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

Back in my much younger days I picked up a gold chassis rc10 that the previous owner had converted to a truck. The truggy has the steering system in the non stock location allowing the steering linkage to be perpendicular to the steering arm.

This means that over the 20+ years I have owned it, the battery has been misplaced. I used to jam it sideways into the frame but that caused wire damage. Right now it has a wood riser and velcro which works poorly at best.

I have a 3d printer and the ability to put it back but before I do, doesn't having the steering servo offset like that affect your turning radius and/or responsiveness?

While not very familiar with the particulars...if it's just a question of trading a 90° for a 90° arrangement. I think the servo capabilities would be the only limiting/enhancing factor.

Rslaback

You might try an Onyx S25 servo, S22.99.
Plastic gear and bushings.
Never tried one but cheap.
Not a lot of torque, 91 oz-in (6.6 kg-cm) @ 6.0V, but should fit more easily in the front OEM position.

Other options
Futaba s148

Savox sc0254

Reedy 0712mg



You may also want to consider replacing the dual servo saver bell cranks, as they will induce a lot of free play in the steering.
These older servo saver bell cranks are often cracked, broken and sloppy.
GoMachV, a member here, usually has replacements for car and truck.

Turning radius and/or responsiveness are probably more affected by choice of servo and the position of the ball studs on the servo arm and bell crank.


Chuck

I have this little setup in a couple of mine. The servo is also about 90oz-in, metal gear, ball bearings, and $19. If you want to go serious bashing, you probably want something a little more powerful, especially if you are keeping it a truck. If you are interested, I can send you the .stl files and you can print yourself. The servo mount and battery tray are both printed.

This is my truck conversion. It uses a metal gear, standard size servo. That is the GT/DS servo saver.

The nose plate is setup in the long wheelbase format, which requires longer nose tubes.

In long wheelbase format, a standard servo can be mounted in the original holes without spacers. The front servo post will require a little clearance. I wouldn't modify original RC10 posts but don't mind grinding a set of $3 Traxxas mounts.
Someone mentioned the Onyx S25, mini servo. It does fit the original holes for a mini servo without modification. However, it looks a little frail for use in a 1/10 truck.
Those plastic gears can't be very big. It is even thinner than a older Futaba S132, mini servo.
And downright tiny compared to a standard servo.

"Low-Profile" servos as used in modern touring cars can also be a good idea.