RC10B3 Dirt to Turf

[tecnica2001]

Having had such a great time at the Vintage Nationals, after a 9 year hiatus from racing, I decided it was time to get back to racing....

My local track, RCHR, had converted to Astro Turf, so I bought a T6.2 and decked it out to run on the turf, and it’s amazing, I’ve been having a great time running on carpet.

I’ve been watching the 17.5 buggy class, and it looks like a fun class to join also, but having jumped all in to the Mod truck class, I didn’t want to take on another class without testing the waters.

So here we are, my B3 sitting on the shelf ready to go with a 17.5 system, why not run this on carpet...

[tecnica2001]

The first and simplest upgrade is the proper tires:
JConcepts Swaggers for the front on Skinny rims and no foams
JConcepts Nessi for the rear
Both in pink compounds.

Second — Shocks:
B6.2 12mm shocks
Front:
Red V2 springs
32.5 wt oil, 1.6 pistons, no limiters
Rear:
White springs (might switch to grey)
30 wt oil, 1.8 pistons, no limiters

Rear Camber links:
Outer chassis hole
Outermost hole on the hubs

[tecnica2001]

After my initial set up, I put some laps in to get a feel for the car, gearing was more thank adequate for the size of the track, and it cleared all the jumps with ease, it had traction for days, and it had no problem handling the sweeper at the end of the straight.

On the hair pin turns it was pushing off and on power, so I added some stick on weights and it improved steering a lot, I was able to take tighter off power turns, but on power turns we’re still an issue.

[tecnica2001]

The B3 was clearing all the jumps, with no issues at all, but it was a bit unsettled on the bigger jumps, it would land smoothly, but it would bounce up after the landing.

Mark W. suggested I went to a heavier oil to give it more pack, and while it improved it a lot, it still had a bit of a hop after landing.

Mark also noticed that my car had no droop at all, it was basically flat.

[Basher67]

I'm not sure if there is one available, but a gear diff, in place of the ball diff, will help a lot on turf. I converted my T4.2 a few years ago to a turf truck to get back into racing and the gear diff was the most noticeable upgrade. Rear motor cars are at a bit of a disadvantage on turf, so the more you can weight bias to the front, the better. As far as tires, there are many good turf and carpet buggy tires out there. I prefer Schumacher mini pins in the rear and cut staggers up front on turf.

[tecnica2001]

I went on home, and I was wondering why my car had no droop, with the help from some people on here and again from Mark W., we figures that the shocks that I was using were too short, even when using the longer shock eyelets.

Came to find out that the b6.2 uses 27.5mm shock shafts and 27.5mm shock bodies for the rear, previous buggies used the 27.5mm shafts with the longer 31mm bodies.

Also

I was using the longer shock tower which aggravated the situation....

[tecnica2001]

I'm not sure if there is one available, but a gear diff, in place of the ball diff, will help a lot on turf. I converted my T4.2 a few years ago to a turf truck to get back into racing and the gear diff was the most noticeable upgrade. Rear motor cars are at a bit of a disadvantage on turf, so the more you can weight bias to the front, the better. As far as tires, there are many good turf and carpet buggy tires out there. I prefer Schumacher mini pins in the rear and cut staggers up front on turf.

When I got my T6.2, I pulled the trigger on a gear diff right away, for when my ball diff blew up, and I’ve run my ball diff for the last two weeks and it’s been nice and smooth, and the truck turns on a dime....I later asked a veteran racer that’s running a gear diff on his truck, and he said point blank, you don’t need it, a properly set ball diff, is way better than a gear diff, so, I left the ball diff in, and it’s still running good.

[tecnica2001]

After the first night racing the B3 on turf, it went on the bench, to take a closer look at options for adding droop, I could’ve bought longer shock bodies, or bought the shorter shock tower, or make something

So I decided to make something, well, cause I had the parts to make something

I had two carbon fiber b3 shock towers, and this is what I came up with:

[juicedcoupe]

For testing purposes, I might have just swapped some longer rod ends on the shocks. With the popularity of crawlers, there are lots of options. The common Du-Bro monster ends work pretty well on shocks.

[tecnica2001]

For testing purposes, I might have just swapped some longer rod ends on the shocks. With the popularity of crawlers, there are lots of options. The common Du-Bro monster ends work pretty well on shocks.

I am running the long eyelets on the shocks

[juicedcoupe]

For testing purposes, I might have just swapped some longer rod ends on the shocks. With the popularity of crawlers, there are lots of options. The common Du-Bro monster ends work pretty well on shocks.

I am running the long eyelets on the shocks

I couldn't tell from the pictures.

I have some from RC4WD that are LONG, a little over an inch OAL. They are noticeably longer than anything else I have.

[popboy905]

What degree castor does the custom works conversion have? And how much did it change the front wheel base?

[Femto505]

tecnica2001,

How did you convert your B3 to 12mm hex with the front and rear? Did you buy your diff and outer drivers off Ebay or do you know of drop-in replacements?

Thanks!

[tecnica2001]

What degree castor does the custom works conversion have? And how much did it change the front wheel base?

I don’t know the castor degree, sorry

I think the front width is the same.

[tecnica2001]

tecnica2001,

How did you convert your B3 to 12mm hex with the front and rear? Did you buy your diff and outer drivers off Ebay or do you know of drop-in replacements?

Thanks!

I used the custom works front hex conversion and just used rear hex adapters.

The diff and outdrives are the B3 originals