Turn your RC18R into an ACTUAL RALLY CAR

Sporttracguy · Post by **Sporttracguy** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 11:48 pm

Well pimps, it's been a while since I have had some free time to post here but I felt this one couldn't wait:

I purchased a Team Associated RC18R "rally" car the other day, I was completely satisfied with its handling, speed and overall fun level out of the box but there was one thing missing...The "Rally" part of the car. This thing is great as a touring car or even a drifter but any sort of "Off road" and this thing is just not happy.

First off you run into the most obvious problem of very little ground clearance (I know it's only 18th scale, but still, its supposed to be a rally car right). Then you run into the next obvious problem that every one of these cars in the Team Associated RC18(MT, T, B, R) line up has...THOSE DAMN EXPOSED GEARS!

You get three feet into the dirt and your gears are fouled and then you have to rip everything apart to try and salvage what is left of your pitted drive train.

Well here are the answers to most if not all of these annoying features and setbacks,,,enjoy:

First off We start by upgrading the suspension: I chose to go with the upgraded oil shocks meant for the rc18t,(keep in mind i used REAR shocks for both front and back) you can see here how much more travel they provide.

Here you can see the stock height of the car...great for zipping around the smooth street but that isn't what we are aiming for here now is it.

Here is the new suspension height. (sorry about the color, this was taken with a cell phone)

Here is another shot of that suspension,,you can really see the difference in how much clearance you can achieve with these new shocks:

And Finally the problem of the fouled gears: I came upon this nifty product from the genus minds at http://drivenpro.net For about $13 you can install this little polycarbonate gear cover that completely prevents that pesky dirt and dust from fouling your fun. My picture didn't turn out very well but you can see a complete tuttorial and better pictures on their website. This is a must have for anyone with an rc18(anything)

Well this should tide you over until i finish my mods...I just installed an align brushless helicopter motor and am currently working on a front skid plate/bumper and lights,,, and what to do about those smooth little street tires

more to come.

Enjoy,
STG

civicsr2cool · Post by **civicsr2cool** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 2:44 pm

love the car

i like how much clearance you got, i think mine is a little bit less. have you found any good off road tires yet? i was going to get some m chassis tamiya tires for the mini cooper but i didn't have any luck finding any when i looked.

heres mine: we always seem to have similar rally cars

00

http://bitpimps.lixlink.com/pages/phpFo ... php?t=6612

Sporttracguy · Post by **Sporttracguy** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 4:45 pm

nope, no tires yet, ive been looking like crazy but no luck. I was origionaly going to take some 1:10 perelli tires, cut them and resize them for the 18 b but i havent found any at my LHS. Im toying with the idea of molding my own if i can find the correct rubber compound.

Your R looks good, you need to get one of those polycarbonate covers, best investment for this thing if you are going anywhere with sand or dirt.

STG

crazydave · Post by **crazydave** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 11:11 pm

I've been putting off getting one of those gear covers, and I've been putting off going out front until I do, because of all the gravel. Well today I swept up, and watered down the dirt in front of my apartment, that I like to call a track. It was fun, but I got some gravel in the gear right away, despite planning ahead. This LRP mod motor is pretty fast too, I had to take it out to the parking lot to really wind it up, and I got a rock stuck in it out there. I really think it should come with the car to begin with!

ibjamn · Post by **ibjamn** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 7:43 am

How wide is that body? I have been looking to do something with my Vendetta, and was looking into getting some 1.9s and mayby some rally blocks. But, there isn't much in the way of body choices that small.

Sporttracguy · Post by **Sporttracguy** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 10:45 pm

Well it took me a few days but here are those measurements: the wheelbase is 5.5" (thats axle to axle) and the body is 6.25" wide

STG

ibjamn · Post by **ibjamn** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 5:04 pm

okay. thanks.

Sporttracguy · Post by **Sporttracguy** » Sun Apr 06, 2008 1:24 am

some more rally shots,,,,,still waiting on some rally tires

STG

Sporttracguy · Post by **Sporttracguy** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 11:43 pm

Ok, next step:

Skid plate: I used this bumper i purchased from thetoyz.com

For some reason when i ordered it I thought it would be bigger and fill out the front like my new one does but all well

It has great mounting holes for an extension, although its a bit pricy

Using that bumper as a mount i cut out some thin sheet metal that I had laying around into the shape I wanted to and mounted it to the bumper. (Ill counter sink some beveled bolts when I get a chance to run to the store, for now these will work)

The front was rather sharp, even after i sanded it down so I decided to mount a bit of antenna tube to keep the body from rubbing the skid plate.

Seen here with the body on. I was going to drill some holes in the skid plate for looks and to lighten it a bit but that would allow some extra debris to enter the chassis so i decided against it.

Next on the list is a skid plate to protect the motor and a rc18B body under the rally body to keep things clean.

STG

crazydave · Post by **crazydave** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 5:12 pm

It would be my guess that its set up for a foam bumper. You could more than likely get away with the Sportwerks Recoil bumper. It's only $2, and would give your front end a lot more protection..

http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products/De ... ID=SWK6056

Sporttracguy · Post by **Sporttracguy** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 11:35 pm

Yeah, I was looking at those the other day, I's sure my front end could stand for a bit more cushion.

STG

Sporttracguy · Post by **Sporttracguy** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 10:50 pm

Next Step: Rally Tires and Under Body Shell

Alright pimps, she is almost done

I picked up a rc18b body and simply used some Velcro to attach it to the body (I did have to make a hole for the cooling fan to stick out of.)

This should keep a majority of the debris out of the chassis.

And next and most importantly the tires...I picked up a couple of sets of HPI pirelli 26mm tires and cut them to the correct size and re-fitted them to the stock wheels. You can see Ill have to do a bit of trimming on my front skid plate to accommodate the new tires

If anyone is interested in gluing their tires, i just found a quick Tutorial on it, quite simple http://www.scale4x4rc.org/forums/showth ... e+tutorial
STG

Sporttracguy · Post by **Sporttracguy** » Thu Apr 17, 2008 11:48 pm

Had to plug that hole, I was getting all sorts of stuff up through there

STG

payaso · Post by **payaso** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 5:39 pm

Sporttracguy wrote:Had to plug that hole, I was getting all sorts of stuff up through there

STG

That's why mine sits on the shelf. I live in sandy fla, so getting away from sand is impossible. Even the guys running the cover by driven and the 18B body underneath are still grinding diffs left and right.

I actually took mine to the track where I race my nitros and it couldn't finish one lap without grinding the gears. (This was on a hard packed "blue groove" clay track)...

silla

crazydave · Post by **crazydave** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 5:45 pm

payaso wrote:That's why mine sits on the shelf. I live in sandy fla, so getting away from sand is impossible. Even the guys running the cover by driven and the 18B body underneath are still grinding diffs left and right.

I actually took mine to the track where I race my nitros and it couldn't finish one lap without grinding the gears. (This was on a hard packed "blue groove" clay track)...

silla

Well that don't sound promising. I guess I'll never really be able to enjoy my RC18. Too fast for indoors, can't go 10 feet without clogging it up outside, but it was a blast in the parking lot. Maybe I should just do the R conversion.