Body options for the Associated RB10 and other thoughts

[Lumikko]

It just dawned on me what a sleeper of a car the Team Associated RB10 really is. Functionally, i’s in the same category as the popular retro buggies from Kyosho and G-Force: the Dirt Master and Genova. TA just put a hideous cab forward body on it and fooled us all.

Releasing it as a kit with a B4 body would be basically a parts bin affair for the brand.

Or would it?

I’ve understood the B4 was the last SAE buggy from TA and the RB10 (and Pro2, Trophy Rat, SR10, DR10…) have more in common with the B5, which used metric hardware. The B5 had a narrow chassis for the square lipo packs of its time so they changed the chassis back to the outline and stick type battery of the B4.

But this estimation is based on pictures only: I don’t know if the B4 body would actually fit the RB10. Has anyone tried this or other alternative buggy bodies on that platform?

 

[Lumikko]

Based on online searching and a couple of overlays I made, the RB10 chassis is close enough so a B4 body it is then.

I have a DR10 kit, SR10 chassis and shock towers, and an RB10 bumper and rear body mount on the way.

The DR10 uses two pairs of rear shocks and I don’t want to buy the front shocks of the same series so I’m replacing all four. I found a good deal for Hobao H2 shocks and I’ve understood they are quite a bit better than the cheap shock kits you can buy for 20 bucks / pair.

To improve the looks, I’m replacing the front shock tower with a B5 tower as it does not have the mounting points for a bumper brace.

 

[9x19]

Sounds like a good plan, look forward to seeing the finished buggy!

I have a pair of DR10s sitting on the shelf... and have been thinking of doing something similar.

 

[lambdapriest]

This sounds like a build thread waiting to happen. The people want a build thread!

 

[RustyUs]

I don't know what B4 bodies you are/were looking at, but the B4 went through a transition on the B4.2FT kit... chassis got stretched 8mm.

It just dawned on me what a sleeper of a car the Team Associated RB10 really is. Functionally, i’s in the same category as the popular retro buggies from Kyosho and G-Force: the Dirt Master and Genova. TA just put a hideous cab forward body on it and fooled us all.

Releasing it as a kit with a B4 body would be basically a parts bin affair for the brand.

Or would it?

I’ve understood the B4 was the last SAE buggy from TA and the RB10 (and Pro2, Trophy Rat, SR10, DR10…) have more in common with the B5, which used metric hardware. The B5 had a narrow chassis for the square lipo packs of its time so they changed the chassis back to the outline and stick type battery of the B4.

But this estimation is based on pictures only: I don’t know if the B4 body would actually fit the RB10. Has anyone tried this or other alternative buggy bodies on that platform?

The crew over at Team Associated did a full blown Factory Team load out on the RB10...

 

[Lumikko]

I don't know what B4 bodies you are/were looking at, but the B4 went through a transition on the B4.2FT kit... chassis got stretched 8mm.

Penguin Repo bodies. They are available in the regular length as well as the +8 length.

 

[Lumikko]

I got the regular B4 body now and it does seem a bit short on the SR10 chassis. I haven’t made a single cut to the body so it’s catching on things; the fit will probably improve. Whether it’ll be good or good enough remains to be seen.

 

[Lumikko]

I decided to go for it as the body didn’t spread out that much on the chassis. I gave a little heat to the spots where it doesn’t quite fit and it started to accept its new shape.

The rear was easier to fit. I cut the tab on the body that was supposed to go on the tower and found the rear of the cab to fit the standard RB10 body mount with ease.

These cutouts and a little heat helped the body settle on the chassis.

I used a portable soldering iron that works as a heat gun with the tip removed to get heat very localized instead of melting the whole body with a full-blown heat gun.

 

[9x19]

Nice!