Impulse Buy - Pavidis YZ10

[stickboy007]

Oh, this is pretty. I want to get another YZ10 as a runner, but my fear is that after I clean/fix it, I won't want to run it, and then I'll get another one, and another one, and the cycle repeats forever...

That's exactly what happened you Yokomo loverboi.

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[HS-YZ250]

Since I got two of my lazers back together (one running, one needs electronics, break-in, and testing), I decided to dust off my YZ10 and get to work with that. One thing I'm doing is replacing some of the hardware with screws that seem to fit better and/or aren't as beat up. Also I sourced new bearings to replace the gritty ones in the steering. I didn't even realized the carbon span had bearings until I went to put it back together because they had gummed up.

More to come, soon, hopefully. Looking to get threaded AE shock bodies, aluminum rod ends (the YZ-2 appear to be the same geometry but aluminum), and going to experiment with spacers and bearing sizes at the front hub to see if if I can get rid of the longitudinal axle movement through the steering arc as it seems to contact the shock spring cup. That'll probably be hokey, but then see my Lazer ZX-RR's steering set up. lol!

[HS-YZ250]

Managed to find some NOS threaded shock bodies. Just had to wait for transit from Canada for some.

[HS-YZ250]

Decided to do a general hardware refresh like I'm doing with my Lazers.

I was glad to find that the YZ-2/YZ-4 ball studs are the same size as the YZ-10's, so I'm going through those with modern hex head type studs and through-hole rod ends. Also similar dimensions are the shock end balls. The new ones are hard coated aluminum but have larger faces on the ends that'll resist digging into the plastic.

I'm replacing the stainless hardware with black oxide because of my experience with SS being soft and rounding out. There are a few screws that thread into plastic that I'm trying out replacing with Kyosho TPH hardware. I'm hoping they have enough material to hold properly after they had M3x0.5 screws.

Kyosho also had 15mm turnbuckles that I substituted for the long setscrews for the front end camber adjustment. When I get it back together I'll see if I can adjust them like I need. These are steel. I went looking for titanium parts but the smallest were 16mm and I wasn't sure that extra mm would cause problems, though I guess I could grind them down. I'm also using Kyosho's low profile (3.3mm) lock nuts throughout the chassis, though I'll use fancy blue ones in places outside the body.

The conical washers I added for looks like I did my Lazers. When I ordered more after running out I found the new batch had larger outside diameters than the previous which prevented using so many on the front end, so I had to swap some off one of the Lazers so all the front shock tower screws could be swapped over.

Soon I'll build the new shocks. I'll carry over the YZ-10's aluminum caps as well as the spring cups and shock ends, as those are the unique YZ parts. I did manage to find blue spring adjusters on eBay so I'll be able to accent those as well. Wish I could get blue shock cartridge caps as well.

I currently have silver springs. I don't recall what brand, I assume associated since it's been (checks thread), hold crap, ten years since I started this. Lol! They're a bit heavy but, like my other cars, I expect it'll run just on hard surfaces.

Before shocks, though, I might dive back into the differentials as I noticed they're stiff and gritty. I did have this running at one point and thought I had cleaned them up, but maybe I didn't or I chewed them up.

So, I saw a refreshed "YZ10R" is on the market, now, from Trickbits. Does anyone know if they'll sell discreet parts? Would love to use their motor mount with integrated front belt tensioner, and maybe their wider belts if they have the same pitch and profile. I asked on their FB page, but didn't get a response. Being what look like hobbyists, I gather all the parts they order go into their kits.

[HS-YZ250]

I went to put together the shocks and realized I screwed up. The shock parts I bought were for the RC10B4, thinking I was smart for looking up part numbers off of manuals. But I had forgotten that Associated had lengthened the fronts and shortened the rears for later RC10's: 0.89/1.12 vs 0.71/1.32.

So I hopped back online and while I quickly found 1.32 bottom loading bodies and shock shafts, I came up empty for 0.71 bottom loading bodies. I stressed a little until I remembered something:

I had a pair on the back of my Rocky

I had a phase of buying Associated shocks for my stalled "Super Rocky" project and continued that when I decided to turn the Rocky I had bought for it's gold universals into a runner. BTW, I have a few sets of RC10T shocks, if anyone wants to take them off my hands. Of course, the front mono-shock is a non-threaded type which doesn't match, and the rears don't even make use of the adjusters with the stock Rocky rear springs (see image), so there's no point for them to be on there. So I'll swap these out with the Yokomo and maybe hunt down a set of gold shock shafts for the Rocky.


The big hangup, now, is re-mounting the servo and I'm probably overthinking it. I'm trying to re-use the Hitec digital servo I had in there, but am trying to mount it far enough forward to make room for the receiver behind it. The servo is the older 24T style so I'm trying to find a horn that will fit and also doesn't step out too much. I also wanted to mount the servo outdrive inboard so I could put it further forward, but that seems to put the cable right into the belt and I'm probably better off mounting the outdrive outboard, and mounting the receiver on the top deck or something.

[HS-YZ250]

Posting this link to a PDF download of an article on setting up YZ10 shocks for hard surfaces, so I don't lose it. I'm curious about the claimed benefits of shorter shock shafts in longer bodies, and whether that's a good setup for me since i run my RC's on hard surfaces.

<Note: Link is directly to a PDF>

https://www.overrc.com/vintage/documentation/archives-de-mike/Yokomo%20YZ10%20CD%20RRC.pdf

[HS-YZ250]

This weekend I finally put the threaded associated shocks together. I opted for the setup recommended in the article I linked in my last post, so I made use of the longer front shock bodies and my Rocky can keep it's threaded rears for now. It was also clear that a 1.32in shock shaft in the rear wasn't worthwhile as the suspension binds long before it's fully extended.

I wasn't able to use the aluminum caps that came with the YZ because they weren't long enough to seal against the thread o-ring, so I found some bleeder caps I had gotten a while back. Ultimately they're better, but they're not as interesting as the metal parts. Another problem I'm having is one of the rear shock springs drags up against the shock body for some reason. I swapped out springs a couple of times and all did this. It's ok for now since I'm not going to run it much, but I'd still like to fix it. Finally the blue spring adjusters are a little on the light side so, one day, I may swap all the other anodized hardware with lighter blue to match.

While I was sure I had rebuilt the differentials way back, they were feeling tight and gritty so I decided to go back into them. Right away I found the front diff ring was cracked. Fortunately I had bought spares ages ago (glad I'm remembering to look through my bins before buying more stuff) when you could still get YZ parts on ebay so in they went. I think the pulleys are getting tired/worn as the balls fall out easily, even when greased. Fortunately have another set of those when the time comes.

After messing around with the diffs on the lazers I'm wondering if I can add a compression spring to the Yokomo diffs and get them to be a little more adjustable. Maybe after I get a few other projects done.

Also, I think I have ball bearings that match the bronze bushings that are in the diffs. Has anyone swapped ball bearings in and was it worth it?

[HS-YZ250]

Last night I did my most anxiety inducing task, which was to trim the body. I try and leave extra material the the rough cut because I'm always afraid of trimming too much, but I had done the ends of the bottom tray years ago and must have taken too much because there isn't enough for the rear screw to get a good hold: it's about half on and off. So I may need to get another bottom tray or use some double sided tape somewhere in the middle to help hold it in place. But I rubber-banded the shell and undertray together and set the molded wing on the back to finally get a look at it's lines for the first time in *checks first post* ages. lol!

Also, can someone offer a little guidance on trimming the front? The front of the shell doesn't settle down evenly with the rear. Is this because I left too much material up front on the nose? Or is this just a YZ10 thing?

With the body on I see I botched the steering servo placement: it hits the body. Either I have it mounted too far out or I have too long of a servo arm. I have a replacement coming for the latter. I may try flipping the servo over to place the output inboard, again, if all else fails, but it seems a tight fit up front.

Once that's sorted, the wing holes drilled, and a few more o-rings for the shock towers, I can try putting the remaining electronics in it and run it around again.

Then to think of a paint scheme to go with pink wheels and neon orange wing. lol!