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My oldest son started building up his rc10t kit.

Notes right off the bat the 'instruction' manual that comes with the kit was not in anyway useful to him. He couldn't even get started. The lack of descriptions, illustrations and combining of steps made them useless.


I had to download the original manual. I got a new appreciation of exactly how excellent the original manuals and photography were. Each step was broken down, part orientations and mounting are shown in pictures and the directions really describe how to get there. He could answer his own questions for the most part if I directed him to the page. The original manual was a functional work of art. The new manual is pretty useless. Team Associated really dropped the ball in this aspect.

The parts are bagged in a more approachable way. No more pulling from multiple bags at the same time.

I swapped the stock e-clips with original ones. I was super surprised to hear that he enjoyed installing e-clips.

Having the extra tools also made the build a bit nicer. Installing the ballstuds was a challenge for him switching between a hand start, 4way tool and finally a low profile 3/16" wrench to get a flush on the caster blocks. I may switch out custom-works,or lunsford, broached ballstuds as they are easier to install.

Day 3 of the build was interrupted by hornets a few times.

My son said the assembled front end looks like a turtle. This one if for the shelf. He says that he wants to build another one that will be a cheetah.

I was able to show a new tool, digital calipers and talk about measurements and how to pick the right fasteners.

He finished up the front bulkhead and shock tower.
Even the old manual is missing a picture for a text step. Attaching the shock tower to the bulk head is described in text,not shown. Maybe it's not a big deal if a kid was able to figure it out.

He was able to attach the bulkhead to the chassis, though I needed to redrill one of the holes to line up.

This ends with ballcups. What an absolute pain in the ass. I greased them and that didn't actually help. I then pre-threaded them. That barely helped. I eventually just used my drill and made them. Up to that point he was really trying to make them. Related, I am ordering a new set of ballcups for some of the ones I over threaded. I may just on my own make up all of them and set them aside for him.

Got some time with my 7 year old on his rc10t.

He previous built the front end and today he built the rear arms , bulkhead and shock towers. I did the tie rod’s and ball cups since they were a pain.

He’s still a bit young so this was all the attention he had for it today.


I am constantly in awe of just how bad the instructions are. Today he was able to figure it out without much help but I had him build and attach the shock tower to the bulkhead before installing since it make no sense to have to attach it after the fact.

He’s really proud of his build. I’m hoping I can snag him a gold noseplate when they get split off from the gts

What a great father/son project! In the long run those bad instructions are probably doing him a service. He's learning that "experts" won't always know more than him.

1911Colt wrote: ↑Tue Feb 18, 2025 7:46 am What a great father/son project! In the long run those bad instructions are probably doing him a service. He's learning that "experts" won't always know more than him.

He’s more likely learning that dad gets confused.

There were a few parts i put on for him today. I changed up the nose plate from the black one to a gold one, the stock steering out for a mip setup and added a new from package rpm bumper. Though for the prices I have seen the bumper may be worth more than the nose plate.