wkumtrider

Well I broke a rear ball cup on the RC10T4.3 maiden voyage. Any idea what size turnbuckles are on the back? I bought some 3.5mm RPM ball cups but the threads are too big for the turnbuckle. Are the turnbuckles 3mm? Thanks for the help!

suburban_hooligan

i believe they're 4-40's. so 3mm

RustyUs

Sadly the turnbuckles are 4-40 (3 mm) . I'm curious whether the T4.3 comes with the same new ball cups as the SC10. I was building a SC10.2 from chop shop parts, and I noticed the the ball cups were a grayish color instead of the normal black Associated ones. I emailed Associated about the color variation, and they told me there was a running change in the cups...better plastic. If you go back in this thread and look at the pictures, you can see two different sets of ball cups. The ones on the front of my T4.3 build are the black ones that have been around since...forever. The rear ball cups are the grayish, supposedly updated, better plastic ones.

Are your ball cups black, or grayish?

Correct RPM ball cups (rod ends as they call them)...Long Shank Rod Ends (12) 4-40 ? Black | RPM R/C Products

wkumtrider

Thanks for the feedback. Mine are the gray ball cups. My truck was sliding sideways and the rear wheel hit an object and snapped the ball cup attached to the chassis. I did look through your thread Rusty to see if you mentioned the size of the turnbuckles. Nice build.!

wkumtrider

What is a good all-around tire for these trucks? The ones that came with it are already wore out. I drive a lot on asphalt and grass.

suburban_hooligan

Proline Gladiator ll's on the rear, those things hook on any surface. iv never run anything but Edge's on the front but those are discontinued now. and i am pissed the hell off about it.

RustyUs

What the heck! I guess Pro-Line doesn't see stadium truck/buggy bashers, bashing on real dirt, as a profitable commodity . The Edge is/was my favorite front tire as well...when coupled with normal sized ST rear tires (Hole Shots, Step-Pins, Bow Ties). I really don't want to have to get a stunt truck, or monster truck to get my off-road kicks.

I know I will eventually have to migrate over to Gladiators on my T4.x, but after running the stock tires from the T4.3, they just make the ST nimble an fly it with ease.

suburban_hooligan

i did some research after i made my last post. JConcepts has us covered. they have a front tire called Carver's, very simular to the old Proline Edges. even found them in 2 compounds.
and you might be able to still get the Edge tires through Team Associated sense that's what seems to come stock on T4.3's. so it seems maybe Proline just isn't handling distribution of those tires anymore and is just making them for Associated (?)

RustyUs

Carvers...perfect! Added to wish list. Thanks for the info!

And speaking of handling distribution, the T4.3's tranny has amazed me in the form of sound, or lack of it. It is the quietest running RC I own. The only thing I hear, while running the truck on the track, is the chatter of the tires . I thought my one SC10 (w/ball diff) was quiet. I attribute the "stealthiness" mostly to the transmission design, but man, that brushed motor just adds to it I think. How long will the motor last?

The Radon motor has been holding up well, so far. I keep gearing down in an attempt to keep it cool, 'cause that motor runs super hot. The 17T has about the perfect amount of speed needed to keep the truck on the edge through the rough stuff. I've read that some people have been having hot Radon motors as well, and blame it on using LiPo packs. Hogwash I say. They're just cheap motors .

suburban_hooligan

i have a couple of Radon motors in use. one in a T3 and one in a XXXT. they both run hot. at first i thought it was do to the run times of a lipo battery, then a week or two ago i ran a 2000nimh pack, damn thing still got hot as all hell. i think those just run hot. i used to run a Trinity Speed Gems motors in those trucks, mostly 15 and 17 turns, the Radon is a 17 turn, i geared it the same way i geared the Trinity 17 turn motor. it usually took multiple packs for the Trinity motor to get that hot. i remember going 3 and 4 packs back to back and only seeing 130-140 degree motor temps. the Radon is doing that on one pack.
iv been tempted to look into a heatsink

wkumtrider

Well I snapped a rear axle pin on my T4.3. I put some Proline Trencher tires on it and it hooks like crazy. Wheelie city. Are these pins a known weak spot on these trucks? Guess I'll see if there are any stronger ones on the market.

RustyUs

The hollow roll pins? Yes, they are known to be a consumable item under high traction situations. It's not a big of a deal when using plastic wheel hexes over the stock axle pins. It is/was a big deal when/if a person (like me) would be using "old school" pin driven wheels and the axle pin would "let loose"...tear the crap outta a perfectly good wheel.

The Associated Factory Team #1654 pins are what you need. The FT are solid pins and will need to be watched when disassembling the axle. They will slide out of the axle if not careful. I use E6000 to keep them in place. I also use music wire or brads to make my own pins.

RustyUs

Under normal running conditions the pins hold up okay. Big lugged tires will test a lot of weak spots on any RC.

wkumtrider

Thanks for the response Rusty. I think I'll try the brad since I have a ton of those sitting around.

RustyUs

The Reedy Radon is still hanging in there. I don't know how, but it is.

I finally got new motor soldered and mounted. This may give some of you a chuckle...Comm drops anyone ? If this Hackmoto motor doesn't fair well in this T4 platform, I think I may have to retire the thought of brushed motors for my RCs.

Chop shop selling Associated's newly designed 3300kv motor possibly in my T4.3's near future?

RustyUs

The Yeah Racing Hackmoto 17T motor, hanging off the rear end of my T4.3, was running roughly 28° cooler than the Reedy motor. At the 10 minute mark, I had readings of 137°F~154°F depending where thermometer was pointed on the motor. The end bell bearing is where I got the hottest readings and the body of the motor is where I got the 137°F reading.

At the 20 minute mark, I was getting 170°-ish end bell readings.

Trying to get traction with T4.3's stock tires and dry/rough track is an everyday occurrence for me in the backyard. I am running 87/16 gearing. Probably could get away with a larger pinion gear if I was only running the truck 10 minute intervals, but I'm very happy with the speeds with the 16T pinion.

RustyUs

Finally got around to putting on appropriate T4 Silver springs on the front shocks. Associated Gold springs (from SC10) are just too much to let front end settle in and get ride height to my liking.

I jump around the www throughout the evenings to past the time. I recently read a thread that was talking about big bore shocks, and how much of a difference a person would see by switching to them. Associated has been using the small/normal bore shock formula since day one, and continues on to present day platforms. Big bore shocks are not needed to make a 1/10 platforms handle great. My T4.x trucks, with normal bore RS blue V1 shocks, handle just as well as my T4.2FT equipped with 12mm shocks.

I will note that I am increasingly being turned on to V2 shocks for their simplicity of shock rebuilding/o-ring changes.

RustyUs

I can't wait until I wear down the stock tires, and get some real rubber for the truck. I put up with the slipperiness of stock tires because they were a cheap purchase for my T4.3 build. When testing my T4.1 and it's stock 3300kv it just made quick use out of the tread that on the tires. Bald in no time was the final verdict. I'm sure the new 3300kv motor, that Associated puts on the T4.3, is no slouch. 99% sure it's the same motor that's been used over and over again, just cosmetically different. Any, and all T4s just call out for proper rubber to make them great.

Who knows? I may even dig into my "vintage" stock pile and glue up some Step-Pins or Bowties.

RustyUs

I've been on a parts ordering frenzy for another ST platform. In doing so, I ran into sale at one Team Associated eBay chop shop. Picked up a couple of set of dog-bone axle sets and another T4.3 Red-White-Blue body. Prices are great at the moment. Bodies can't be found for the T4.2FT anymore so I'll need to keep a couple of bodies on hand for future use.

I was actually looking for CVAs, but everywhere I look, they are out of them, and are on back order. I don't have too big of a preference of drive line power transmission to the tires. I just like added security of not loosing pieces should I pop a rod end.

RustyUs

Best guess, 30 packs total that I ran through the truck. Starting to see normal wear and tear in the steering department. The bellcrank has some vertical, and horizontal slop. Not enough to throw off straight line stability in my case. The combination of medium compound front tires, loose track, and a bit of toe-in, no one would know the difference.

RustyUs

Tearing down everything to clean all the bearings, rebuild shocks, and check the T4.3's tranny.

What's really weird, when putting the gearbox back together, I had a lot of resistance trying to turn the tranny. I took everything apart, again, but this time I flipped the (gear) diff so the countersunk screws faced left side (opposite the slipper) of gearbox. Snugged everything down, and I had myself a tranny that felt right.

Took the truck to the track. The tranny has been the quietest it ever was.

Does it matter which direction the (gear) diff is oriented in the gearbox? The dimensions of the diff, where the bearings ride on, are the same on both sides.

RustyUs

May not be the "vintage" Step-Pins, but they are Step-Pins.

RustyUs

This T4.3 Finnisher body was not on the JConcepts site last night when I was looking for possible Traxxas Rustler body to modify.

callsignMERLIN

Rusty I just grabbed two of those bodies from Jconcepts.

T

callsignMERLIN

Sheer pins in the rear axles sure do live up to their name. Had to replace both but other than that no real complaints. The stock radio system is sufficient but is far from a mid-high end radio. I really hope this class takes off at the new track opening up. And Rusty you owe me $50, I had to get two of those new JConcept lids.