replacement dogbone springs?

[nfair]

I recently got back into RC and have got my A stamped gold pan RC10 running again. I let my younger son drive it the other day while his truck was broken and he ended up crashing it, snapping the screws holding the rear A arms to the pan. That caused the dogbones to fall out along with the springs in the stub axle. I found the dogbones but the springs are missing.

My LHS has the replacement 8-32 1/2" aluminium flat head screws but no dogbone springs. The pdf manual gave me the specifications for the screws but there's no spec for the springs. How strong are the springs? It looks like a spring from a pen might fit. Is that good enough to get me running again? Anyone know a source for these? Google and Ebay helped me find the correct screws and I would like to eventually get somewhat correct springs in there.

Thanks for all the helpful information you guys have provided, this site has been instrumental in getting my vintage machine running again.

[scr8p]

any of the online hobby stores should have them in stock. tower, stormer, etc.

[jwscab]

That is exactly what I used when I first got my basket case rc10 years and years ago.

I think I took one spring, cut it in half, then stretched them slightly until they gave me the right tension.

I'm sure you can pick them up on ebay. I don't have any 'real' ones but someone might be able to post the dimension, maybe a replacement is easy enough to find at places like sears hardware or mcmaster-carr.

[badattitude]

I'd buy that for a dollar

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LX2560&P=7

[nfair]

Thanks! I need to get used to checking out Tower as well I guess.

[filzemail]

The spring type is not critical. You can use the spring out of a ball point pen, just cut it in half and make sure it is not too long so it does not force the dogbone out of the stub axel. In fact I cut two pieces of spring and set it up so the dogbone sits in the centre of the assembly between the out drive and the stub axle. Some peope use an o ring in the outdrive so there is no bottoming out.