Associated RC10 Team Project

Page 1: Assembly

I've built the RC10 Classic previously and documented it in excruciating detail. This one is nearly identical so I've only written about the differences here. Please see my RC10 Classic for full build details.

The Team Car comes in the same sized small rectangular box and the other RC10 products I've built. Inside are labelled bags which are used in sequence during the build process.

The outside of the box contains a lot of information about RC10 racing history.

Here is some more historical information about the Team Car and details of the design.

Now I've unpacked the box and am ready to start building. Bags are labelled A-G. Not shown are the body, wing, and stickers which are still in the box.

The gold anodized aluminum chassis is exactly like the Classic RC10 I built before apart from the special "Team Car" label. On the right I've installed the forward body post and steering cranks. The body post has two extra washers under it compared to the Classic which makes the body fit better. The other differences are in hardware. The plastic nuts which previously held on the cranks have been replaced with steel lock nuts, and the 8-32 screws which attach from beneath are now steel hex instead of aluminum Phillips.

The front suspension is much different than stock. The lower suspension arms are much longer for a wider track, and the steering knuckles have no trail (they are aligned with the kingpins). The caster blocks use a 15º angle instead of 30º. Note that a 30º kick-up is built into the chassis, so in order to get back down to 15º, the caster block has to actually tip forward and counteract that angle. I've also started installing the upper links out of sequence. This version uses actual turnbuckles instead of just threaded rods. They are very unpleasant to put together because the sizes don't fit any of my tools. That front shock tower is also unique to this model with five upper shock mount position options instead of the original one.

The real claim to fame of this model is the "stealth" transmission. I don't find anything about it to be stealthy, but it is vastly simplified compared to the original transmission. Instead of having the ball differential built into the spur gear, it now connects to the outdrives directly and is integrated with the final gear. With 12 carbide balls, it is plenty sturdy.

The stealth transmission uses three gears: a drive gear from the spur, an idler gear, and the differential gear. By comparison, the original used six gears with three on either side of the transmission.

This model also incorporates a slipper clutch (Associated calls it a "torque control hub") which is integrated with the spur gear. The clutch disk is a rubbery annulus.

The stealth transmission is much narrower than the original so it mounts with different holes to the chassis. The rear shock tower and bulkhead are the same as standard. The rear suspension uses the stock lower arms, but the steel axles now have universal joints instead of dog bones.

The shocks are the same style as on the original, but they use hard anodizing instead of the regular gold sulfuric acid anodize. The front shocks have also been lengthened by 0.15".

The battery mount is set up for a standard hard pack Li-Po just like the Classic. Sadly, they've retained the silly z-bend wires for the steering linkage and the awful wire wing mount. The 3-piece wheels have been replaced with monolithic dish wheels (the rear uses a larger 2" diameter) and the tires are different as well. I've installed the electronics and am ready to try it out!

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