Article – Give your old truck a second chance

Jan 042010

Words & Photos: Sylvain Lafrance

I have been thinking about the idea of restoring my old Team Associated RC10T for many months. Unfortunately, time was missing but during the holidays I had a little more free time to work on my vehicles. My RC10T is my first hobby quality vehicle I’ve bought. In fact, I’ve got hooked to the hobby with this truck somewhere in early 90’s. The truck was sitting on a shelf and collecting dust for last 12 years.

After a quick inspection, the diff was ok and the transmission didn’t need any special treatment. The complete drive train was still in top shape. The shocks needed a rebuild so I’ve replaced the red o-ring in each shock and filled the front shock with 35wt fluid and I’ve filled the rear shocks with 30wt fluid for a little more rear traction.

To power my old RC10T, I’ve installed all the electronics that came with my SC10 RTR. The stock ESC from the SC10 RTR accepts LiPo batteries and fits well into my RC10T. I also installed the stock AM receiver because I will not race my truck. For the steering, I also installed the steering servo from my SC10 RTR. I’ve installed a Reedy Challenger 19T Spec motor to power my new “old” truck. I could have gone with brushless motor but I didn’t want to kill the truck and I preferred to stay on the “Spec” side for this project. Look at the steering servo, it holds in place with double-sided tape. A common practice back then!

I have let the tires and wheels as they were when I bought the truck. The wheels are three-pieces and didn’t require foam insert. The tires are more like plastic than rubber and offer no traction compared to tires now on the market. It is funny how things change! The first RC10T trucks came with two different front tires sets. I’ve installed the narrow tires, just to show you the look of a stadium with narrow front tires. Unfortunately the front narrow tires idea didn’t take off. The body has already seen better days. It is cracked and the paint is missing on many locations.

My Team Associated RC10T is pretty much stock. I only changed few parts. All the truck is stock at the exception of two steering turnbuckles, RPM gear cover and MIP CVDs. I’ve ran the truck in my house at low speed just to make sure everything was running fine. I had so much fun restoring my RC10T and it didn’t cost me a dollar, I simply picked parts that I didn’t use anymore. This project has brought back some cool memories, I am proud to drive my RC10T again.