RPM molded 10T build

[cautrell05]

I traded an 81 Datsun pickup with the engine and transmission sitting in the bed for this truck 15 years ago. Alot of it got stripped and run on my 10T because i didnt know any better back then. The stadium truck class is picking up at out track so I figured why not put it back together. Compared to my short course 10T and the frankenbuggy this one will be pretty much original. The 2.25 stealth from the shortcourse is going in with the 4th gen slipper. The front end has the 12mm hex hubs from an sc10rs and rear t4 hub carriers.



I have a full set of the hard annod shocks for it just havent gotten them put together yet.

The front end was pretty straight forward and comes out right under the 13" limit. The back end was a little more work. With the T4 hubs I had two issues. First the dogbones were too short. I had a set of HPI blitz dogbones sitting around and they are about 4mm longer than the 10T bones.



Easy enough. Second issue was that the rear end was about 3/16 over limit. easy soluting would have been to change hubs but the old 10t hubs dont have any other camber link options. I got lucky and had a thin set of losi clamping hexes for a touring car. I ground out the slot on one side and mounted them backwards. Durango style for lack of better terms.



Kind of a pain but it should work. Other side for comparison.



I still need to make a battery hold down and get a body decided yet.

[knucklebuster]

Looks good. Your trade is probably even money today. I bet the Datsun is still running too!

[cautrell05]

Well its been on the track so I should do another build update. First off I found out that the wheels I used for mockup had a different offset than the jconcepts wheels I bought. I don't remember what brand they were but they are about 3/16" wider per side. On a T4 they push it right to the 13" limit. On a 10T with T4 hubs it makes it 3/16 too wide. However with the jconcepts mono wheels it comes in under the limit so I switched the rear hubs back to normal.
Compared to my other builds this one is very much original. The one area i was worried about was where the rear arm mounts attach. I have more arm mounts so that's not an issue. However i don't have a spare chassis and would prefer not to need one. Best solution i could come up with was to make a plate from .080 6061. It mounts under the arm mounts and rear bulk head and should save the chassis.



Also added benefit is it raises the rear bulk head enough for a lipo to fit all the way back.

The standard 10T rear body mounts didn't line up right so i got creative. I used a heavily chopped rear body mount for an sc10. Uses the trans brace screws on top of the bulkhead and turned out pretty clean.

[cautrell05]

The rest of the rear suspension was pretty straight forward. Associated 3 degree mounts, 0 degree T4 hub carriers and standard AE ti turnbuckles. The transmission got new rings, ceramic balls and all new gears and a V2 slipper.
Nothing special out front. The old style front arms with one shock mount hole, T2 tower and 25 degree SC10 caster blocks and RS 12mm hubs.
The RPM battery cover was not going to work with the lipo. I would have needed to cut holes in the top for the wires. I had no intention of butchering the old cover so I made a new hold down. I used some 1/8 fiberglass and cut out a simple t plate. I used some hold downs from an sc10 for the battery strap. The 1/4 turn release is nice.



For electronics I used a spektrum reciever, novak edge esc and a balistic 17.5. The steering servo is an exi d227f. For $15 from hobbyparts they are a pretty good deal. 111 oz tq at .09. A $39 shorty pack finishes it out.

As for a body I wanted something other than the ugly cab forward bodies out there. I was about to settle on a t3 body when I found a pair of NIP hotbodies on ebay. One 97 chevy and a 97 gmc. Actually the opposite of cab forward.



The checkers are stickers. I don't have the patience to paint those.

Another shot with my shortcourse and the frankenbuggy all stickered up and ready to go.

[cautrell05]

Last weekend I took it down to omaha for the novak race. Omaha has a real nice indoor clay track. For tires I have 4 pairs mounted. One brand new set of green compound bar codes, one new set of panthers. Not sure of compound smaller pin, and a set of bow ties and edge fronts that were new way back when and spent the last 10+ years in a ziplock bag. I ran the barcodes on the rear and started with the panthers on the front. Right off the bat it had a horrendous push. I figured at first it was the front tires being too hard for the clay. I swapped over to the ribs on the front and and switched from the silver front springs to black. It made a slight improvement but still terrible. I added an ounce to the front tower and it got even worse. It was about then I noticed that even though there was plenty of steering at slow speed at higher speed the front wheels weren't turning. It was then I realized the problem was in the servo saver. It seemed stiff enough on the bench but was not even close on the track. The servo is a metal gear unit so I got rid of the servo saver and just used a solid arm. Holy crap what a difference. This thing handles great. It has a slight push due to the front tires not being ideal for the clay and it jumps rather nose high. All in all I am very happy with how it.handles. Iam looking forward to the outdoor season th get some more time on it.

Nick