Team Associated Pro4 SC10

[RustyUs]

I not sure about how everyone feels about it, but it's coming! The good, the bad, and the ugly... I'm sure we'll find out soon enough.

Team Associated's Pro4 SC10 product page: HERE

Features​

• High-torque digital servo with spring-style servo saver
• Powerful Reedy 3300kV brushless motor
• Water-resistant high-power Reedy brushless speed control with T-plug connector and LiPo low-voltage cutoff
• Factory-finished Contender short-course body
• Durable, impact-absorbing front and rear bumpers with LEDs
• Fifteen52 Turbomac HD wheels
• High-grip General Tire GT(R) Grabber(TM) all-terrain tires
• Three sealed gear differentials
• Threaded, oil-filled coil-over shock absorbers
• 4mm heavy-duty adjustable alloy steel turnbuckles
• Durable slider type drive shafts
• Steel center driveshaft
• Four-wheel independent suspension

 

[RustyUs]

I don't know what direction Team Associated is taking, but Horizon/Helion didn't have a long term production run on the Helion Avenge 10SC XLR 1/10 Scale 4wd RTR Short Course Truck.

Slapping a Team Associated sticker on a new body is going to make the Avenge 10SC sell better?

 

[RustyUs]

To be honest, I would have loved to see an aluminum 1/8 scale buggy chassis SCT variant come out of the "Area 51 Design Works" team. I get the whole price tag needing to be attractive for new people coming into the hobby, but a "bashable" race bred SCT from Team Associated should be something other than what is offered by the fancy lighted Pro4 SC10.

I sure hope Team Associated backs the platform up with great parts support. I also hope they sell a crap ton of these things, 'cause short course trucks are fun to look at and drive.

 

[AxeRC]

I like the chassis.

 

[RustyUs]

Anybody fitting alternate springs on their shocks?

 

[islandlife]

I have not tried other springs, but i am seriously considering running different shocks all together.

 

[Lumikko]

View attachment 167599
Anybody fitting alternate springs on their shocks?

I’m using their old 13 mm SC10 springs. Direct fit, just a slightly larger inside diameter. Adding anti-squat to the rear (upside down C-block mod) allowed me to go a lot lighter there. I also moved the foam from the front of the battery to the rear. Now I got 52/48 weight distribution R/F.

91073 front, green, 3.5 lbs
91080 rear, yellow, 3.1 lbs
Associated 35 WT fluid front and rear.

I recently rebuilt the standard shocks with X-rings. The feel of the shaft was just slightly loose, so I added a shim to the pack to get a tighter seal. The pistons weren’t deburred so I did that as well.

Other than these, I’m using the stock configuration (bump stops on the outside, no limiters inside). The RTR shocks get the job done beautifully with finishing touches like these.

The truck lands like a sack of flour and has a lot of body roll and pitch. When I have a lot of traction, the cornering and braking looks and feels like rubbing syrup on the back of a giant tortoise. So it’s exactly as I want on a loose surface.

 

[islandlife]

I need to experiment with lighter springs in the rear of mine (and my senton as well). Rear end of both trucks can be a bit loose on both trucks. Manageable, but could be improved for sure.

 

[RustyUs]

I’m using their old 13 mm SC10 springs. Direct fit, just a slightly larger inside diameter. Adding anti-squat to the rear (upside down C-block mod) allowed me to go a lot lighter there. I also moved the foam from the front of the battery to the rear. Now I got 52/48 weight distribution R/F.

91073 front, green, 3.5 lbs
91080 rear, yellow, 3.1 lbs
Associated 35 WT fluid front and rear.

I recently rebuilt the standard shocks with X-rings. The feel of the shaft was just slightly loose, so I added a shim to the pack to get a tighter seal. The pistons weren’t deburred so I did that as well.

Other than these, I’m using the stock configuration (bump stops on the outside, no limiters inside). The RTR shocks get the job done beautifully with finishing touches like these.

The truck lands like a sack of flour and has a lot of body roll and pitch. When I have a lot of traction, the cornering and braking looks and feels like rubbing syrup on the back of a giant tortoise. So it’s exactly as I want on a loose surface.

I've noticed x-rings being looser on some of my shocks as well. It was a big stink years ago with another RC and it's leaky shocks. Problem was, just as you described, not enough "squish". The x-rings were not grabbing shock shaft tightly. Even with company shock seal package fix (adding spacer/shim), people were scrambling to grab normal 3mm Axial o-rings for perfect shock seals. I couldn't find those "magical" o-rings, everyone bought them up. I used HB #50 as my fix for perfect shocks.

 

[nino]

The truck lands like a sack of flour (...) like rubbing syrup on the back of a giant tortoise.

Is there a "best handling description" award and why isn't there one?

 

[Positron Design]

One thing that worked well for me was to remove the front anti-roll bar.
Before the truck would squat the rear, raise the front, then too much traction would hook and roll the vehicle over.
With only the rear anti-roll bar, the tail will slide before it rolls over.

The truck needs aluminum shocks and indestructible RPM arms out of the box.
I also suggest a smaller pinion (13T-12T-11T) and a heat sink+ fan on the motor.
I waited those those parts to break before replacing them with better stuff.

 

[Lumikko]

One thing that worked well for me was to remove the front anti-roll bar.
Before the truck would squat the rear, raise the front, then too much traction would hook and roll the vehicle over.
With only the rear anti-roll bar, the tail will slide before it rolls over.

The truck needs aluminum shocks and indestructible RPM arms out of the box.
I also suggest a smaller pinion (13T-12T-11T) and a heat sink+ fan on the motor.
I waited those those parts to break before replacing them with better stuff.

Good observations.

Removing the front anti-roll bar adds grip in the front and reduces it at the rear. In this case, it makes the truck easier to drive.

When the rear squats, the front kick-up angle increases and leads to an even more raised front end under power. One negative thing leads to another. This is one of the reasons I think adding anti-squat to the rear is so important for this truck.

Measuring the factory setup, I noticed the front has a lot more droop than the rear. It’s usually the opposite. I put limiters inside the front shocks to fix this.

Moving the battery forward helped reduce unwanted squatting of the rear and raising of the front.

With these changes, the truck corners more predictably and easily at all speeds. I left the front anti-roll bar in place.

The biggest downside of the stock shocks is the large gap between the piston and shock body. I measured an average of 11.9 mm diameter for the pistons and 12.3 mm bores for the shock bodies. I don’t know what size 12 mm pistons and bodies usually are (there must be clearance between the piston and body, they can’t both be exactly 12 mm) but I wonder if a set of 12 mm pistons from another brand would be slightly larger for a better fit.

I have bought 1:8 Absima shocks for mine but they are not a direct fit. I’m still figuring out which spring cups, spacers, and rod ends I need to make them work. They have 14 mm pistons and 3.5 mm shafts, and are rather cheap so I still think it’s worth the effort.

After breaking one of the front arms I installed a full set of RPM arms. They required some fitting at both ends of the arm to move smoothly but the handling became worse than before. They are so twisty and bendy in all directions that I’m moving back to the stock AE arms without waiting for the RPM arms to break. The revised polymer compound of the stock arms has made them stronger than before so I think they are the best option for this truck at the moment.

 

[Positron Design]

SC10 Misadventures:

About a month ago I got ProLine Badlands tires and I did the duct tape belts mod.
The car ran great! And faster even? for 10 min... Then it started making gear clicking noises. The motor revved but the car barely moved. Also, I think the bigger, heavier tires over heated the motor. They are about 4.5" diameter vs 4.25" stock. That, and adding the duct tape belts increases the rotational inertia.

I got center and rear diff rebuild kits, 3 thicknesses of diff grease (Front-Center-Rear), 11T pinion, motor heatsink and fan ... but I couldn't open the rear diff because one Allen head was stripped. I let the disassembled vehicle sit on my workbench in pieces for a month cuz I didn't know what was wrong and I could not extract 1 screw.
Seeing the SC10 in pieces made me sad, so I re-assembled the truck, but I knew I hadn't really fixed anything. The car ran for about 5 min.

Yesterday I bought a Dremel tool and cut a slot into the diff screw and I got it out with a flat head screwdriver.
[Side Benefit: Because I have the Dremel now, I did the anti-squat mod where I flipped the C-bracket upside down and ground down clearance so the skid plate would not interfere.]

As I carefully re-re-re-built the diff AND followed the instruction manual this time. I found my mistake. One of those moments when I thought 'Of course! I found the problem. What an idiot I've been. This would definitely cause those symptoms. Now I can fix it.'
Somehow I forgot the shims when I rebuilt the planetary diff gears. The shims push the gears closer together by a micro-millimeter in the gearbox and reduce friction to the gearbox sides. The gears weren't quite meshing tightly and slipping under high power.

Put everything together and Eureka! ... everything seemed to work.

"Hmmm . . .I wonder if I forgot the shims in the center diff too?'

So I took it apart again, for the third time today.
---------------------------------------------------------
Sure Enough . . . No diff shims.

At least by now I can almost fix my truck without using the manual.
I have had so much practice taking it apart and putting it back together recently.

 

[Jamr]

I have been eyeing a Mojave or UDR for quite some time. A 10th scale desert runner seems more like a toy to me than a serious hobby or pro grade vehicle for the desert or desert running.

 

[Positron Design]

I have been eyeing a Mojave or UDR for quite some time. A 10th scale desert runner seems more like a toy to me than a serious hobby or pro grade vehicle for the desert or desert running.

The difference is a 1:10 scale truck gives you 100% of the fun of a UDR at 50% of the price.

 

[Jamr]

The difference is a 1:10 scale truck gives you 100% of the fun of a UDR at 50% of the price.

LOL, Granted, but it seems so small mext to the desert bushes.

 

[Lumikko]

Yesterday I bought a Dremel tool and cut a slot into the diff screw and I got it out with a flat head screwdriver.
[Side Benefit: Because I have the Dremel now, I did the anti-squat mod where I flipped the C-bracket upside down and ground down clearance so the skid plate would not interfere.]

As I carefully re-re-re-built the diff AND followed the instruction manual this time. I found my mistake. One of those moments when I thought 'Of course! I found the problem. What an idiot I've been. This would definitely cause those symptoms. Now I can fix it.'
Somehow I forgot the shims when I rebuilt the planetary diff gears. The shims push the gears closer together by a micro-millimeter in the gearbox and reduce friction to the gearbox sides. The gears weren't quite meshing tightly and slipping under high power.

Put everything together and Eureka! ... everything seemed to work.

"Hmmm . . .I wonder if I forgot the shims in the center diff too?'

So I took it apart again, for the third time today.
---------------------------------------------------------
Sure Enough . . . No diff shims.

Sounds like we were both working on the diffs recently but did the opposite: I added shims to reduce clearances even further wherever I could. Even between the pinions and ring gears inside the front and rear gearboxes.

I was able to fit a regular M3 washer as a shim next to the bottom ”hinge hook” of the motor mount. Less play and flex between the pinion and spur gear.

Finally, I put some silicone tubing (front) and heat shrink around the outdrives for the center driveshaft.

The truck runs eerily quiet, sounds like a 2WD and I can hear the air flowing past the body when driving indoors.

 

[RustyUs]

Sounds like we were both working on the diffs recently but did the opposite: I added shims to reduce clearances even further wherever I could. Even between the pinions and ring gears inside the front and rear gearboxes.

I was able to fit a regular M3 washer as a shim next to the bottom ”hinge hook” of the motor mount. Less play and flex between the pinion and spur gear.

Finally, I put some silicone tubing (front) and heat shrink around the outdrives for the center driveshaft.

The truck runs eerily quiet, sounds like a 2WD and I can hear the air flowing past the body when driving indoors.

View attachment 171145

View attachment 171146

View attachment 171147

Interesting. I've never seen heat shrink tubing on outdrives/couplers like that...

Are you trying to cut out some "chatter" from the driveline?

 

[islandlife]

^ i like the heat shrink idea. I recently put new drive cups in the front and center diff in my pro4, made a big diff on drivetrain noise. I imagine the heatshrink would only improve that.

 

[RustyUs]

SC10 Misadventures:

About a month ago I got ProLine Badlands tires and I did the duct tape belts mod.
The car ran great! And faster even? for 10 min... Then it started making gear clicking noises. The motor revved but the car barely moved. Also, I think the bigger, heavier tires over heated the motor. They are about 4.5" diameter vs 4.25" stock. That, and adding the duct tape belts increases the rotational inertia.

I got center and rear diff rebuild kits, 3 thicknesses of diff grease (Front-Center-Rear), 11T pinion, motor heatsink and fan ... but I couldn't open the rear diff because one Allen head was stripped. I let the disassembled vehicle sit on my workbench in pieces for a month cuz I didn't know what was wrong and I could not extract 1 screw.
Seeing the SC10 in pieces made me sad, so I re-assembled the truck, but I knew I hadn't really fixed anything. The car ran for about 5 min.

Yesterday I bought a Dremel tool and cut a slot into the diff screw and I got it out with a flat head screwdriver.
[Side Benefit: Because I have the Dremel now, I did the anti-squat mod where I flipped the C-bracket upside down and ground down clearance so the skid plate would not interfere.]

As I carefully re-re-re-built the diff AND followed the instruction manual this time. I found my mistake. One of those moments when I thought 'Of course! I found the problem. What an idiot I've been. This would definitely cause those symptoms. Now I can fix it.'
Somehow I forgot the shims when I rebuilt the planetary diff gears. The shims push the gears closer together by a micro-millimeter in the gearbox and reduce friction to the gearbox sides. The gears weren't quite meshing tightly and slipping under high power.

Put everything together and Eureka! ... everything seemed to work.

"Hmmm . . .I wonder if I forgot the shims in the center diff too?'

So I took it apart again, for the third time today.
---------------------------------------------------------
Sure Enough . . . No diff shims.

View attachment 171108

At least by now I can almost fix my truck without using the manual.
I have had so much practice taking it apart and putting it back together recently.

My all time favorite "idiot" moment, that I'll admit to doing, has got to be putting in one of the front, or rear diffs in backwards. That makes for a good time.