Worlds Chassis Questions

[ChisaiKuso]

OK ... I have two RC10 Worlds Cars. One is a restored all black car, and one is an "in progress" white and black car. This brings me to a few questions:

1) What was the point of the milled sections in the chassis?

2) Was the Worlds chassis really made of a stronger and/or thicker aluminum?

3) Did anyone else see that Worlds chassis (just the chassis!) sell for $178.50 (plus shipping) on eBay the other day?
3a) Are you kidding me?!?!
3b) Are these things really worth that kind of money?
3c) Am I the only one who thinks that is totally insane?

[askbob]

3c. No you're not!

[Charlie don't surf]

OK ... I have two RC10 Worlds Cars. One is a restored all black car, and one is an "in progress" white and black car. This brings me to a few questions:

1) What was the point of the milled sections in the chassis? Lighten chassis, and allow a place for dirt to escape easier
2) Was the Worlds chassis really made of a stronger and/or thicker aluminum? Nope, Just hard annodized
3) Did anyone else see that Worlds chassis (just the chassis!) sell for $178.50 (plus shipping) on eBay the other day? Nope
3a) Are you kidding me?!?! Nope, I really didn't. Swear
3b) Are these things really worth that kind of money? Nope
3c) Am I the only one who thinks that is totally insane? Nope

[Vermin]

Well, technically, the milling should stiffen the chassis a tiny bit. But more than likely it was done for weight. Keep in mind that we're spoiled with Lipo's these days. Back when I was racing in that era - there was no pre-race laps to work out the jitters.. you were geared to run exactly the race length.. no more.. no less.. and weight played a big part in battery life.

As for price... just a matter of supply and demand...

[Jay Dub]

How is milling (removing material) supposed to stiffen the chassis exactly?

[Vermin]

How is milling (removing material) supposed to stiffen the chassis exactly?

Increases the surface area.

[ChisaiKuso]

How is milling (removing material) supposed to stiffen the chassis exactly?

Increases the surface area.

Huh? Since when does increasing surface area by removing material also increase stiffness? Please explain this.

[Vermin]

Well, there are different types of stiffness .. doubt you can really argue that the milled chassis has more static stiffness (traditional lets see how much weight we can apply to this before it bends). But there could be a huge arguement that the milled chassis exhibits more dynamic stiffness depending on how it is loaded and what sort of vibrations/loading it is seeing. Maybe I'm overthinking it a bit, and I certainly don't know what sort of destructive modeling Associated did when designing this chassis way back in the day - but I doubt they were like "Hey, lets waste lost of money and tool up some mills to cut some lines in these Worlds chassis just because it looks cool"

I know it seems ass backwards, but depending on the part and when designed correctly (and I'm not saying this chassis is), less can be more. For what it's worth, the chances of me digging out my old engineering books and finding a reference are horribly small.

[socal jared]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TEAM-ASSOCIATED-RC10-VINTAGE-WORLDS-CAR-CHASSIS-USED-GOOD-CONDITION-NO-RESERVE-/290715695479?pt=Radio_Control_Parts_Accessories&hash=item43b0017977#ht_500wt_1183
http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-TEAM-ASSOCIATED-RC10-WORLDS-CAR-CHASSIS-RC-AE-/251054584548?pt=Radio_Control_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3a7404f2e4#ht_773wt_935

[Lowgear]

Well, technically, the milling should stiffen the chassis a tiny bit.

I never thought of that before and would have to agree.

[vsefiream]

The milling adds a vertical surface to the cross section which increases the material's resistance to bending. Plain and simple. Much the same as bead rolling sheet metal.

Lighter stiffer stronger !!

[ROH73]

Actually, the World's chassis is a different aluminum alloy. I believe its 7075-T6 vs. the 6061-T6 used on all the previous chassis. 7075 is pretty much the strongest aluminum alloy available. It's stiffness and elastic properties would have made the largest change vs. the standard chassis. In comparison, the milling likely contributed almost no change other than weight reduction. The hard anodizing would have increased the stiffness slightly as well.

[ChisaiKuso]

Actually, the World's chassis is a different aluminum alloy. I believe its 7075-T6 vs. the 6061-T6 used on all the previous chassis. 7075 is pretty much the strongest aluminum alloy available. It's stiffness and elastic properties would have made the largest change vs. the standard chassis. In comparison, the milling likely contributed almost no change other than weight reduction. The hard anodizing would have increased the stiffness slightly as well.

I have heard this before too, but I've never been able to find any real documentation about the change in the alloy used. Is there any chance you have a source you can provide or a link to some additional reading? Thank you for sharing this.

[jwscab]

its mentioned in the first page or two of the worlds manual.

[ChisaiKuso]

As sort of a follow up question to my previous post, I have also heard/read that a lot of the factory drivers never liked racing the graphite chassis cars. I think this had something to do with the chassis not reacting as well (too stiff?) on the typical tracks of the day. If this is true (and please correct me if I am wrong), why would AE have developed a stiffer tub chassis for the worlds car? Was it marginally stiffer than a gold tub chassis but not close to the stiffness of a graphite chassis?

I'm very interested in development history of the RC10, so I love useless trivia like this. Please keep the replies coming!