RC10L Wheels, Tires & Donuts - Details & Deep Dive (help needed)
Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2024 8:39 pm
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.
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.