Truck Veers Right

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smeyers2

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Not sure when it started but my Savage X veers to the right under full throttle from a stand still. It seems worse on grass than pavement. Sometimes on the grass it will veer as much as 45 degrees to the right. I thought the veering started after the rear dif blew out. I changed to the alum housing and put in 7,000 wt oil. I did not overhaul the ft diff and thought the veering was caused by the difference in diff oil front and back... so I overhauled the front diff. BOTH diffs have 5,000 wt oil now.... it still veers. I am starting to jump and it is especially hard lining the truck up to the ramp while I'm fighting the veering. I am beginning to think it is too much "torgue" from the engine.... but since I can't find any posts about it I am perplexed. There was supposedly a guy at my local hobby shop who was recomended (as he knows anything and everything about Savages) and even he has no idea. Anyone have any thoughts.

Cheers, Steve
 
Check to make sure all the bearings are good and not binding. Also check you dogbones. I had one get bent and it did exactly that. It took me a while to even notice since I was bashing pretty hard at eh time.
 
also, it may seem like a silly suggestion, but check your steering trim...it may be trying to center itself off-center...know what I mean??
 
This may not apply but, I've been drag racing my bud on the street and and I have to keep correcting a veering right behavior. Over time, driving in a straight line from a dead start can put alot of fuel oil from the exhaust on your rear right tire. This must create some slipage in the traction dept. I haven't noticed anything like this on the grass but, I haven't been on the grass for a while. I just reset up my steering and allignment for this beast and hope to see a difference in the positive area.
 
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as clod said, check bearings, and hexes for binding. also check your toe in/out or even trim the steering servo left slightly - run up and down tarmak in straight lines to see if trim affects the veering.
 
Do every thing said above. When you said it veers more in grass than on pavement that make me think that your servo saver could be ridiculously loose make want to check that out.
 
Was this truck an RTR? Not that HPI would ship it all out of wack but, crazier things have happened. If you review your assembly manual or use the one here on the forum, you can reassemble all the turn buckles and tie rods to spec. length. That way you'll know that the truck's susspension is properly setup to factory tolerances. then it's just a matter of re-setting your steering servo.
 
Wow....

Hi All...

You gotta love this forum where everyone who has been through these problems have answers. Thanks so much.... I checked my dog bones and the left rear one was bent... ever so slightly. At lunch I swapped sides and tonight I will see if the truck veers left! Also, in checking the dog bone... found out it is twisted... probably what caused the slight bend. So I have ordered some H/D ones. Will also check the other possible reasons for the veer.

Fxstrongside.. you mentioned a loose steeing servo saver. This is one of my issues which I need to work on... but the worst first... which was the veering. My steering IS loose.... The front wheels wobble about 3/16 of an inch side to side. When I hold one front wheel the other side hardly wobbles at all... but letting go of the wheels... they both wobble pretty bad. The looseness seems to be coming from the saver. When I am full thottle with a lighten front end I can see the front tires shaking a bit. I was going to ask what do I need to do to tighten things up a bit. I see a large purple nut under the radio box... does that need to be adjusted.. or do I need to upgrade ????

Thanks for all your help... I appreciate it...

Cheers, Steve
 
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Just tighten down the purple nut, also if you don't have steering bearings those will help with the wobble in your steering. They are a cheap but worthwhile upgrade.
 
Truck Ran Better, But

I bashed the truck for awhile after work in the parking lot.... Most of the time it went fairly straight.... a couple of times it veered and still to the right (even after swapping the L/S dog bone to the R/S) But.. there were some patches of gravel and bumps which could have caused the truck to veer. The dog bones are ordered.... should be in Friday or Monday. I'll install them and report back. In the meantime I will tighten the servo saver for the steering, and inquire about the bearings. Tomorrow after work the truck will get another workout as 5 other co-workers are bringing their trucks in.

Take care all, Cheers, Steve
 
I Owe You An Apology

I found out why the truck was veering.... A co worker saw me bashing it last night and said.. maybe it's the ....... The reason I owe you all an apology is because I forgot to tell you the truck has a wheelie bar on it. Not the single wheel HPI... but a double wheel job. It seems the wheelie bar got a bit twisted... the right side wheel on the wheelie bar was touching ground a bit before the left side. I'm thinking because of that it unloaded the right rear wheel on the truck... the left side had more traction... and therefore the truck veered to the right. (I thought it funny after swapping the dog bones it still veered to the right) I removed the wheelie bar before bashing tonight. Result ? The truck ran straight as an arrow! It did end up doing many back flips, however. I see I will have to learn the fine balancing act of getting the front wheels up.... and NOT flipping over on its back.

I am still going to do all the suggestions.. changing to H/D dog bones, I got the bearings for the steering... and recheck the toe in. Thank you all for all your comments and suggestions.

With the veering problem solved, I had no problem "finding" the jump ramp... had several jumps shoulder high (5 ft). Tryed clamping on the brakes in mid air to change the attitude... boy is that touchy.. dove it head first into the ground ! I also had several "tumbling" expeditions.... the only injury was a stripped spur gear during the second tankful. What is better ??? To let the spur gear slip or tighten it up and strip it? Or run a steel spur ? Then what breaks if the spur doesn't?

Does anyone have any pics where the steering bearings go. The hobby store says I should see some spacers when I take it apart. I do not remember seeing any spacers last night when I had it 1/2 apart to tighten the purple nut.

Sorry for all the questions... still a beginner here.

Take Care All... Cheers, Steve
 
Glad to hear it is all working out alright. Thats what we're hear for.
 
your steering bearings will replace some black (or possibly white) plastic bushings located at both the top, and bottom of the steering posts...no pics, but once you pull the steering rack off of the purple skid plate, the bushings will more than likely fall out...the others are between the top of the posts and the radio/servo/receiver box...
 
Thanks k0m0... I did look online at the manual (Mine is at work) and I did see where the bearings go... Nite All !
 
Glad we could help in some way at least. Oh well at least you figured it out. It always is the most obvious thing that is wrong.
 
i bet you are having kmore fun now you confidence builds. glad to hear it's fixed. and always good to post the solution so we and others can learn.
 
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