RC10Talk - The Net's Largest Vintage R/C Community

Hello all,
Has there been a thread on the best upgrades?
I'm curious as to what upgrades people put on their cars/trucks that they felt were just awesome for racing, bashing or both.

What wasn't worth it? What upgrades just didn't work like you'd hope?

For me bashing it was an upgrade to
[*]buggies to trucks
[*]brushed to brushless motors
[*]Shiny Chrome rims


Not worth it
[*]aluminum screws - I had a few shear off and snap in nylon
[*]ceramic bearings- found out after the fact they wear faster then all steel

Is there a way to do polls here?

Not an upgrade, but I think that parts availability is the most important thing for bashing. You will break stuff, no way around it.

I currently have 23 cars ( and three more projects), I bash with two of them. Both are 2WD Stampedes.

Parts are available everywhere. Even Autozone has a few.

juicedcoupe wrote: ↑Mon Dec 20, 2021 6:40 pm Not an upgrade, but I think that parts availability is the most important thing for bashing. You will break stuff, no way around it.

I currently have 23 cars ( and three more projects), I bash with two of them. Both are 2WD Stampedes.

Parts are available everywhere. Even Autozone has a few.

Switching to something you can get parts for is an upgrade. There seem to be enough rc10/rc10t parts available that I don't feel like that is a limitation for now. I can see how if something was really rare how that could put a damper on having fun.

JosephS wrote: ↑Mon Dec 20, 2021 6:08 pmIs there a way to do polls here?

There used to be, but someone abused it to the point that it was taken away. Not sure who though...

Sorry, but the question about polls made me think of this scene, different spelling. Not for tiny ears.

JosephS wrote: ↑Mon Dec 20, 2021 8:42 pm There seem to be enough rc10/rc10t parts available that I don't feel like that is a limitation for now.

Yeah, transmission parts seem to be the biggest problem.

Most of the time with enough wheel time the parts that need upgraded become obvious. For instance my wife's slash had a problem of breaking steering bellcranks when she would hit the wall very frequently. So a titanium gear servo, and alloy bellcranks was an upgrade that was able to resolve the issue. To this day I still say it had to have been the fault of the bellcranks.

Upgrades wont make you a better driver. The best upgrade is to yourself. Some upgrades to the car/truck could help but they only help if you have a problem with the stock parts. Now new upgrade parts do have a placebo effect that can help but overall that is a limited time thing.

Now upgrading your r/c tools is always a great idea.

juicedcoupe wrote: ↑Mon Dec 20, 2021 9:31 pm

JosephS wrote: ↑Mon Dec 20, 2021 8:42 pm There seem to be enough rc10/rc10t parts available that I don't feel like that is a limitation for now.

Yeah, transmission parts seem to be the biggest problem.

Even then they are mostly available. I feel stocked up enough. The only part I have not seen available is the diff gear.

LowClassCC wrote: ↑Mon Dec 20, 2021 9:33 pm Most of the time with enough wheel time the parts that need upgraded become obvious. For instance my wife's slash had a problem of breaking steering bellcranks when she would hit the wall very frequently. So a titanium gear servo, and alloy bellcranks was an upgrade that was able to resolve the issue. To this day I still say it had to have been the fault of the bellcranks.

Upgrades wont make you a better driver. The best upgrade is to yourself. Some upgrades to the car/truck could help but they only help if you have a problem with the stock parts. Now new upgrade parts do have a placebo effect that can help but overall that is a limited time thing.

Now upgrading your r/c tools is always a great idea.

What was your best tool upgrade then?

I was actually curious about bellcranks, so it is funny you mentioned it. None of my cars have ball bearing bell cranks. I was sort of wondering if I was missing out.

As far as upgrades go they could make the car handle better, or just look cooler in a way that you really enjoyed.

General non specific.

#1 - Shocks
#2 - Tires
#3 - Everything else

Electronics make a huge difference though so they should be important on the upgrade list.

Stuff that makes it lighter and stronger.

Not the category in your list, but best upgrade for a shelfer is alloy screws, titanium turnbuckles etc and any other parts that replace steel.

Means no surface rust whilst it sits there.

For me, I race (a bit) and a good high end radio is a must. Followed by high quality, comfortable, good quality tools. MIP are amazing.

My real answer would be ball bearings. My Tamiya Thundershot was such a big ticket item that the bearings were out of reach for my Christmas budget circa 1990. I could never hang with the Yokes, for many reasons beyond bearings (mostly my driving ), but the plastic bushings were the death of that car.

JosephS wrote: ↑Mon Dec 20, 2021 11:59 pm

LowClassCC wrote: ↑Mon Dec 20, 2021 9:33 pm Most of the time with enough wheel time the parts that need upgraded become obvious. For instance my wife's slash had a problem of breaking steering bellcranks when she would hit the wall very frequently. So a titanium gear servo, and alloy bellcranks was an upgrade that was able to resolve the issue. To this day I still say it had to have been the fault of the bellcranks.

Upgrades wont make you a better driver. The best upgrade is to yourself. Some upgrades to the car/truck could help but they only help if you have a problem with the stock parts. Now new upgrade parts do have a placebo effect that can help but overall that is a limited time thing.

Now upgrading your r/c tools is always a great idea.

What was your best tool upgrade then?

I was actually curious about bellcranks, so it is funny you mentioned it. None of my cars have ball bearing bell cranks. I was sort of wondering if I was missing out.

As far as upgrades go they could make the car handle better, or just look cooler in a way that you really enjoyed.

Best tool upgrade, has to be my MIP tools. I have used many drivers over the years and once i bought my MIP drivers all my old tools were put away and haven't been used since. Now to be honest the old tools do come out from time to time as a loaner tool for friends but I stick to my MIP tools. Don't waste the money for the cool looking tools that i started out with. In the end I wish I would have gotten the good tools from the start.

If you do not have ball bearing steering and want to speed things up a bit this mod is normally worth it. Less friction, helps prevent binding, smooth operation. But to take full advantage of this mod I would also recommend a good metal gear, digital, servo.

Continuing with steering would also be a good transmitter. One with all the steering trims and end point adjustment. Most of the time a servo can exceed the physical limits of the vehicle and put unneeded stress on parts at full lock. If you have more than one RC vehicle, having a single transmitter with multiple model memory can be a game changer.

Going from old school 27meg to 2.4 big with expo , epa and multi memory , best upgrade ever