RC10Talk - The Net's Largest Vintage R/C Community

Hey all. I'm new to the forums here. I'm also new to pan cars. I recently traded my brother-in-law some car audio gear for his RC cars. I picked up a 1st gen T-Maxx, an HPI RS4 Pro 2 (I think), a Bolink 91 sport, and an RC10L.

I've decided to attack the 10L first. From what I can tell, the chassis is the only thing stock. It's apparently a RC10L graphite/carbon fiber chassis. The graphite nerf bars appear to be a slightly different material (not glossy like the chassis), and the top pod brace doesn't appear to be factory, as it's got an piece on an angle in the large hole. I think that maybe the lower pod brace is the HPI Aero Brace, and the motor mount is possibly an Associated option heat sink mount. In addition, it's got a sway bar setup on it. I thought maybe Composite Craft, but I'm not sure. The graphite rear chassis brace is different than factory, and underneath the shock but above the T-Plate is some other support structure tied into it all. Seems rather complicated for a relatively simple pan car. The rear axle should be graphite, but appears to be aluminum. Up front I've got what appears to maybe be a Cheetah front end (thanks to scr8p and PTModIT for their input in another thread). Since I don't have any experience with pan cars at all, I would definitely appreciate some input on what I should keep, and what I should ditch in favor of stock parts. I don't intend to race competitively. I would likely just hit some parking lots nearby. Also, if someone can give me some tips on cleaning up the chassis safely without damaging the carbon fiber I would appreciate the input.

Here are some pics of what I'm working with...

composite craft rear sway bar
hpi upper and lower pod braces
hpi center chassis and t-bar brace (the little piece under the shock/antenna mount, too)

Thanks again, scr8p. Can you speak to the effectiveness of the add-ons and whether or not they are worth leaving on there?

Hi, I noticed your front axle is 1 piece .Mine has been cut or it came that way. Its split right in the middle. The front is set at 6 1/2" width. . . As for the axle mounts I don't have a clue if mine is a early version.I have a piece of steel rod in between the axle tubes to keep them aligned.

Good catch. I hadn't noticed the split in your axle before. It seems like it is meant to be that way to provide adjustable front track width.

Yes yours is a cheetah 10lss split front end and the other is solid but the mounts are not original.

Can anyone testify to the effectiveness of a sway bar on pan cars? I think it looks cool, but couldn't see it helping a whole lot. Maybe I'm missing something though. Please don't take this as a diss on the car because I do think it looks cool. I'm just speaking of it's performance value. Curious to see what people think.

I'm curious about effectiveness myself. I've never run a pan car before, so I have no idea. I haven't even driven this one yet. I'm debating on keeping vs. removing it.

Generally a sway bar on the rear of a pan car works well. It centers better than a t plate and doesn't tweak in the same manner. It is also used to adjust chassis tweak btw. However it can, depending on the dimensions of the bar, offer too much spring rate, and make the car too aggressive on high bite tracks. But in medium to low bite tracks they are very good. I should pull out pics of my 1/12 scale pan car. T.Q.'d the Nats, and had several top 5 nats finishes on asphalt. -Jeff

reign79 wrote:Yes yours is a cheetah 10lss split front end and the other is solid but the mounts are not original.

The mounts appear to be the same as the ones on drbelleville's car in this thread http://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=14460 (Inside Line?)

He also has spacers to lower the front.Still couldn't tell you if yours is a earlier version or not.I do have a 1991 rc magazine with a Cheetah ad. I'll see what mounting blocks it has.

These are not original cheetah mounts they are the same as the other thread yes but that is a inside line front end not cheetah.

I was just going to post that .i saw a ad for Inside Line ,But the pic was to small to see the adjusting rods.They did have the same mounting bracket.

THEYTOOKMYTHUMB wrote:Can anyone testify to the effectiveness of a sway bar on pan cars? I think it looks cool, but couldn't see it helping a whole lot. Maybe I'm missing something though. Please don't take this as a diss on the car because I do think it looks cool. I'm just speaking of it's performance value. Curious to see what people think.

Jay Dub wrote:Generally a sway bar on the rear of a pan car works well. It centers better than a t plate and doesn't tweak in the same manner. It is also used to adjust chassis tweak btw. However it can, depending on the dimensions of the bar, offer too much spring rate, and make the car too aggressive on high bite tracks. But in medium to low bite tracks they are very good. I should pull out pics of my 1/12 scale pan car. T.Q.'d the Nats, and had several top 5 nats finishes on asphalt. -Jeff

Wellll...I guess you might know better than me...

Thanks!

Jay Dub wrote:I should pull out pics of my 1/12 scale pan car. T.Q.'d the Nats, and had several top 5 nats finishes on asphalt. -Jeff

And by the way...yes you should!