Associated Electrics RC10L2 Road Series User manual

8

FINALADJUSTMENTS
MOTOR GEARING
To get the most from your motor proper gearing is
important.The gear ratios listed in the chart below
are recommended starting gear ratios.Ratios can
vary from track to track but you should not change
the pinion size more than one tooth from the rec-
ommended ratio.
CAUTION!Increasing the pinionsize bymore
than one tooth can damage your motor from ex-
cess heat.
MOTOR PINION SPUR
24° ROAR stock motor 22 81
DS Spec motor 21 81
36° stock motor 20 81
14 turn modified motor 19 84
13 turn modified motor 18 84
12 turn modified motor 17 84
TIREDIAMETERADJUSTMENT
If you change tire diameter you can affect your
gearing.Youcancalculateanygearingadjustments
by using the following formulas.
Old Pinion Factor Results New Pinion
Gear Gear
18 X 1.105 = 19.89 = 20 (round to nearest whole
number)
Old New
Tire Tire Factor
Dia. Dia.
( 2.1" ÷÷
÷÷
÷1.9" ) = 1.105
PAINTINGTHE BODY
1 While the body is still clear, mark and cut out the
holes for the body mounts and antenna tube.
2 Cleanthe bodyandwing thoroughlybeforepaint-
ing with warm water and a mild dish soap.
3 Mask the inside of the body according to your
paint scheme, using automotive masking tape for
the best results. Take the time to press down all
edges of the tape.Mask off the holes you cut with
tape on the outside of the body.
4 Spray the body and wing, applying the paint in
thin coats and letting it dry between coats. We
recommend Pactra paints.
RADIO ADJUSTMENTS
Chargethe transmitterbatteries ifthey areNiCads.
(See your radio manual for instructions.) Next
charge your battery pack according to the instruc-
tions included with your battery charger or battery
pack. Make sure all the ESC connections are ac-
cording to the appropriate manuals. Now use the
following steps to make the final adjustments on
your car.
1 Turn the transmitter switch ON
2 Makesure the motoris unplugged orunsoldered.
3 Plug in or solder in your battery pack.
4 Turn the car switch to the ON position. (This is
normally attached to the ESC.)
5 Move the steering control on the transmitter to
the right. Do the wheels steer to the right? If not,
you must reverse the steering servo direction on
your transmitter (see radio manual).
6 After youhave the wheels steering in the correct
direction, remove your hand from the steering con-
trol on the transmitter. Now look at the servo horn
mounted on the servo.Is it pointing straight down?
If not, adjust its position with the steering trim con-
trol on the transmitter, or move its position on the
servo.
7 Now look at your front wheels.Are they pointed
straight ahead in relation to the center line of the
chassis? If not, first check the alignment of the
servo saver in relation to the wheels. Do they now
point straight ahead? If not, use the steering tie-
rod turnbuckles to adjust each wheel so that it is
pointed straight ahead.
8 Adjust the ESC (electronic speed control) ac-
cordingto thespeedcontrol manufacturer’s instruc-
tions. Note:
Some manufacturers have the motor
connected during adjustment and some do not.
Now turn the car ON/OFF switch OFF.
9 Plug in or solder in your motor.Place your car on
a block or car stand so that the rear wheels cannot
touchanything.Turnthe car switchback ON.Check
the ESC operation and settings.After you have set
and checked the speed control, turn the car switch
OFF.
10The transmitterswitch mustalways be the
FIRST
SWITCH TURNED ON and THE LAST SWITCH
TURNED OFF.
CONGRATULATIONS! YOUR CAR IS NOW
READYTO RUN!
SETTINGTHETWEAK
We set the “tweak” after EVERYTHING ex-
cept the body is installed on the car, including bat-
teries, motor,speed control,and allthe radio equip-
ment.
WHAT IS TWEAK? Ideally, the left wheel
should be pushing down on the ground with ex-
actly the same force as the right wheel. If this is
not happening, the car is TWEAKED (or twisted).
This can cause the car to spin out easily under
acceleration.It will also cause the car to oversteer
in one direction and understeer in the opposite di-
rection.
CHECKINGTHETWEAK.
1Measure the front chassis width. Use half of this
measurement to find the centerline of the chassis.
2Scribe the centerline at the front of the chassis
with your hobby knife.
3To tweak the car, place the tip of a hobby knife
on the center mark as shown.
4Lift the front of the car slowly.We want both tires
to leave the ground at the same time. If one tire
leaves the ground before the other one, the car is
tweaked.
CORRECTING THE TWEAK. Loosen the T-
bar tweak screw 1/8 of a turn on the tire side that
leftthe groundfirst.Nowtightenthe oppositetweak
screw (the one that left the ground last) the same
amount. Recheck the tweak. Continue to make
these adjustments until both tires leave the ground
at the EXACT SAME TIME. Always loosen one
15
screw first, then tighten the opposite screw the
same amount.
MAKETHESE ADJUSTMENTS BEFORE RACING

16
BATTERY CHARGING &
DISCHARGING
The battery packs used for R/C cars are six-
cell, sub-C, rechargeable type found in any hobby
shop.CHARGING.Proper battery charging anddis-
charging is important to maintain the performance
and life of your battery pack.
Associated recommends the use of a good
qualityautomatic peakdetectiontype charger.Peak
detection chargers will automatically sense when
the battery pack is fully charged and shut off, thus
lesseningthe chanceof damage dueto overcharg-
ing.Timerchargers arenot recommended because
a mistake can be made, thus damaging the bat-
tery pack.
DISCHARGING. To maintain performance
from your battery packs, it is recommended you
completelydischarge them betweencharges.There
are several inexpensive dischargesavailable at your
hobby shop.Associated recommendsthe lightbulb
type discharger that is popular with the racers.
Follow the discharging instructions supplied with
your discharger for best battery performance.
Your car is one of the most tunable on road cars on
the market.This section will try to explain the parts
and adjustments you can use to tune your car for
different track conditions.
CASTERdescribes the angle of the kingpin,
inrelation tothe vertical plane,whenlooked atfrom
the side of the car. As an example, 0° of caster
puts the kingpin in a vertical line. Positive caster
means the kingpin leans rearward at the top. In-
creasing the positive caster on your car will slightly
increase the steering turning into a corner and
slightly decrease steering coming out of the cor-
ner.Reducing the positive caster will decrease the
amount of steering you have going into a corner
and increase the amount of steering you have in
CLEANINGYOUR CAR
You canclean yourcarand electronics(radio and
speed control) with an electronics parts cleaner
that is designated safe for plastics.They are con-
venient and work very well, but can be expen-
sive.If you remove your electronics you can also
clean the car and motor with motor cleaning
sprays. Like the electronics cleaners, this works
very well, but can cost a lot.To keep your main-
tenance costs down, you can clean the car (not
the motor or electronics) with normal household
cleaners like 409, Fantastic, Simple Green or
Associated’s #711 Reedy CarWash.These clean-
ers have more water in them, so to prevent rust on
the metalparts youmust completely dry all ofthese
parts, or else spray them with WD40.
WARNING!
Mostof thesecleaners havechemicals inthem that
will affect the Lexan body.
(Reedy Car Wash is
Lexan safe.)The bestwayto cleanyourLexan body
is with warm water and a mild dish soap.
DIFFERENTIAL MAINTENANCE
You should rebuild the differential when the action
gets somewhat“gritty”feeling.Usually cleaning the
diff and applying new lube per the instructions will
bringit backtonew condition.Normally, astheparts
seat, the diff will get smoother. If, after carefully
cleaningand relubingthediff parts,thediff still feels
gritty, the 1/8” balls and drive rings should be
checked and possibly replaced. Refer to the diff
section to correctly assemble the diff.
brush holders.
2 Try a different motor.
3 Try a different radio frequency.
4 Try mounting the receiver on its side with the
crystal up to get it away from the chassis. Also try
adding more servo tape to the bottom.
5 Try moving the receiver to a different location.
6 Bundle the radio wires well away from the servo
and battery wires.Either can generate a signal into
the antenna wire.
7 Thenew high frequency speed controlscan gen-
erate a signal which can cause interference with
the receiver.Try to keep them an inch apart if pos-
sible.Keep in mind that you can also run into out-
side interference. 75 MHz radio band will tend to
be more susceptible to this problem than the 27
MHz band.
RADIO MAINTENANCE
A radio problem is not always caused by the radio
system. Often it is the result of a combination of
severalfactorswhich caninclude:motornoise, poor
electrical connections, poor wiring layout, reversed
or defective receiver crystals, weak transmitter
batteries, and so on. If your radio problems per-
sist, one of the following tips may help:
1 Make sure the motor brushes are free in their
You should periodically check all the moving parts:
front and rear end, suspension arms, steering
blocks, steering linkage, shocks, and so on. If any
of these should get dirty or bind, then your car’s
performance will suffer.
MOTOR MAINTENANCE
Between runs, inspect the brushes to insure they
are moving freely in the brush holder.This is done
by carefully removing the spring and sliding the
brush in and out of the holder.If there is any resis-
tance or rough spots, remove the brush and care-
fully wipe the brush clean.This will clean off any
buildupand lubricatethe brushso itslidessmoothly
in the brush holder.
After every 3 to 5 runs, remove the brushes
from the holders and inspect the tips for wear and/
or burning.If there is a noticeable amount of wear,
replace the brush with a new pair. If the tip is a
burnt blue color, then the lubricant in the brush has
been burned away and new brushes should be in-
stalled.
After every other battery charge you should
carefully clean the motor. One recommended
method is to spray motor cleaner directly on the
brush and commutator area.Run the motor for ap-
proximately 15 seconds.Disconnect the motor and
spray it again, making sure the runoff is clear and
clean. If the runoff is still dirty, repeat the spraying
action until clean. After completing the cleaning,
applyasmall amountoflightweight oiltoeachbush-
ing or bearing for lubrication. Be careful not to ap-
ply too much oil, for this will pick up dirt and con-
taminate the commutator and brushes.
TUNING & SETUP TIPS
MAINTENANCE
FOLLOWTHESE STEPSTO KEEPYOUR CAR IN SHAPE FOR RACING
THESE STEPS PREPAREYOUR CAR FOR MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE
the middle of the corner and exiting the same cor-
ner. Your car has adjustable caster in increments
of 2°.With the 0° upper arm mounts you can have
settings of 0°, 2°, and 4° of positive caster as
shown.You change the caster by placement of the
PTFE caster shims on either side of the upper arm
mount. The three drawings below show the loca-
tions of the caster shims and what the resulting
caster settings will be. The 0° mounts are recom-
mended for oval racing or for a less aggressive
steering feel.
For greater amount of caster than moving the
upper arm caster shims, you can add the #4127
caster spacers under the suspension arms. They
come in 2° increments.Be aware that adding these
caster shim spacers will change your ride height.
REAR ➡
0° mount, 0° mount, 0° mount,
0° caster 2° caster 4° caster
2 shims forward 1 shim each side 2 shims to rear

CASTER CHANGE
The 0° mount is level with the chassis when
mounted.The 10° mount is angled 10° in relation
to the chassis or lower suspension arm.This angle
provides a change in caster during suspension
movement. The caster angle will change two de-
grees during full suspension travel. Your car will
steer more aggressively when using this option.
The starting or static caster setting is changed in
the same manner using the PTFE caster shims.
Static caster starts at either 2°, 4°, or 6°. A more
detailed example would be a starting caster of 2°
CAMBER is a word describing the angle at
whichthe tireand wheelridesrelative totheground
when looked at from the front or back.This is one
ofthe most importantadjustments onthecar.Nega-
tive camber means that the tire leans inward at the
top, putting it closer to the centerline of the car
than the bottom of the tire.Positive camber means
just the opposite, the top of the tire is further away
from the centerline of the car than the bottom of
the tire.
Excessivenegative camberwilldecrease trac-
tion but increase stability.Positive camber will also
decrease traction and decrease stability. A tire's
maximum traction is achieved when it is straight
up and down.We suggest a starting setting of 2°
TOE-IN AND TOE-OUTis a beneficial
adjustment and has a fairly significant effect on the
car. Toe-in will help stabilize your car and it also
removes a small amount of turn in steering. Toe-
out will allow the car to turn in to a corner quicker
but will reduce stability exiting the corner.Both toe-
in and toe-out will scrub speed so try to use as
little, of either, as possible.You adjust the toe-in or
toe-out by adjusting the length of the steering tie-
rod turnbuckles.
FRONT SUSPENSION SPRINGS
are available in various wire sizes as listed below.
Changing springs will increase or decrease steer-
ing.In general a softer spring (smaller wire diam-
eter) will add steering and a harder spring (larger
wire diameter) will decrease steering. Oval racing
will normally require a harder spring than road
course racing. The #8015 L2 kit includes #8427
springs.The #8416L2O kit includes#8429 springs.
Part Number Wire Size
#8433 (.024") Harder
#8431 (.022")
#8429 (.020")
#8427 (.018")
Softer
17
will have 0° caster at full suspension travel and a starting caster of 6° will be only 4° at full suspension travel.This setup is recommended for road racing
applications, giving you the most aggressive steering possible.
REAR
➡➡
➡➡
➡
10° mount, 10° mount, 10° mount,
2°-0° caster 4°-2° caster 6°-4° caster
2 shims forward 1 shim each side 2 shims to rear
of negative camber. If you want to add a little more steering, reduce front camber to 1° negative or even 0°. Keep in mind that using little or 0° of camber can
cause the car to be unpredictable. Try to use at least 1 to 2° negative camber at all times.This can be adjusted by turning the upper arm turnbuckles in the
appropriate direction.

18
DAMPENER PLATE MAINTENANCE
It is very important to keep the dampener plates CLEAN and lubed for
each race.We recommend using the Associated #6636 diff lube that came
with your kit, or Green Slime from R/C Performance Specialties.
DAMPENER PLATE ROLL STOP INSERTS#4518,
are included with your kit. There are two different size roll stops. Each
stop will control the amount of roll that the chassis can make during hard
cornering.The stop with the smallest side to side opening (in the middle)
will reduce the chassis roll the most. This stop insert will make the car
change directions VERY quickly during cornering. The second roll stop
insert with a slightly larger opening will have slightly less of this effect. No
roll stop insert (which is what we recommend for a starting setting) will be
the least aggressive for steering during hard cornering.
WARNING! You must
pay very close attention to tire diameter when using either of the roll stop
inserts. This is because any difference in tire diameter (side to side) may
cause the dampener post to rest against the roll stop insert.
We do not rec-
ommend these inserts for oval racing.
T-BAR FLEX
Look at the back end of the of the T-bar at the "T" shaped section.You will
see there are three holes which can be used to attach theT-bar to the lower
rear pod plate.You have assembled your car using only the two outermost
holes. This setup will make the rear suspension very active (soft) front-to-
rear with very little effect on the side to side stiffness.Your car will have
REAR AXLE HEIGHT
ADJUSTERS
Your car comes with four sets of rear axle height
adjuster inserts. These inserts allow you to raise
or lower the height of the back of the car without
changingtire diameters.Eventhough there areonly
four offsets, three can be rotated 180° for a total of
seven different axle heights as shown.
The #4-up position allows you to use the maximum diameter tire and the #4-down position requires you to
use the minimum tire diameter.This adjustment allows you to get more useful life from a set of tires by
adjusting axle height as tire diameter decreases.You can also adjust the overall height of your car for high
or low traction conditions.
INCREASING STEERING
To increase steering, replace the stock #8421 steering blocks with the optional
#8441 inline steering blocks and #8443 axles. This will make the car steer very
aggressive.
SETUP SHEET
The next page shows Team Associated’s
setup sheet for your car. Copy this form and keep
a record of the settings you used for a particular
track.This recordof yoursettingswill makeit easier
to set up your car the next time you race at that
track, as well as compare differences between tun-
ing adjustments. This is a feature that our Team
drivers take full advantage of. 3585 Cadillac Ave.
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
[phone]
more rear traction and will accelerate through bumps better than if you were
using all three attachment holes.Try using all three attachment holes when rac-
ing on smooth, high traction conditions.
FRONT RIDE
HEIGHT
Toobtainyourdesiredrideheight,
you can place a thick #3323
spacer under the lower sus-
pension arm. To raise the car,
take away spacers, and to lower
the car add spacers.
SAVETHIS BOOKLET!
More than an instruction man-ual,
its also a handy pictorial supplement
toTeam Associated’s RC10L catalog.
Refer to this manual for part num-
bers and description when ordering
parts or explaining problems for cus-
tomer service calls.