RC10L Wheels, Tires & Donuts - Details & Deep Dive (help needed)

[azone]

I have spent little snippets of time over the past 20 years or so studying up on wheels and tires for the RC10L. I feel like the more time that passes the more some of this info is lost.

Back Story
Back in the day in 1989 I bought an RC10L. Living in a small town it was almost impossible to get spare parts - or even to know what was available in the first place. For tires I would buy from mail order places in RCCA magazine. Basically, I would just buy Associated or TRC wheels w/ mounted tires. Fast forward a few years I saved up a bunch of money and bought a few sets of Sees BBS wheels I drooled over in RCCA. I have had these wheels forever - but they have never had a tire properly mounted on them! A lifetime goal is to get tires on these things and to actually run my original car with a set of them. It has been daunting.

The Problem
Finding tires, raw donuts, and/or pre-trued donuts for both 1.8” and 1.95” wheel sizes

What is known so far - 1.8” Wheels & Tires.
Team Associated RC10L standard wheels are 1.8” Diameter. There are many aftermarket wheels from Trinity, TRC etc. that were also 1.8”. There are also foam donuts for this size wheel from the likes of Associated, Bolink, Jaco, & TRC among others. If we stick w/ just the Associated parts for now we have the following:

Associated RC10L standard rear wheels - 1.8"
8150 - Rear Wheels (White)
8150B - Rear Wheels (Black)
8150Y - Rear Wheels (Yellow)
8151 - Rear Wheels (Chrome)
8155 - Rear Donuts - Green Dot
6940 - Rear Wheels (White)(1/4" axle)
6941 - Rear Wheels (Chrome)(1/4" axle)
6945 - Rear Wheels (White)(1/4" axle) w/ Green Dot Tires

Associated RC10L standard front wheels - 1.8"
8125 - Front Wheels (White)
8125B - Front Wheels (Black)
8125Y - Front Wheels (Yellow)
8126 - Front Wheels (Chrome)
8130 - Front donuts - Green Dot
8131 - Front Donuts - Black Dot
8140 - Front Wheels (White) w/ Green Dot Tire
8141 - Front Wheels (White) w/ Black Dot Tires

What is known so far - 1.95” Wheels & Tires
Aftermarket wheels also came in 1.95” diameter. This mainly includes the TRC BBS wheels and the Sees BBS aluminum wheels. There may also be other wheels from Bolink, Corally, Delta... that may be compatible but I do not know at the time of this posting. I’m going to expand this thread later on to include all wheel and tire options for the RC10L, including the TRC Nascar-style wheels & tires. But first I will detail the specific issue I’ve had… finding foam donuts for the Sees BBS wheels

I had given up many times after buying countless donuts and never finding one with a large enough inner diameter to fit these wheels. Over the years I’ve bought many donuts from Jaco & TRC - and newer mounted tires from BSR - but nothing ever worked. The inner diameter of most of these tires is closer to 1.6” - 1.7” and too tight to squeeze over the 1.95” wheel. The modern BSR 1/10th pan car wheels are 1.9" diameter but are only available mounted (no donuts). After removing some of these tires w/ heat and acetone (tried both) they were too tight to fit the Sees BBS and the foam stretches too much and cracks after a short time. Also the foam forms into the recess in the Sees wheel (rears) and distorts.

[azone]

Recently I found a 1991 TRC catalog that gave me hope. This is where I realized the TRC BBS wheels are also 1.95” diameter. Furthermore, TRC offered many variations of these BBS wheels and also sold donuts for them. Here is what I found specific to the BBS-style wheel & tire:

TRC Donuts for BBS Wheels (Rear)
TRC Part # 1010 - Donuts - Blue Dot
TRC Part # 1011 - Donuts - Green Dot
TRC Part # 1012 - Donuts - Yellow Dot
TRC Part # 1014 - Donuts - Green/Yellow Dot
TRC Part # 1016 - Donuts - Yokomo

TRC Pre-Trued Donuts for BBS Wheels (Rear)
TRC Part # 1020 - Donuts - Blue Dot
TRC Part # 1021 - Donuts - Green Dot
TRC Part # 1022 - Donuts - Yellow Dot

TRC BBS Mounted Tires (Rear)
TRC Part # 1030 - White BBS Wheels w/ Blue Dot Tires
TRC Part # 1030P - Hot Pink BBS Wheels w/ Blue Dot Tires
TRC Part # 1031 - White BBS Wheels w/ Green Dot Tires
TRC Part # 1031C - Black Composite BBS Wheels w/ Green Dot Tires
TRC Part # 1031P - Hot Pink BBS Wheels w/ Green Dot Tires
TRC Part # 1032 - White BBS Wheels w/ Yellow Dot Tires
TRC Part # 1032C - Black Composite BBS Wheels w/ Yellow Dot Tires
TRC Part # 1032P - Hot Pink BBS Wheels w/ Yellow Dot Tires
TRC Part # 1034 - White BBS Wheels w/ Green/Yellow Dot Tires
TRC Part # 1036 - White BBS Wheels w/ Yokomo Tires
TRC Part # 1037 - White BBS Wheels w/ Black Dot Tires
TRC Part # 1250 - White BBS Wheels w/ Red Dot T/M Radial Tires
TRC Part # 1251 - White BBS Wheels w/ Gold Dot T/M Radial Tires
TRC Part # 1252 - White BBS Wheels w/ Silver Dot T/M Radial Tires

TRC Donuts for BBS Wheels (Front)
TRC Part # 910 - Donuts - Blue Dot
TRC Part # 911 - Donuts - Green Dot
TRC Part # 912 - Donuts - Orange Dot
TRC Part # 913 - Donuts - Orange/Blue Dot
TRC Part # 914 - Donuts - Yellow Dot
TRC Part # 916 - Donuts - Yokomo

TRC Pre-Trued Donuts for BBS Wheels (Front)
TRC Part # 920 - Donuts - Blue Dot
TRC Part # 921 - Donuts - Green Dot
TRC Part # 922 - Donuts - Orange Dot
TRC Part # 923 - Donuts - Orange/Blue Dot
TRC Part # 924 - Donuts - Yellow Dot
TRC Part # 927 - Donuts - Black Dot

TRC BBS Mounted Tires (Front)
TRC Part # 930 - White BBS Wheels w/ Blue Dot Tires
TRC Part # 930C - Black Composite BBS Wheels w/ Blue Dot Tires
TRC Part # 930P - Hot Pink BBS Wheels w/ Blue Dot Tires
TRC Part # 931 - White BBS Wheels w/ Green Dot Tires
TRC Part # 931C - Black Composite BBS Wheels w/ Green Dot Tires
TRC Part # 931P - Hot Pink BBS Wheels w/ Green Dot Tires
TRC Part # 932 - White BBS Wheels w/ Orange Dot Tires
TRC Part # 932P - Hot Pink BBS Wheels w/ Orange Dot Tires
TRC Part # 933 - White BBS Wheels w/ Orange/Blue Dot Tires
TRC Part # 934 - White BBS Wheels w/ Yellow Dot Tires
TRC Part # 936 - White BBS Wheels w/ Yokomo Tires
TRC Part # 937 - White BBS Wheels w/ Original Black Dot Tires
TRC Part # 1230 - White BBS Wheels w/ Red Dot T/M Radial Tires
TRC Part # 1231 - White BBS Wheels w/ Gold Dot T/M Radial Tires
TRC Part # 1232 - White BBS Wheels w/ Silver Dot T/M Radial Tires


With this new information I found some TRC pre-trued donuts for the rears. I also found that the fronts are very similar size to modern touring cars, so I also bought some new Contact RC donuts. The TRC rear donuts arrived but I was disheartened to find that they are closer to 1.6” inner diameter and are extremely difficult to fit over the Sees rims - even though they are supposed to be for TRC BBS wheels w/ the same diameter. I purchased four sets total from two different sellers in original packaging, so I’m pretty sure they are the correct part (not repackaged).

The mounting surface of the TRC BBS rim is flat, so although difficult you could squeeze the tire over the rim w/ no deformity (but how would you possibly glue them??). In the case of the Sees wheel the foam deforms in the center area of the wheel where there is a recess. I filled the gap w/ some kapton tape to make the surface flat. It did work but the tire is very hard to squeeze on and will likely crack. Is there supposed to be another piece to these wheels here, or is the tire just way too tight?

What the heck tire am I supposed to use here? I’m back to square one. Where the heck can I buy a donut with an ID of ~1.8” to 1.9”? I’ve now bought about 15-20 sets of tires over decades and nothing really fits these rear wheels.

I will add more details on both the front and rears here as I go.

[GreenBar0n]

These are for the fronts, so they are only about 1.1" wide, but these are definitely closer to 1.9", than 1.7" - I can't use them.




I bought these and a set of front 12L donuts - accidentally. You want to try those TRC Green dots?

[azone]

I bought these and a set of front 12L donuts - accidentally. You want to try those TRC Green dots?

Thanks. I'll wait it out for more information for now. If I get to the point I want to try, I'll PM.

[azone]

..while I'm still looking for suggestions for tires for my BBS wheels - I'm going to continue to add useful information on RC10L wheel and tire options...

TRC offered many wheel and tire options for the RC10L in the form of the 1.8" Nascar line. Just like the 1.95" BBS style this included donuts and mounted foam and T/M radial (cap) tires.

TRC Donuts for Nascar Wheels (Rear)
TRC Part # 1510 - Donuts - Blue Dot
TRC Part # 1511 - Donuts - Green Dot
TRC Part # 1512 - Donuts - Yellow Dot
TRC Part # 1514 - Donuts - Green/Yellow Dot

TRC Pre-Trued Donuts for Nascar Wheels (Rear)
TRC Part # 1520 - Donuts - Blue Dot
TRC Part # 1521 - Donuts - Green Dot
TRC Part # 1522 - Donuts - Yellow Dot
TRC Part # 1524 - Donuts - Green/Yellow Dot

TRC Nascar Mounted Tires (Rear)
TRC Part # 1530 - White Nascar Wheels w/ Blue Dot Tires
TRC Part # 1530P - Hot Pink Nascar Wheels w/ Blue Dot Tires
TRC Part # 1531 - White Nascar Wheels w/ Green Dot Tires
TRC Part # 1531C - White Composite Nascar Wheels w/ Green Dot Tires
TRC Part # 1531P - Hot Pink Nascar Wheels w/ Green Dot Tires
TRC Part # 1532 - White Nascar Wheels w/ Yellow Dot Tires
TRC Part # 1532C - White Composite Nascar Wheels w/ Yellow Dot Tires
TRC Part # 1534 - White Nascar Wheels w/ Green/Yellow Dot Tires
TRC Part # 1579 - White Nascar Wheel w/ Green Dot T/M Radial Tires
TRC Part # 1580 - White Nascar Wheel w/ Red Dot T/M Radial Tires
TRC Part # 1581 - White Nascar Wheel w/ Gold Dot T/M Radial Tires
TRC Part # 1582 - White Nascar Wheel w/ Silver Dot T/M Radial Tires
TRC Part # 1590 - Black Composite Nascar Wheels w/ Red Dot T/M Radial Tires
TRC Part # 1591 - Black Composite Nascar Wheels w/ Gold Dot T/M Radial Tires
TRC Part # 1592 - Black Composite Nascar Wheels w/ Silver Dot T/M Radial Tires

TRC Donuts for Nascar Wheels (Front)
TRC Part # 1410 - Donuts - Blue Dot
TRC Part # 1411 - Donuts - Green Dot
TRC Part # 1412 - Donuts - Orange Dot
TRC Part # 1413 - Donuts - Orange/Blue Dot
TRC Part # 1414 - Donuts - Yellow Dot

TRC Pre-Trued Donuts for Nascar Wheels (Front)
TRC Part # 1420 - Donuts - Blue Dot
TRC Part # 1421 - Donuts - Green Dot
TRC Part # 1422 - Donuts - Orange Dot
TRC Part # 1423 - Donuts - Orange/Blue Dot
TRC Part # 1424 - Donuts - Yellow Dot

TRC Nascar Mounted Tires (Front)
TRC Part # 1430 - White Nascar Wheels w/ Blue Dot Tires
TRC Part # 1430C - White Composite Nascar Wheels w/ Blue Dot Tires
TRC Part # 1430P - Hot Pink Nascar Wheels w/ Blue Dot Tires
TRC Part # 1431 - White Nascar Wheels w/ Green Dot Tires
TRC Part # 1431C - White Composite Nascar Wheels w/ Green Dot Tires
TRC Part # 1431P - Hot Pink BBS Wheels w/ Green Dot Tires
TRC Part # 1432 - White Nascar Wheels w/ Orange Dot Tires
TRC Part # 1433 - White Nascar Wheels w/ Orange/Blue Dot Tires
TRC Part # 1434 - White Nascar Wheels w/ Yellow Dot Tires
TRC Part # 1479 - White Nascar Wheels w/ Green Dot T/M Radial Tires
TRC Part # 1480 - White Nascar Wheels w/ Red Dot T/M Radial Tires
TRC Part # 1481 - White Nascar Wheels w/ Gold Dot T/M Radial Tires
TRC Part # 1482 - White Nascar Wheels w/ Silver Dot T/M Radial Tires
TRC Part # 1490 - Black Composite Nascar Wheels w/ Red Dot T/M Radial Tires
TRC Part # 1491 - Black Composite Nascar Wheels w/ Gold Dot T/M Radial Tires
TRC Part # 1492 - Black Composite Nascar Wheels w/ Silver Dot T/M Radial Tires

TRC Z-R1 Mounted Tires (Rear)
TRC Part # 1772 - 2" Black Z-R1 Wheels w/ Foam Tires - Yellow Dot
TRC Part # 1766 - 1 1/2" Black Z-R1 Wheels w/ Foam Tires - Firm

TRC Z-R1 Mounted Tires (Front)
TRC Part # 1667 - Black Z-R1 Wheels w/ Foam Tires

[azone]

Modern 1.9" BSR wheels & tires only come pre-mounted but are direct replacements for 1/10th pan cars including the RC10L. They have both foam and cap tire options.
Also, HotRace has 1/10th pan car tires. https://www.hotracetyres.eu/

[RC10th]

I would fill the void with something, whether it be an old foam tire or something else there isn't much meat to cut off those foams.

[azone]

I would fill the void with something, whether it be an old foam tire or something else there isn't much meat to cut off those foams.

thanks. I think in any case that area needs to be filled. Even if the donut fit really well (i.e. not too tight) I still think the foam would deform in this area. I'm just wondering what the heck everyone did back in the day with these rims. Sees sold thousands of them - it just seems such a secret.

I emailed the guy at Pargu who makes new aluminum rims for the 10L that are the same size.. folks are buying lots of them so where the heck are they getting donuts? He directed me to https://gp-speedtires.de. I already knew about them but they seem like a manufacturer looking to sell to resellers in quantity. But I guess I will email them and ask.

[azone]

more updates here:

1) If you have a tire truer your best bet as of the date of this post is to just buy the Contact RC donuts. Ignore that they say they are for buggies. Get the JY45 for the front and JY35 for the rear. I haven't gone down this route yet myself. Regarding the recessed area in the Sees rear wheel, if you're truing your own donuts you can just stick the donut on and true it as is. The foam is concave but will be cut level. In the case of using pre-trued donuts, you will definitely need to fill in the gap with something. This answers my own question from the previous post.

As an alternative for donuts, I did get a response from gp-speedtires. They do currently offer donuts in small quantity but they advised that they are stopping business soon as they are retiring.

2) I removed some more Contact RC tires to try for the fronts. I got the acetone procedure down nicely to where the foam remains in excellent condition. You want to use the 1/10th Electric 26mm tires. The 30mm nitro tires are a little too wide for the Sees wheels. They have a few foam compounds available, I had best results w/ part # J14005 40 shore compound. I soaked the tires in a quart paint container. Soak for at least 12 hours for the glue to fully dissolve so the tire slips of the wheel. If you wait any less time the glue is not fully dissolved - the tire will be harder to remove from the wheel - and you'll get some residue on the foam. Try not to leave in too long though, my old experiments with the BSR foams were that the foam started to degrade in some way when I left the tires in for 2 or 3 days. When taking out of the acetone I just rinsed the tires off with hot water. Sometimes white glue residue will get on the foam. In this case I just put the tire back into the acetone for a little bit and wash it off again. During the whole process just be extremely gentle handling the foams.

3) Do not get the bright idea to try to get the foam by routing the plastic away. The acetone is 1000% better than routing, heating, or boiling. I tried to use a mini dremel router table to remove route out the plastic and save the foam. It's too difficult, the wheel is too flexible. I cut out the inner part of the wheel and then tried to route out the last bit of plastic but it's too difficult and you will damage to foam. Just use acteone.

4) For the rear wheels I'm just using the old stock TRC pre-trued donuts for now. They are a bit of a tight fit so I will see if they last w/o cracking.

[GreenBar0n]

Not sure how I missed this, nice work! Those See's wheels are top quality.