Associated RC10 Ball Bearing Steering Kit

[aeiou]

While building my latest vintage runner, I went in search of a readily-available ball bearing steering setup. Since the old standby MIP RC10 steering kit had been discontinued, I needed to find another solution. I looked at parts from some of the other guys – Losi, Traxxas, etc., and there were some possibilities, but I was really trying to stay with Associated, or at least something that was made for AE.

So, I started digging around in the parts box and scavenging donor cars. Eventually, I came up with a setup that uses all-Associated parts which can still be ordered today, along with 4 3/16” X 5/16” flanged ball bearings. It’s working pretty well for me and I figured it might be of interest to others.

Here are the individual parts. The center link is optional, of course.



From those packages, here are the individual pieces you’ll need.



You’ll need to enlarge the hole on the right hand bell crank arm (from the B2 servo saver kit) to 5/16”. I used a step bit for this as it helps to keep the hole centered.




The left side pieces only needed slight reaming to get the bearings to fit.



Using just the short screws from the nose plate screw sets, install the sleeves from the RC10GT servo saver kit as shown and the bottom bearings. It’s important to use the correct sleeves here to make sure the bell crank arms are level with each other.




Slide the rest of the pieces on and insert the two sleeves from the B2 kit into each top bearing.



Top off with your favorite 5-40 locknuts and you’re good to go.

FYI – because of their width, the bell crank arms can make contact with the sides of the chassis, depending on the amount of steering in your setup and length of the center link. However, there’s a lot of “meat” on the B2 bell cranks and they’ll still be plenty strong even if you need to trim them a bit.



Here’s a side view with a shock tower installed.

[blown5.0]

Nice writeup, I will definitely be trying this setup out, thanks a lot!

[PBR Allstar]

Thanks aeiou! Did you see my post looking for this writeup the other day? I was bummed when I found out with went away with the old general forum.

I still say we need a tech tips sticky that is limited to writeups only! Mods, come on with this one! for posts like this one, the B4 slipper mod, maybe an often used part numbers post. things of that nature.

[aconsola]

the dirt-oval guys still use an rc-10 ish ball bearing steering setup.
It costs a little more than the above solution($28+shipping), but is much easier to install and retro-looking

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360125735964

he sells them direct from his website as well, http://www.kippshobbies.com

[RichieRich]

Does anyone have one of these steering kits installed on their RC10?

[aeiou]

Does anyone have one of these steering kits installed on their RC10?

The car used in the build detail below is this one:



I've also used the aluminum kit that kippshobbies sells, and it's a nice piece. In my case, I cut off the servo link upright so I could flip it over, putting the crank arm on the left side.

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[Mikeyboy]

How much did it all cost?

[RichieRich]

All the prices are there on the pic except 7531 which is 2.39 @ tower. Bearings are a buck each. Math is hard.

[Mikeyboy]

Sometimes things cost more than they appear. Where can I get bearings for a buck?

[tazz888]

Sometimes things cost more than they appear. Where can I get bearings for a buck?

AVIDRC.COM

[RichieRich]

This may be a dumb question, but what happens if you build this with the servo saver spring, etc? Is it too tall if done like that?

[templeofspeed]

If you build it with the servo saver bits it won't be ball bearing. It will work though.

[RichieRich]

Yeah, I figured that out later. I forgot there was another shaft for the spring.

So for my next dumb question: Does anyone think using 1/8 x 1/4 bearings for the right side would be a good idea instead of reaming the hole?

[lowrydesign]

not to rain on any one, but i put this steering set up together and it seems like i lost steering angle... i dont think the gt arm is long enough, i even used the longest servo arm i had, yes i trimmed the chassis, any one else had this issue?

[aeiou]

The bell crank arms for the B2, GT and stock RC10 are all pretty much the same as far as the distances from the pivot screw to the balls. While they all have their own unique ball mounting options, the B2 and GT arms can both be setup to closely emulate the original.

Because the B2 arms I used are wider, they will restrict the amount of steering angle in some cases on the tub chassis as they make contact with the sides of the chassis. In my case, I fixed this by simply trimming a bit of the arms to keep this from happening. And although I don’t usually drive with that much steering dialed in, the tub cars I’ve installed it on have lock-to-lock steering.

Post up a picture so we can see what’s happening.