TQ10 Graphite

[Ravenwoods]

The only think it looks like it needs, besides a new front arm (and a 'proper' set of off-road tires and wheels), is a replacement battery strap.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LX2779&P=7

Associated has gone back and forth between white and black parts over the years. Sometimes improvements have been made to the nylon or the molds, but they are generally functionally identical.

We do have the battery strap. I just had not got around to securing it.

Someone is selling the TQ10 on Ebay with the Futaba Attack controller and asking $250, and an additional $116 for shipping.
Another person is asking $375, and $57 for shipping.

But no one seems willing to pay that kind of money for them. I'm just curious what most people would consider a reasonable price for these old cars.

[Ravenwoods]

that a nice real deal TQ10, a few items and it will be a very good example. How is the bottom of the chassis?

The bottom of the chassis has a few minor scratches but appears to be fine. Shall I post a picture of that too? I'll have to borrow my daughter's superior camera for better close-up pictures.

[jwscab]

it's not necessary unless you really want to. That's a great example of that car in good condition. Nice to see it survive. Enjoy it, should be lots of fun!

[Bottom Feeder]

Also, avoid storing it with the battery plugged in.

Those Duratrax ONYX 1800's are actually a very decent sport/basher battery. I have two of them and my charger can regularly squeeze 2100+ mAh into one and 2000+ mAh into the other. But they are NiCds so they are old technology nowadays!

[Ravenwoods]

it's not necessary unless you really want to. That's a great example of that car in good condition. Nice to see it survive. Enjoy it, should be lots of fun!

Sounds like the neighbor kid has a Traxxas car. So once they start playing with these things together I'm sure it will be all downhill for the the TQ10 over the next year. We have winter for six months of the year. How well do they hold up in the snow?

[Ravenwoods]

Also, avoid storing it with the battery plugged in.

Those Duratrax ONYX 1800's are actually a very decent sport/basher battery. I have two of them and my charger can regularly squeeze 2100+ mAh into one and 2000+ mAh into the other. But they are NiCds so they are old technology nowadays!

Any specific reason to unplug the battery while not in use? Got the battery on Ebay. With shipping was about $13 and it arrived within days all the way to Alaska. An old Panda battery charger with Tamiya connector came with the car. It has a 15 minute timer for charging and then apparently after that it does trickle charging. It has one of those glass tube fuses, I think .75 mAh. I could not see any element in it at all so I was worried the fuse had burned out. But when I plugged the battery in for charging the indicator needle showed it was charging. So I guess the fuse link is so small you have to be a teenager to see it.

The Futaba Attack Controller has one little switch I did not have time to figure out before I crashed the car into a curb and broke the arm. There is a fine tuner for the steering control and a fine tuner for the acceleration control. Then there is a small black switch to the left of the accelerator that moves up and down. I have not figured that one out yet.

[limestang]

The TQ10 appears to be in great shape. Due to it's rarity, you may want to consider selling it and buying your daughter something newer. Parts will certainly be easier to get and you may make a little bit of extra money for her college fund:) Just my 2 cents worth.

Here is some good info on the TQ10:

http://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?f=81&t=166&p=799&hilit=TQ10#p799

Welcome to the RC10Talk forum by the way.

- Limestang

[Bottom Feeder]

Any specific reason to unplug the battery while not in use?

I believe the reason was that the speed controller, even when turned off, could slowly drain the battery past the point of it being able to take a charge again. It's basically just good practice.

An old Panda battery charger with Tamiya connector came with the car. It has a 15 minute timer for charging and then apparently after that it does trickle charging.

An old timer-based charger will work but 15 minutes is not enough time to fully charge a much more recent 1800mAh NiCd pack. They were really made for the old days of 1200mAh (or less) batteries. I guess you could run it for a 15 minute then another 10 minute cycle, then let it trickle charge for a while. That or buy a cheap peak detection charger but then that would be spending money on old tech.

The Futaba Attack Controller has one little switch I did not have time to figure out before I crashed the car into a curb and broke the arm. There is a fine tuner for the steering control and a fine tuner for the acceleration control. Then there is a small black switch to the left of the accelerator that moves up and down. I have not figured that one out yet.

The radio should have switches to reverse the direction the servos move. Once set correctly, don't change it. The knobs are to fine tune their centers. But you have to be careful not to change the throttle channel when using an ESC. The switch and trim knob should be set a certain way (per the ESC setup manual) an not changed afterward.

[harvey]

I think you and your daughter will have fun with that buggy. My advice though would be to get a bumper on the front asap! A hard smack to the front of that chassis can cause it to delam. You could also cover the bottom of the chassis with a protective covering, there are R/C specific sheets availalble, but even a bunch of duct tape on the back end will save a lot of rash. Adhesive can be removed but gouges can't! Both of these steps will protect the value of that rare chassis while you have a ball!

[Ravenwoods]

Is this car supposed to have reverse? I tried pulling the accelerator back to see if it would go in reverse. But it did not.

[harvey]

Racing speed controls don't have reverse. They saved all the processing power for forward efficiency. Also reverse is not allowed for racing. Your old novak probably doesn't have reverse. These old models were forward only; 1, T1, T4, 410 M1, 410m5 etc.
You should however have brakes. Elevate the car, give it some throttle, and push the throttle in the other direction; the wheels should stop quickly.

[Ravenwoods]

I did a google search on how rare the TQ10 is. The thread on the following forum seems to say they are not that rare:

http://www.rctech.net/forum/electric-off-road/598759-team-associated-tq10.html

The two on Ebay at the moment have not been snapped up.

[Bottom Feeder]

Don't get too hung up on it being a TQ10. You're going to get widely varying opinions on weather or not you should clean it up and preserve it in a sealed glass case, or just get it rolling and have fun with it. Honestly, it's still basically an RC10 and RC10's aren't that rare anymore nor are they hard to get parts for. It'll do fine as a basher even though the collectors and purists would probably have a heart attack.

Look at it this way. Getting your hands on a nice TQ10 like yours is sort of like finding a black and gold '77 Pontiac Trans Am Special Edition in a barn in excellent condition. You may just want it to do donuts out in the cow fields with it while some folks would give an appendage to have one. Is it a fairly rare care that has value? Yes. But did GM make a bazillion other 2nd-generation F-body cars? Yes. And is there an enormous aftermarket to build a replica of one or make any version you'd like? Yes. Hopefully you follow my meaning.

So if you just want something for your daughter to beat on, it would be kind of a shame for a rare-ish car like a graphite-chassis'd TQ10 be your vehicle of choice since you could do better technology- and durability-wise. Companies like Traxxas can sell you a solid and fast RTR vehicle that uses modern batteries, motors, ESCs and radios that would go faster and much longer than your TQ10 and be a little more weather-resistant in the process. Its flat plate-style graphite chassis is not at all good at keeping out dirt and debris much less snow.

If you want to sell it, I'm sure you could get a good price for it, but asking what it's worth here outside of the Buy/Sell/Trade subforum is frowned upon, so just a heads up!

[Ravenwoods]

Don't get too hung up on it being a TQ10. You're going to get widely varying opinions on weather or not you should clean it up and preserve it in a sealed glass case, or just get it rolling and have fun with it. Honestly, it's still basically an RC10 and RC10's aren't that rare anymore nor are they hard to get parts for. It'll do fine as a basher even though the collectors and purists would probably have a heart attack.

Look at it this way. Getting your hands on a nice TQ10 like yours is sort of like finding a black and gold '77 Pontiac Trans Am Special Edition in a barn in excellent condition. You may just want it to do donuts out in the cow fields with it while some folks would give an appendage to have one. Is it a fairly rare care that has value? Yes. But did GM make a bazillion other 2nd-generation F-body cars? Yes. And is there an enormous aftermarket to build a replica of one or make any version you'd like? Yes. Hopefully you follow my meaning.

So if you just want something for your daughter to beat on, it would be kind of a shame for a rare-ish car like a graphite-chassis'd TQ10 be your vehicle of choice since you could do better technology- and durability-wise. Companies like Traxxas can sell you a solid and fast RTR vehicle that uses modern batteries, motors, ESCs and radios that would go faster and much longer than your TQ10 and be a little more weather-resistant in the process. Its flat plate-style graphite chassis is not at all good at keeping out dirt and debris much less snow.

If you want to sell it, I'm sure you could get a good price for it, but asking what it's worth here outside of the Buy/Sell/Trade subforum is frowned upon, so just a heads up!

You are pretty much expressing my sentiment. We would probably spend more on a new car than what we would get selling this one. The kids are not fanatics about the cars--just occasional fun. Maybe after a few weeks of using it she might say "sell it and get me a bigger unicycle." She is outgrowing her current unicycle and wants a bigger one -- especially after the neighbor kid just got a new one.

Anyway, if we bash it up, it will only help the other owners feel like their cars are getting rarer!