RC10T4.3 accessories/spare parts/tools? Need advice

[R6cowboy]

Hello all,
Recently new to rc again and looking for advice and suggestions. I have a new-in-box RC10T4.3 rtr stadium truck that came with the Lipo battery/charger combo. The truck will be mainly used for backyard bashing. Wondering what are some ideal accessories/upgrades to help make the truck a little more robust. Thru some searching I found it maybe a good idea to add a DE Racing front chassis brace and/or RPM front bumper, Lipo voltage checker and fire proof battery bags...thoughts? So looking for ideas on stuff like this that will make the truck less prone to damage/breakage and Lipo battery safety (totally unfamiliar with the Lipo batteries).
Also, what are some items to accumulate for certain parts that more commonly need replaced or wear items that routinely need maintenance? And not to mention, certain tools to have on-hand or an ideal tool kit to purchase for said maintenance and repairs? I plan on picking up a good tackle box or the like to store accessories, spare parts, RC specific tools, batteries & charger. I like being very organized. I'm completely new to the hobby so ideas and suggestions are greatly appreciated.

[Basher67]

The front chassis brace is the best part you can bolt to this truck. It really strengthens a weak spot on these trucks. For some other upgrades, look for parts off of a T4.2 factory team edition. The big bore shocks and other nice blue ano aluminum and carbon fiber parts make for nice upgrades.

[Jim85IROC]

I would consider stocking up on front A-arms, or getting some RPM arms if you're not concerned about squeezing the last ounce of handling out of the truck. The front a-arms on any stadium truck are prone to damage, and I haven't found the T4 arms to be terribly robust in that regard. The RPM arms are considerably stronger, but they also flex a bit so they won't handle quite as well. It's likely that you'd only notice the handling difference on a nicely groomed race track though.

[R6cowboy]

Thanks for the replies thus far. Please keep 'em coming. I'm very unfamiliar with online rc stores/sites. What are some good trusted online stores ya'll suggest for searching & purchasing this stuff, parts (AE and/or aftermarket), accessories, etc? I'm currently making a list and would like to start stocking up on this stuff soon, before the nice spring weather hits.

[Tamlok]

Second the front brace from DE Racing, I have it on my SC10.2 and B4.2. When I shop online, I usually check prices on A-Main, RC Planet, and Team Associated, and go with whoever has the best prices at the time.

[RC10th]

The front hinge pin brace is a must in my opinion, keep a few sets of spare a-arms though. The RPM ones are stronger but I personally didn't like the way they handled. The RPM bumper is ok if you run into things but also has a tendency to snow plow or lawn dart if you get your jumps wrong. I would also get a spare #9659 steering rack parts as the servo saver can seperate if banged around too much. Not much else breaks on the front unless you really hit something really hard.

The back end not much goes wrong. Things that are "common-ish" broken parts for bashing are spur gears, rear arms, rear hub bearings, rear chassis plate, rear body mount and cvd/a's occasionally come apart. Make sure the rear wheel nuts are tight as the old pin drive wheels would chew out the wheel hub but I suspect the 4.3 uses hex wheels? If you run a ball diff a rebuild kit is a good idea.

So, this is my recommendation........

9665 - Front Hinge Pin Brace
7446 - Front A-Arm (spare)
9659 - Steering Set (spare)
9654 - Spur Gear 87 (spare) or whatever comes stock on the 4.3

I would also upgrade the turnbuckles, Lunsford make a great set.

And the rest is just spares or further upgrades depending on how much you want to spend.

[R6cowboy]

Thanks again for the replies. Indeed helping to get a list of back-up parts ahead of time.
Regarding Lipo batteries, which I have zero experience with. What kind of pointers or tips would be good for a total newbie as myself? I've read many horror stories (for a lack of better term) about Lipo battery failures. What are the do's and don'ts about charging, running, storage, whatever? Always good to hear from those with experience.

[Basher67]

Proper storage of lipos is the key to success. I made the mistake of not properly storing them when I started using them and ruined some batteries. A good lipo charger is a must. To properly take care of them, you need to set your batteries to a "storage voltage" when not being used. My new charger sets my storage voltage at around 3.84 volts per cell. You can leave them like this for extended periods of time without damage. It sounds more complicated than it is and it takes all the guess work and mystery out of rc batteries. You simply charge your batteries on the balance setting, go have fun, and when your done, instead of recharging the battery before shelving it for the day, you set your charger to "storage" and let the charger do the work. You also need to have an esc that has a low voltage cutoff or alarm so that you don't run your lipos below 3 volts.

[jwscab]

this is a great instruction on lipo storage. I'll add a few more things:

be sure to use a balance plug and charge at a reasonable rate (I use around 1C, which for example, on a 5000mAh battery would be 5000mAmps, or 5Amps). some batteries can charge above 1C but as a novice I would advise to stay safer.

use a lipo storage area in your living space; basement floor, garage floor, etc and keep them in a lipo sack or safe or metal box with a non-latched lid, etc away from combustible material. Basically, treat them like something that could catch fire, and in that unlikely event you are safe.

lipos become unstable if they are overcharged, overDIScharged, damaged, or shorted; so be sure to prevent those conditions and they will work quite well.

[RC10th]

Just to add a bit more to the mix if you store your lipos fully charged (which most do anyways) they tend to swell up and it dramatically reduces their life span.

Always "balance charge" your lipos so the cells stay balanced with the same voltage, of you don’t they can get out of wack pretty quick. Good quality cells also tend to balance and stay balanced better so I'd avoid the cheap and nasty lipos.

Storage charge seems to always take a long time so I normally just charge them on a normal balance charge and pull them off at about 3.7v cell or about 7.4v as a pack........ For a 2 cell lipo 6.0v is considered dead flat and 8.4v is fully charged.

[R6cowboy]

Great stuff. Right now all I have is the 2S Lipo battery and the compact balance charger that came with the T4.3 truck. The battery is a Reedy Wolfpack 3300mAh 30C 7.4V. I'm either going to get another one of these or step up to the 4000mAh 35C 7.4V for a second battery. I'm starting to understand what the numbers mean thru some research.

The charger I have is the Reedy 324-S compact balance charger. It has 1A/2A/3A selectable charge rate which I understand is safe to charge at 3A due to my battery being 3300mAh. It also has 2S-4S battery configuration, XH-style balance ports, reverse & short-circuit protection. I have no idea if the charger has a "storage" setting. But if not, I'll take the advice to balance charge and pull batteries off at 3.7-3.8V per cell before shelving it.

I absolutely will not buy or use "cheap" batteries, of any kind, this even includes AA, AAA, etc for household use. According to AE, the brushless Reedy 3300kV motor and SC600-BL ESC (which has low voltage detection) that came with the truck is also 3S Lipo compatible, so I might get a 3S battery down the road.

Thus far, I have the following items on my shopping list:
-Team Integy Lipo voltage checker w/warning alarm
-Lipo fireproof bag
-DE Racing front chassis brace
-#9665 AE front hinge pin brace
-#7446 AE front A-arms (spares)
-#7448 AE rear A-arms (spares)
-#9659 AE steering set (spares)
-#9654 AE spur gear 87T 48P ((spares) but I'm thinking maybe either a 75T, 78T, 81T too see the difference...thoughts?)
-Reedy 2S 4000mAh 35C Lipo (2nd battery)

[Basher67]

There's nothing necessarily wrong with the charger you have, but upgrading down the road will make your life a lot easier. I bought an Ultra Power UP100AC last year to replace my failed Venom Pro chrger and it has been great. Most of these chargers, when set side by side, become obvious they came from the same manufacturer. My new charger, which was $70 from my lhs, has the identical readout, layout, programming operation etc, as my previous $160 venom. The venom charged at 5 amp and the Ultra Power charges at 10 amp. It will charge nicad, nimh, lipo, liIo, and liFe batteries. A charger like this makes lipos effortless.

The voltage checker/alarm is always a good tool to have when running lipos---cant go wrong for $6

Don't be too quick to pay more for "name brand" batteries. I race every week locally and I've seen every brand you could think of used on the track. When racing, the batteries are drained fast and charged fast over and over and see the worst kind of abuse. I've seen $130 bats fail just as quick as the cheap ones. I use Gens Ace
in my race car, Orion in my crawler and have an assortment of name brand as well as some "cheapies" for my bashers. I have some HPB Power 3s 2200mah bats that cost about $20 and are the cheapest of the cheap batteries. I have not had one fail yet. The problem with cheap batteries is not an explosion or fire. It's that they lose power over time with constant charging and discharging, like any type of battery. I would pay more attention to the specs of the battery to suit your needs rather than the brand. All that being said, the Reedy is not a bad battery and seems to be priced pretty fair.

When shopping for your parts, arms steering pieces etc, look to stores on ebay that disassemble and sell lots of parts from new vehicles. Nitro Express is one example iirc, that sold T4.2/T4.3 parts lots. It was a cheaper way to buy parts and you would get extra little pieces and hardware included.

[Basher67]

Another helpful tool to have is an infrared laser thermometer. Shouldn't cost you more than $15. When you start experimenting with different gearing, it is vital to make sure you don't over heat the esc or motor. Overheating a brushless motor will weaken the magnets and cause permanent power loss and if they get too hot, will just burn out and fail. Thermometer is a cheap investment to ensure you don't ruin expensive electrics.

[R6cowboy]

Ah ha... thanks for the tip Basher. Actually, I picked up an infrared laser thermometer a couple years ago simply just to have one. Nice to know I finally have a use for it. I knew some day it would come in handy. And the ol' lady tells me it's pointless to buy tools I don't necessarily have a need for right at the moment... Lol

I'll probably get a couple different sized spur gears to do trial and error. The T4.3 came factory with 84T 48P spur gear. How much of a difference would different spur gears make? Lets say the 84T compared to the 69T for speed and accel? For what its worth, AE lists 81T, 78T, 75T, 72T and 69T. I wonder if the 69T would be too low and cause too much heat for the factory motor and esc.

[Basher67]

This is where that thermometer will be important. As a general rule, gearing too low, will cause the esc to be hotter and gearing too high will cause the motor to be hotter. Also neither offers the best performance. I gear most of mine for max speed without sacrificing too much bottom end torque and try to keep temps below 140. I've heard all kinds of advise about max temps. It all sounds like opinion in the end and I can only offer mine. I run the reedy s-plus in my b6 racer at 160 deg. This is the hottest I run any of my motors. This gives me max track performance in the very competitive 17.5 stock class. After 4 months of this, I saw a slight drop in performance and during inspections, I noticed the magnets were not as strong as when new. At around 6 months, the motor literally went up in a visible puff of smoke in the middle of a race. I bought a new one and continue to do the same. This is the price I pay to have a fast buggy in a competitive class. If I turned down the timing or geared lower and brought the temps down, it would survive much longer. This is also pushing the car hard for 8-10 packs a week.