Aaaah, the first Sabre. I bought one, built it but never ran it. The plastic ball diff didn't even get into the car, it was so obvious that it wouldn't be up to the job... One ore epic fail from TOP...

Instead I bought a 3 racing steel ball diff that I intended to run as a slipper-spool. Problem: it is too wide for the Sabre and I ended up having to buy 10x15x3 bearings to get it to fit. Some 10mm shims and it's fine after that. If I ever run the car, I'll just dye that ugly blue gear black. Ew.

You can also run the low FDR gear kits from Ride, they fit.

If you haven't already, get yourself some steel bones for the front. They have to pull the 1300g of the car all by themselves + cope with steering. The aluminum ones don't stand a chance.

Sorry for the hijack guys. Back to M-chassis talk !

Suspension geometry hasn't changed at all. So there isn't any basis to believe the V2 is any better in regards to performance. It is a step ahead of the V1, with the easily adjustable droop settings. Finally I wont have to change a set of shocks to adjust droop at the track!

:lol: I think so too. If they were going to be this close, they could've just used the Tamiya gears and saved me from buying separate gear sets.

Thanks, I was on haitus since 2000, and just got back into RC last Fall, so there are MANY THINGS I missed during this time. :lol: I didn't even know what a Sabre was until a couple of weeks ago. Heck, I didn't know what Xevo was either. :lol:

Much better weight balance. :D

Wait, so there is a 2nd gen SabreFD Mini? :confused: And you could tell all these things by just looking at the car? :lol: wow! ;) The kit ball diff is very similar to the M05 ball diff; I have no issue with the M05 ball diff so I did not think too much of it?

Thanks for the tips. I spent about $200 on spare parts for this chassis and some hopup diff gear set is in there along with several pairs of universals. Will see how the factory pieces hold up. I only run silver can with TBLE02S on all my M-chassis including this Sabre, so I think I should be okay.

Boons the play is on the horn side and not the spline (servo) side, correct?

That is odd, the stop should have no play. Are you sure you are using the correct adapter for the spline (servo) side?

BTW, what is the teeth count for Savox servos?

Yes the play is on the horn side, the rings are nice and snug on that side. I think the Savox is 25t and from memory it's the Futaba attachment I'm using

I'm now wondering if screwing it down too tight might 'open up' the stop....?

Curious that you would want to spend time to fix something that is poorly designed and executed rather than using something that works. However, I understand cause the Kimbrough is just plain ugly. Kept me from using them cause the Tamiya unit just looks "right".

Unless they changed it since I last used one, this is the problem. If you'll check how the springs fit the servo arm, you will see that there is a large gap between the end of the spring and the notch they are supposed to fit on the arm. If there is any gap at all, there will be play around center. At least one of the springs have to fit with no gap to eliminate this sloppiness around center.

To be truthful, as soon as I figured out the problem I realized the "fix" would be very difficult and probably beyond my skill set. The fix of course is to eliminate that gap between the end of the springs and the servo arm. The fix I opted for was to toss out the servo saver and that beautiful, expensive, blue alloy arm and use a Kimbrough. I will admit to grinding and reshaping the Kimbrough to beautify it a bit cause they sure are ugly and "cheap" looking.

It almost sounds like the horn you are using is too narrow at the stop.
Have you tried the factory horn that came with the high torque servo saver?

I use this servo saver exclusively on my Tamiya cars and what I do is make my own extensions to the high torque servo saver horn. I can take some pictures later, but I have no issue with play, horn swivel length, or it loosening.

BTW, do you have the round cover at the very top of the servo saver? You need that in order for the thing to work properly. 3rd one on the right, second row below:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/414X-8kjWrL.jpg

...the V2 is much much better than the V1 (M05).
I raced the M05 for a year and a half, switched to the V2 and instantly went up in my placement by 2 spots. The V2 can use a square battery pack which opens up a ton of battery options. It can also run a shorty pack which frees up a ton of weight (allowing you to allocate that saved weight elsewhere). Lower cent of gravity w/ the V2 chassis design which gives much better handling. The motor is also positions slightly forward from the V1 chassis design which places a tad more weight over the front tires, -good for a FWD vehicle.
Those are pretty significant improvements. The V2 is much more planted, handles much better and is easier to drive in my opinion.

someone mentioned running hard springs in the rear of the car, ..you may want to try reversing that. Harder shocks up front, softer in the rear seems to be the preferred approach ...and what I have found to work best.

Hi eR1c- That was probably me. :lol: The V2's factory setting is yellow on the rear, red on the front.

My M05 runs yellow on the front, red on the rear.

is that what the manual recommends for the V2?
I converted my M05 from V1 to V2, so did not get a manual w/ spring recommendations.

I am currently running Hard (yellow) up front and Soft (Red) in back ...should I switch it???
Guess I can try it out, but curious if I am running it wrong for the V2?

I had good results w/ hard/front and soft/rear at my last race.

Yes, this is what the manual says. You can download the V2 manual at tamiyausa :)

No need to switch it if your car is winning! :D

http://www.tamiyausa.com/items/radio...ssis-kit-58593

Hit the "Manual" icon for download. :)

oh, duh! .....you know I just figured the settings would be the same!

I am taking my car out for some practice at a track tomorrow ...so i'll try switching the springs and see what the difference is.

Not quite winning, but getting there! ;)
Actually I feel my car is quite competitive, I got 4th out of about 16 at our last race in the mains. ...trying hard to get one of the top 3 spots. Last year I was 3rd overall for the season ...but I don't think the group was as competitive as this year. Seems everyone is driving a mini now and we have some really good drivers.

Sounds good. It might/might not give you that slight edge over competition. :D GL at the races!