# Associted RC18chat



## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

Time for a fresh one.

I ran mine yesterday and it worked pretty well, except it seemed really stiff. It didn't take the rough stuff well at all.

What are some setups that work well at HIRCR?


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## Gary (May 21, 2004)

Danny had his car working! He had the right set up.

I run the light set up, lighter than most guys I guess. 35 weight and blue springs all around. It was working pretty good but I was getting ran over by the Vendettas in the waffle board sections since they have 10th scale size wheels.


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## nik77356 (Jun 8, 2007)

why rc18??? 

maybe i should start my own "detta" thread


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

Because my Detta works well but my RC18 doesn't.

Gary- I think that's what I'm running, the stock oil which I believe is 30wt.


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## Snowmonkey (Sep 12, 2004)

I have some idea's to make the RC 18 handle the bumps better . Danny and I were trying it Saturday when my servo went out .


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## Gary (May 21, 2004)

Snowmonkey said:


> I have some idea's to make the RC 18 handle the bumps better . Danny and I were trying it Saturday when my servo went out .


All ears bro!


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## nik77356 (Jun 8, 2007)

the vendetta handles the bumps way better!!!


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## Courtney Vaughan (Apr 11, 2007)

I'm going to attempt to bring a stock mini inferno out to the next race to give it a try......hoping it will handle the rough stuff better than the RC18's, but be a little more agile then the vendetta's......we'll see though......just trying it.


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## nik77356 (Jun 8, 2007)

good luck courtney!


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## Gary (May 21, 2004)

nik77356 said:


> why rc18???
> 
> maybe i should start my own "detta" thread


Please do! :slimer:


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

The larger tires no doubt make a difference on the Dettas, but I was watching Jose's Xray during practice. His was flying through the rough sections with ease, so it shows that with proper setup the small tires will work well. 

I can't remember what I put in my 18 last time, I may have put a thicker oil in it and I've just forgotten. I thought I put the 30 wt that it comes with though. Oh well, I'll rebuild it. 35 wt eh Gary?


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## Gary (May 21, 2004)

If I had some 40-45 weight oil, I would give that a try up front. On the bench my front end seems "Boingy" compared to the rear end.


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

So 40-45 up front
30 rear?


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## Gary (May 21, 2004)

Guffinator said:


> So 40-45 up front
> 30 rear?


35 rear. I tried 30 and didnt like it.


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## SwayOveride (Aug 12, 2004)

I loved the way my RC18T handled when I was out there. It had WAY to much steering though. I would have to get the 18T out of my truck to list the total setup on it. I am hoping to get to come back out next month or the end of this month. Graduate school is packing on the course work right now and I am hoping it will lighten up come next month.


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## danthrc (Jun 19, 2007)

Jose's truck was very smooth over the whoop sections because the 18T has a much longer suspension travel then the 18T or B, and his suspension is set up very soft.
What makes the car "pop" up and around is that the shocks are packing and alowing the chassis and its mass (weight) to move with them instead of staying quiet. The heavyer the oil, the worse it becomes.
If Jose had a stiffer setup with thicker oil, even his would be bouncing around.
The object is to try to keep the chassis quiet and let the suspension do all the moving. the longer the travel, the better chance you have of accomplishing that.

The Associated cars have two issues. Short shocks, and a short suspension travel. Up front, its twice as bad. This is great for cornering, and jumping, but on choppy whoops like at HIRCR the car wants to hop around and get out of shape.

I have some good ideas to try that may fix it all up but heavy shock oil is not the answer for the Associated.
A few things off the bat are. Don't build your shocks to have any rebound in them at all. And don't use heavy oils especially in the front.

I have two more things that I think may turn the tide but I want to try them first.

The Associated is very very close to the competition. The vendetta is in a different class so there's not much you can do about that, but the 18T is in our class and does have some advantages in its build. That was obvious with Jose dominating the entire day, and Trey running well with his as usual. So we have some work to do, but its all doable..


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

Any thoughts on eliminating the servo saver on an 18T? It seems that a lot of the slop comes from the servo saver assembly. I know on larger kits this is a sure recipe for a destroyed servo, but I'm wondering if it might not be some a big issue on these smaller scales. Thoughts?


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## danthrc (Jun 19, 2007)

You will strip the servo in the first qualifier. You have to have the saver on these lil servos. They cant handle much.


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

danthrc said:


> Jose's truck was very smooth over the whoop sections because the 18T has a much longer suspension travel then the 18T or B, and his suspension is set up very soft...
> 
> The Associated cars have two issues. Short shocks, and a short suspension travel. Up front, its twice as bad. This is great for cornering, and jumping, but on choppy whoops like at HIRCR the car wants to hop around and get out of shape.
> 
> The Associated is very very close to the competition. The vendetta is in a different class so there's not much you can do about that, but the 18T is in our class and does have some advantages in its build. That was obvious with Jose dominating the entire day, and Trey running well with his as usual. So we have some work to do, but its all doable..


All 3 turn similar lap times so they all have their strengths and weaknesses. We continually see all 3 win, so it definitely comes down to setup and driver.


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## Ronborsk (Jan 28, 2006)

Working on my rc18t trying to get it ready for racing. It came with some titanium turnbuckles that I believe are the factory team version, 2 sets, and both appear to be too long not allowing any adjustment. Tightest I can get the front ones end up with positive caster or camber (whichever one it is called--\__/). Anyone have this problem? Was wondering how hard it would be to cut them down a bit on each side. If so, would a cutoff wheel and a dremel do the job?

The stock ball cups are tight and severely restrict movement. I did some reading and someone said to put the ball in a drill, some polishing compound in the cup and run it a little to loosen it up. Sounds like a good idea to me. If you have any input on this let me know. 

One diff is very loose, slips so I plan on tightening on it. I wouldn't think I would want it as tight as I used to run on my gas xxx-nt but definitely needs to be tighter. The other diff skips a gear because it is not properly shimmed (I think) so I plan on working on that. 

Another question. Has anyone toyed with the idea of running 1/10th scale tires/wheels to possibly help with the quarter round bumps? Or is the cause of bad handling here actually the shorter shock travel? I read what Dan said about not using thick shock oil and the fact that the front shocks don't have a lot of travel. Oh well, just brainstorming.


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## Courtney Vaughan (Apr 11, 2007)

I've had that same problem with some of the turnbuckles being too long, but none of them seem to be any longer than the other. I have cut two of them down with my cutoff tool on my dremel before.....seemed to work ok.......

I think it has something to do with some of the ballcups not being drilled out as deep as the others......I read that as a common fix somewhere on the net.

Also, are the ballcups really tight because you overtightened the the turnbuckles? If you try to tighten them in too much to compensate for them being too long, the plastic pokes through into the inside of the cup and rubs on the ball and they won't move hardly at all.


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## Courtney Vaughan (Apr 11, 2007)

also, watch out how much you cut off of them......I cut one down too far and the threads would pop out of the cup.


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

Ron - The ball cups shouldn't require that much attention. Holy cow, that sounds like wayyy too much work. I think CV probably diagnosed your problem, you screwed them in to far distoring the cup and making it grip the ball stud.


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## nik77356 (Jun 8, 2007)

danthrc said:


> You will strip the servo in the first qualifier. You have to have the saver on these lil servos. They cant handle much.


not true. i used to run a HS-65MG without a servo saver and as many hits as that thing took, the servo would keep on going.


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## Snowmonkey (Sep 12, 2004)

Danny is correct it's all in the travel and the oil. The xray has about the same geometry that the 18 b has but the travel is way more on the xray. We will figure it out shortly.

That's what makes this hobby fun we get to tinker with stuff to make it better and sometimes not


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## Snowmonkey (Sep 12, 2004)

I changed to a HS-65MG . You have to re tap the threads to get a screw that is long enough to use the servo saver . If i can find one i am going to try a xray servo saver


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## CristianTabush (Apr 8, 2005)

Thomas, if you want more travel, use either the Integy shocks (which are REALLY SMOOTH, big pistons, so heavier oil is needed) or Mini-T shocks. Then you can run the outside position on the front A-arms as well, this should give you better suspension action.


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## danthrc (Jun 19, 2007)

Ron, another thing to look at is how tight are the kingpins? If those are just a little snug it will bind the front suspension real bad.


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

danthrc said:


> Ron, another thing to look at is how tight are the kingpins? If those are just a little snug it will bind the front suspension real bad.


Danny, don't you run the aluminum front caster blocks? I noticed there's a little bit of "give" in the front hub assembly, is this the cure for it?


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## danthrc (Jun 19, 2007)

Well I put the aluminum ones on because of the combination of high speeds and the back wall at M&M. The car couldn't take much of a hit without breaking the blocks. When you strengthen one part it puts stress on another, but so far it works great. 
Mine seem pretty tight with hardly any give.


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## Gary (May 21, 2004)

CristianTabush said:


> Thomas, if you want more travel, use either the Integy shocks (which are REALLY SMOOTH, big pistons, so heavier oil is needed) or Mini-T shocks. Then you can run the outside position on the front A-arms as well, this should give you better suspension action.


I dont think we need more travel. I'm running limiters inside and out and thinking about adding more. The only sections the AE cars are hurting are in the pvc pipe/carpet sections.


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## Gary (May 21, 2004)

danthrc said:


> Jose's truck was very smooth over the whoop sections because the 18T has a much longer suspension travel then the 18T or B, and his suspension is set up very soft.
> What makes the car "pop" up and around is that the shocks are packing and alowing the chassis and its mass (weight) to move with them instead of staying quiet. The heavyer the oil, the worse it becomes.
> If Jose had a stiffer setup with thicker oil, even his would be bouncing around.
> The object is to try to keep the chassis quiet and let the suspension do all the moving. the longer the travel, the better chance you have of accomplishing that.
> ...


Alot of credit goes to the drivers. Jose and Trey are excellent drivers and could race forklifts and win! 

This is where set up ideas vary from one layout to another and driver to driver. I dont belive in long travel at HIRCR, but I like the lighter set up. The rough sections are only about 15% of the tracks layout and I try to concetrate on the majority of the layout and not focus on the rest.

Could be a mistake!


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

True the rough sections only make up part of the track, but my 18t ran very well over the entire track with the exception of the rough parts. Those sections were a huge problem...a big enough problem to cause bad/inconsistant lap times which would necessitate some attention paid to them.


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## Gary (May 21, 2004)

Guffinator said:


> True the rough sections only make up part of the track, but my 18t ran very well over the entire track with the exception of the rough parts. Those sections were a huge problem...a big enough problem to cause bad/inconsistant lap times which would necessitate some attention paid to them.


Cant ignore the problem areas for sure. Cant guess at a set up before you get there either. lol

We need to seperate the vendettas from the other cars. Its two different classes IMO.


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

The RC18's and Xrays turn the same laptimes as the Vendettas. The foot print on the Vendetta is close the same as the 18, with the exception of larger tires how is it a different class?


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## zxeric (Feb 22, 2005)

*problem solved*

I guess you guys should have bought the vendetta instead.....


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## madf1man (Jan 28, 2005)

We won't be running the Vendetta's in a seperate class. Its all about the fun and tinkering with your car/truck/buggy and then racin your friends. If I am not mistaken we have seen all 3 chassis(dura/xray/assoc)we run win races at HIRCR. Could not ask for anything better in my book. Only diff I see is that for some of the chassis's alot of work is needed to race and others almost none is needed to race. Man I love mini scale!!!!


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

They all 3 do win, and turn equal lap times. None seem to dominate the others. I was giving my 'detta everything it had but Jose was pulling farther and farther ahead. No wrecks, no traffic...he was just out "lap timing" me.

Anyways, back to the 18's. I think I might try a REALLY soft setup next time and see how it works. I mean REALLLLLY soft.


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## Ronborsk (Jan 28, 2006)

Can we put larger tires on the rc18's? Would that help? Did I read somewhere that the tires on the Vendetta were 1/10th? I'm sure Guff would know the answer to that one. I keep coming back to the idea of using 1/10th scale wheels/tires because I have seen where a lot of folks are using them.


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## danthrc (Jun 19, 2007)

Keep in mind that larger wheels/tires are going to have a big effect on your motor and the heat it generates.
The Losi streets that we all run on our 18's work fine. To battle the lil problem that we have been talking about you may try to find some (inner) foams that are a bit firmer than the ones that come with them.
The choppy whoop problem will be solved in the suspension. You should not need to go to bigger tires. I opens the door for other problems.


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

The Vendetta CAN run 1/10 touring tires, but the tires that come standard on the Detta are smaller then 1/10 off road tires 1.9 on the Detta vs 2.2 on 1/10 trucks.

Trey is running Vendetta tires on his Xray now, or at least one of them. Maybe he'll chime in on his thoughts on that setup. Honestly I don't think there is a need for the larger tires. Danny is right, there are other issues. For example my 18 seems much "punchier" then my detta, and the motor on the Detta seems to fade during the end of the race due to the extra strain. Where larger jumps such as the table top often pose problems for the Detta the RC18 seems to make it easily and does not suffer the motor fade.


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## madf1man (Jan 28, 2005)

The Vendetta tires on the M18T should work great. Limited time and desire to work on it have slowed down testing. I ran it this weekend and set up is getting closer. Main problem is the aftermarket shocks it has. Very small holes in the pistons and light oil and it is still to stiff and slow. Next step is drilling my own holes in the pistons.


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

You know Jose went with the 3racing shocks on his and they appear to work great. I wonder if there is a benefit to putting those on the Associated.


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## Gary (May 21, 2004)

Guffinator said:


> The RC18's and Xrays turn the same laptimes as the Vendettas. The foot print on the Vendetta is close the same as the 18, with the exception of larger tires how is it a different class?


The Detta is alot bigger than the RC18B! Ill prove it to you. Lets have a grudge match between the detta and the 18B. Guess who wins? lol

Now, I'm gonna put my car, ready to run with batts, on a digital scale. Then Ill measure the overall lenght, heigth and width.

Who has the BIG ONE? :slimer:


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## Gary (May 21, 2004)

The weight of my RC18B, ready to race even with transponder and dirt from the last race is 588 grams. 1.2 lbs.

The highest point of the front shock tower is 2.4". The highest point on the wings stands at 3.28" Leading edge of front tire to trailing edge of rear tire= about 9.5 inches. Top of body is roughly 2.6"

Get out those scales boys!


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

Gary said:


> The Detta is alot bigger than the RC18B! Ill prove it to you. Lets have a grudge match between the detta and the 18B. Guess who wins? lol
> 
> Now, I'm gonna put my car, ready to run with batts, on a digital scale. Then Ill measure the overall lenght, heigth and width.
> 
> Who has the BIG ONE? :slimer:


You forget I own both. I've already compared them. The wheelbase is the same. The 'Detta is about 1/8" wider at the axles, about 1/2" wider from outer wheel to outer wheel. The 'Detta does have MUCH larger/longer shocks, which means taller shock towers. The 'Detta IS larger, but the footprint is very close.

I've never weighed either of mine, but the written stats say the 'Detta is 2 oz heavier. This is not confirmed however.

Do the Vendettas run faster lap times on average that all the other cars?


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## Gary (May 21, 2004)

Do the Vendettas run faster lap times on average that all the other cars?[/QUOTE said:


> I dont think so. I think if you ran both cars without any traffic, the RC18s have the advantage. In heavy traffic the Detta has the advantage. It's kinda like running 10th scale gas against 1/8th scale to me. One is quicker, one is meaner and bigger!
> 
> DISCLAIMER: This is NOT intended to appear as an argument, but rather a cheezy way to get the post count up!!!


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## madf1man (Jan 28, 2005)

*read hush man*

They are per the manufactures 18th scale's. No sense in any further worries on it. HIRCR welcomes Vendettas. Its a cool cheap racer that some are having a hard time coming to grips with just because its a Duratrax. Nobody wants to say or accept they were beat by one! If it was possible to do a blind folded R/C car test everyone would most likely choose it. Ohhhh cheeez, I just relized this was an associated thread and I'm going on about the Vendetta. I apoligize to all the associated owners and will now conclude this so they may go back to fixing them so maybe ___________________!

Legal notice:
This is intented to sound as an associated bashing. I'm still ticked off about the TC3 garunteed(yes garuntteed) to break and be difficult to fix ever time it hit the pipes car I owned


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

madf1man said:


> Legal notice:
> This is intented to sound as an associated bashing. I'm still ticked off about the TC3 garunteed(yes garuntteed) to break and be difficult to fix ever time it hit the pipes car I owned


You know I don't speak French!


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## rex cars (Jul 8, 2007)

thinking i am, yoda talking it was


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## Big Phil (Apr 27, 2007)

Looking at the 18/B and then looking at the vendetta st .With the right driver the vendetta should turn faster laps.It should be more stable and it can bull its way through traffic...


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

Heheh...if it were only that simple.


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

Hmmm. I've now gone with 20 wt oil all the way around in my RC18 and this thing still feels stiff.


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## danthrc (Jun 19, 2007)

How much tension is on your springs? You may have them screwed down too much.


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

Shafts about level. Any lower and I believe ground clearance would become an issue.


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

Oh, I'm still running those FT blue springs btw. I have no idea what rate those things are.


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## Gary (May 21, 2004)

Guffinator said:


> Oh, I'm still running those FT blue springs btw. I have no idea what rate those things are.


Even with green slime theres still alot of stiction between the shock shaft and the Orings. Use some AE diff lube if thats what you have.

The blue springs are medium. The gold is stiff and silver is soft. With 35 weight I tried all the springs and the blues were the best, but with 20 weight? Your oversprung IMO.


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

Maybe so, but it's doesn't seem oversprung aka "boingy". It still just feels stiff. I'm wondering if the lighter springs with a lighter shock oil might be worth trying.


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## Gary (May 21, 2004)

Guffinator said:


> Maybe so, but it's doesn't seem oversprung aka "boingy". It still just feels stiff. I'm wondering if the lighter springs with a lighter shock oil might be worth trying.


With 20 weight oil and blue springs, if the front end doesnt pop up and down like a low rider, you have "STICTION"! lol


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

I ran 20 wt all the way around. I moved the top of the shocks all the way out (Robert B's suggestion) and the car seemed to work pretty well with the exception of the rear end. It took the rumble strips pretty well, but the rear would still try to bounce around pretty rough. I let Mod Bob run a pack through it and his opinion was the same, it felt good but the rear should be lighter. Lighter then 20 wt?? Bob's opinion is golden to me, but I tend to agree with him that it still seems stiff (iun comparison to how my Vendetta's feel and the Xrays). 

I'm thinking that the stock shocks are the problem. It either needs larger diamter shocks, or maybe simply a larger hole piston in the rear. I think I may break out my drill kit and do some work on the rear.


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

So I've drilled out one hole in each piston in the rear. Drilled out is a nice way of putting it, since the holes are so tiny anyways I've put a rather large hole in each piston. I upped the shock oil to 35 wt (from 20) and it still feels a bit stiff. I'm now thinking to go back to 20 wt with the new "hogged out" pistions. It seems that the rear suspsension on 18's is just inheritently stiff.


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## Snowmonkey (Sep 12, 2004)

Try drilling 4 holes in each piston(the same size as the ones that are there now) then put 30 wt oil in them that should do it. You may want to try adding weight to the rear and see if that helps


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## GoFaster (May 4, 2005)

either that or stand up your shocks more.


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

I've played with the shock position a bit, they are currently stood all the way up. It made the front work pretty well but not the rear.


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## Gary (May 21, 2004)

STOP IT! :headknock This thread is driving me nutz!! :spineyes: 

What are you trying to do Guff? Do you need more pack, less pack, quicker rebound what? lol!

5-5-6 with 35 weight up front and 5-5-6 with 30 in the rear. Ring a bell? 

556 means the pistons were drilled with certain size bits and they were #55 and 56s. Two of the holes were drilled with a 55 bit and the third was drilled with a 56 bit. Then the holes were de-burred and champherd EXACTLY the same on all 4 pistons. Green and pink spings. 
At K&M the XXX set up was 6-6-5 and I dont remember the oil and spring set up. With the Associated cars, nothing we tried by drilling pistons and stuff worked. Tony Newhouse couldnt make it work, it wont work! 

What we need to know is what size are the stock holes in the pistons and go from there. I can measure them with Del-Tronic pins and find out what the diamater is when I take them apart... 

IMO. Dont drill the pistons on an AE car. If you want smoother flow, polish the pistons with Scotchbrite and de-bur everything! And if you cant measure it, its too short!


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

Gary- You are comparing 1/10 cars to 1/18. Different animals all together. It seems to me from watching my car as well as others that the rear suspension just doesn't work. You can watch the 18's go through the moguls and see the rear end getting bounced all over hell. Playing with the rear you can see that even with 20 wt oil in the shocks, when the wheel takes an abupt "hit" the entire car moves before the shock gives. It's just too stiff. I kept trying to soften up the rear but it seems like it just wasn't enough. Now I'm going to the entire extreme and making the rear end soft as butter to see if it will soak up the bumps.


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## Gary (May 21, 2004)

Guffinator said:


> It seems to me from watching my car as well as others that the rear suspension just doesn't work. You can watch the 18's go through the moguls and see the rear end getting bounced all over hell.


Compared to my M18, my 18B works great through the boards. lol

Apples and oranges.

Your trying to make your RC18 work like the Vendetta through those sections, and that wont work!

Two different classes!


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

Gary said:


> Compared to my M18, my 18B works great through the boards. lol
> 
> Apples and oranges.
> 
> ...


Why won't it? They both have full suspension with oil filled shocks. The Xray trucks seem to take the moguls just fine.


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## madf1man (Jan 28, 2005)

There are those that give up and blame something else and those that want, shall I say more maybe. Its 18th scale open we run so tweak em up!


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## Gary (May 21, 2004)

Guffinator said:


> Why won't it? They both have full suspension with oil filled shocks. The Xray trucks seem to take the moguls just fine.


The Dettas have bigger shocks with more volume over the XRays and the RC18s. Add in the bigger tires and the Dettas will allways have an advantge over the mogules against the smallers cars. Got tire marks on my rear bumper to prove it! 

It's not that my isnt working right, youv'e driven it and I have TQed with it. My car works better than I can drive it! lol But itll never take the mogules like the Dettas! No way!

If you gotta drill pistons, try this. Get a numbered drill kit from, (I'm guessing here since I havent measured the hole diamater yet) #70 to #55. The higher the number, the smaller the diameter of the bit. Using the base of the bit since its round, find the size bit that fits the piston hole. Just for grins as to what I would try, lets say the drill bit diameter size is #70. I would drill one of the two holes with a #68 bit. That should help with the "Packing Up" over the mogules without losing much on the rest of the track. (By packing up I mean something like "Hydrolocking". The force is greater than the limits of the shock oil flow through the piston.) Hoppity-HOP! It shouldnt add too much chassis roll in case you dont need more steering and shouldnt bottom out any more over the big jumps during the initial "HIT" since one of the piston holes is still slightly smaller than the other and still provides plenty of pack.

Just off the top of my pointed head covered in tin foil, 35 weight and blue springs front and rear for me. If you want your rear end softer, dont work out and drink more beer! :slimer:


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

The Xrays seem to take the moguls just fine, the Associateds are the only cars that seem to have problems with them. 

I've already dilled out the rear pistons and went to a lighter shock oil. I'll see how it handles the bumps tomorrow but for on road racing it is DIALED. I've ordered softer springs for the rear as well. I'm convinced the rear on the Associated's are just too stiff by design.


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## ddcarter3 (Jan 1, 2005)

Guffinator said:


> The Xrays seem to take the moguls just fine, the Associateds are the only cars that seem to have problems with them.
> 
> I've already dilled out the rear pistons and went to a lighter shock oil. I'll see how it handles the bumps tomorrow but for on road racing it is DIALED. I've ordered softer springs for the rear as well. I'm convinced the rear on the Associated's are just too stiff by design.


I think I will name mine, "My Stiffy". Kind of like it that way!


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

I ran my 18T quite a bit last weekend. The thing is an on-road MONSTER! I can't believe how well that car handles on Trey's RCP. 

I was driving it pretty hard however, full throttle exiting each turn, full brakes going into the next turn. Rinse and repeat. I noticed that the truck was making more "gear noise" as the night went on. Every run it seemed to get louder. I haven't looked at the truck, shoot it's still in my bag actually.

Any thoughts on where the "gear noise" is coming from? Think it's the spur gear or do the diffs suffer from abuse?


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## danthrc (Jun 19, 2007)

It's probably getting some blemishes on the Spur gear. Its pretty common with the plastic spur and the metal pinion combo. They are making some delrin spurs now. They last longer against the metal pinion.

I was wanting to go with an aluminum spur and a plastic pinion. You can run the xray pinions on the motors, and I think the wear, and maintenance would be allot better. Its allot easier to change a pinion then it is a spur that gets worn.


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

I was thinking about a metal spur myself. I didn't know if there where any downsides to it though.


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## Gary (May 21, 2004)

Guffinator said:


> I ran my 18T quite a bit last weekend. The thing is an on-road MONSTER! I can't believe how well that car handles on Trey's RCP.


A couple of more shock limiters and my 18B will turn faster laps than my M18.  I know what you mean! lol


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## nik77356 (Jun 8, 2007)

Gary said:


> A couple of more shock limiters and my 18B will turn faster laps than my M18.  I know what you mean! lol


thats why i run a detta!!!


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

Intersting, the spur gear appears to be fine just looking at it. Guess I'll run it till something decides to let go.


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## rex cars (Jul 8, 2007)

Guffinator said:


> Intersting, the spur gear appears to be fine just looking at it. Guess I'll run it till something decides to let go.


How does the pinion look?


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

It looks ok as well. The pinion is metal and the spur plastic. I expected to see some sort of odd wear pattern but it looks new.


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## Gary (May 21, 2004)

Guffinator said:


> I ran my 18T quite a bit last weekend. The thing is an on-road MONSTER! I can't believe how well that car handles on Trey's RCP.
> 
> I was driving it pretty hard however, full throttle exiting each turn, full brakes going into the next turn. Rinse and repeat. I noticed that the truck was making more "gear noise" as the night went on. Every run it seemed to get louder. I haven't looked at the truck, shoot it's still in my bag actually.
> 
> Any thoughts on where the "gear noise" is coming from? Think it's the spur gear or do the diffs suffer from abuse?


When my car was new, it was really loud! It turned out to be my bevel gears belive it or not. When I first built the car I was NOT happy with the bevel gear alignment due to the shims and I posted up on every micro site around about it. lol I changed out the gears and my car suddenly got quiet. It sounded like a gear mesh problem but turned out just to be a case of tolerance stack up. One part might be on the high side of acceptable tolerance, the mating part on the low side of acceptable tolerance and when you combine the two, it dont fit right! 

Thats what happened to me. The car sounded and worked so much better after changing the bevel gears. Anybody got Kurt Wengers E Maill addy? :slimer:


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

Maybe. It's certainly not something that I can see. Guess I'll run it till it stops!


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## ddcarter3 (Jan 1, 2005)

Guffinator said:


> Maybe. It's certainly not something that I can see. Guess I'll run it till it stops!


Ahhh, Spoken like a true racer!


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

UPDATE:

So I've drilled out the rear pistons, went with 20 wt oil and silver (soft) springs. The truck still "onroads" like crazy and seems to take the rough sections a bit better. The silver springs aren't really much softer then the stock blue sprins...if at all. I would like to try a bit lighter actually. Either way I think I am on the right path.


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## Gary (May 21, 2004)

I gave up trying to figure out how to make AEs work on the speed bumps. I'm starting to belive that if it's possible, the car will suck on the rest of the track. Unfortunatly, I'm not in a position to switch cars with enough extra parts to stock a RC18 hobby shop in my box. 

Time for a break.


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

Gary said:


> I gave up trying to figure out how to make AEs work on the speed bumps. I'm starting to belive that if it's possible, the car will suck on the rest of the track. Unfortunatly, I'm not in a position to switch cars with enough extra parts to stock a RC18 hobby shop in my box.
> 
> Time for a break.


So far so good for me. My T sticks like velcro through the turns and it does seem better through the rough stuff. Still some experimenting to do. I'm convinced that the rear suspension on the Associateds is just too stiff by design.


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

The great thing about 1/18ths Biff is....they are cheap. I think Trey has an Xray truck for sale.


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## Gary (May 21, 2004)

Guffinator said:


> The great thing about 1/18ths Biff is....they are cheap. I think Trey has an Xray truck for sale.


Naw, I have enough RC stuff as it is. I'm burning out and just not having the thrill anymore. I just need break I guess.


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

How about try a Rally? They are really picking up and handle great now that we have foam tires.


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## Gary (May 21, 2004)

Guffinator said:


> How about try a Rally? They are really picking up and handle great now that we have foam tires.


....


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## PD2 (Jul 1, 2005)

Inexpensive RC18T for sale over on Hobby Talk:

http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=199117

Just thought I'd give yall a heads up in case anyone is looking for one.....

PD2


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

Ok well after doing some drastic changes to the rear it seems to soak up the rough stuff better and still handles like a slot car around the turns. I think there is more to get from it though so I'm not done.


The gear noise though! Wow. I've torn the top plate off and peaked at the diffs, they look ok. No bent or worn teeth, they look good! As do the spur and pinion gears. I have no idea why it makes so much gear noise, but it IS getting louder with each run.


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## Gary (May 21, 2004)

Guffinator said:


> Ok well after doing some drastic changes to the rear it seems to soak up the rough stuff better and still handles like a slot car around the turns. I think there is more to get from it though so I'm not done.
> 
> The gear noise though! Wow. I've torn the top plate off and peaked at the diffs, they look ok. No bent or worn teeth, they look good! As do the spur and pinion gears. I have no idea why it makes so much gear noise, but it IS getting louder with each run.


I doubt you would see any wear. The diff lube slings into the mesh thus lubricating the gears. Why its getting louder is wierd. Are you still running the stock bones?


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

Gary said:


> I doubt you would see any wear. The diff lube slings into the mesh thus lubricating the gears. Why its getting louder is wierd. Are you still running the stock bones?


Yes, the blue ones. I wouldn't think the diff gears would wear either...they would just let go. All of the teeth are there.


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## Gary (May 21, 2004)

Guffinator said:


> Yes, the blue ones.


Thats your problem! Have you checked the outboard ends?

Three words....

CVD"S


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

What's wrong with them? The blue is worn off but they look ok otherwise.


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## Gary (May 21, 2004)

Guffinator said:


> What's wrong with them? The blue is worn off but they look ok otherwise.


Mine were trashed within a few runs. I only ran then for one race day and I had aluminum shavings everywhere. The axial load produced by that spring shoves the outboard end of the bones into the inner bearing on the castor blocks and also rubs on the thing-a-jig. lol

Toss em!

The RC18s pretty much sucks without alot of upgrades. It handles pretty well once upgraded, but the rumor is AE designed the car for backyard bashers and not hardcore racers. Just sumptin we gotta deal with running Micro cars. They sure aint no Losi XXX or B4!


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

Interesting. I don't see any aluminum shavings, but it could be a bearing. I'll look into it.


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

Gary said:


> The RC18s pretty much sucks without alot of upgrades.


Yeh it's apparent that they were definitely built cheaply and you have to "re-invent the wheel" here and there. Oh well, that's half the fun.


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## Gary (May 21, 2004)

Guffinator said:


> Interesting. I don't see any aluminum shavings, but it could be a bearing. I'll look into it.


I have extra bearings, bevel gears etc if you need a re-build. Dont think I have extra CVds, but I have re-builds for them I think. Shims, whatever.


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

Out of the lab rolls......


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## Gary (May 21, 2004)

Guffinator said:


> Out of the lab rolls......


That actually looks like a real VW dune buggy! I like it bro! lol If you can find a little VW engine with those twin pipes sticking out, thats a concourse winner.


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

Actually I really messed up on the rear, I cut it trying to adapt it to the RC18T and in the process really cut away too much. Fortunately my dad had another VDub body sitting around, some Rally body posts in the back should do the job, so I'm in the process of painting another one.

Those Slider wheels look pretty sharp too


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## Guffinator (Aug 27, 2005)

Well here is the final product. I think it looks pretty good.


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## Gary (May 21, 2004)

I like it bro!


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## gkcontra (Feb 25, 2007)

Looks good Guff


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## Ronborsk (Jan 28, 2006)

Saweet Guff.


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