mounts. Now you may notice I didn’t mention putting on the shock towers anywhere here and that is because I mounted those a while back and had already made some test bashes on them. The shock towers look great and make for a very sturdy mount for any style of shock thanks to the multiple mounting holes. I just used my stock Savage shocks but you could use anything from T-Maxx size shocks to 1/8th scale buggy shocks and anything else you can think of.

Performance / Testing Time

Like always, I went out to put her through the ringer. After breaking in the Picco .27 that is teamed up to a HPI 3-speed I was ready for anything and everything. I got to make some runs around town here a little and then after breaking nothing I decided I needed a roll cage before I got to crazy and broke my engine case. Finally I have a cage that I am happy with and it is mounted to the TVP’s in the stronger spots where m4 bolts are used.




Once I did this I took the truck out and really tried to break something FLM made. Well after a gallon of good bashing I broke something. It’s a long story on what happened but basically I blame the shock towers, with them being so strong the force of impact is transferred to the diff cases and then in return they broke causing the rear to be weak. So what happened is I noticed that I cracked the rear cases and kept running. Well this is well and fine until I thought it would be great to get 15 foot of air and rip the rear end off in-turn stopping the spinning drive shaft bending it. Now the only reason I broke the drive shaft is because of my neglect, and that night I emailed FLM about the ordeal and sent in my used shaft and was returned a new one. Which brings up an ordeal from earlier. With the new shaft are the improvements made?

The Verdict

Fast Lane Machine makes some wonderful products. I will give them a lot of credit for that. I do think some things are lacking in the research and development areas but I can say that when people approach them about issues with products they are not ignored and most of the time improvements are made. I do have some complaints about FLM customer service because I also dealt with them for a friend about his TVP’s. He got the same style of TVP’s as I did and had some header fitment issues and worries about a weak looking area on the TVP’s. After some run time, he did break the plates in the spot of worry and sent them in for replacement. After 3 weeks of nothing, I took the matter into my hands and called there and was told by FLM that the main person had some personal problems and she apologized deeply and would send them out ASAP. This was ok by him because he is very understanding, but on top of her apologies she also offered a free gift because of the delay. Now that would make anybody’s day. Within 3 days he had his pieces and was back on the road with a new and revised TVP plates along with his free skid!

Now the second issue I have had with them is my bent drive shaft. I emailed FLM about it and didn’t hear anything for a week. I let this slide because it was around the 4th of July and I am sure they take time to enjoy the holidays like the rest of us. After a week and a half I called and was told that only Jamie handles these issues and he will return my email shortly. Ok I thought I would wait a bit more. Finally after two weeks after the first email I called again and spoke directly to Jamie on the issue and the shaft was sent that day. After I got the “Revised” drive shaft I had to again dremel the pin on it to clear my dual disk brakes. So it is safe to say that some adjustments still need to be made. I can tell they tried to grind the pin down but it just wasn’t enough.

So overall I am very satisfied with the wonderful products that they are making for us. I also think that they have great customer service, but they just need to have better communication inside the shop between front desk and shipping and machining. I would never hesitate to order any products from FLM and with the abuse warranty they offer you can never go wrong. Please check out these or any of the other Fast Lane Machine products. I have used their Traxxas T-maxx parts and now the HPI Savage items and I will continue to abuse and Beat My Truck till I can’t do it any longer.

FAST LANE MACHINE SAVAGE TVP's
first impressions
assembly/installation
testing/performance
OVERALL

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: Review written by "N8", BYT Forum Moderator and BYT Web Site Contributor. N8 is a resident RC expert here at BYT and has been a long time member and supporter. Thanks for the great write-up N8!