Ok since it looks like we're almost an official RC18R fan club
I guess I'll go ahead and divulge some of my sources.
www.TheToyz.com - great webstore with everything you need. Nice ability to sort items by car chassis and then again by category - such as suspension or steering. The forums there are excellent too. Only downside is that they seem to keep a low inventory and items are often sold out.
www.AtomicMods.com - Good store, a bit pricey, but it's there. The forums are pretty much dead but there is a bit of information there still.
www.one18th.com - Great source of information on the forums and front page. Very active forums for pretty much every type of mini and micro.
www.e-maxximumrc.com/html/rc18t.html - top secret
Excellent place to start on the minimum upgrades.
www.competitionx.com/Support/Sup1.html - <sigh> ok I have no more secrets. Awesome stuff here, including setup sheets from some world championships of the past.
Pretty much anything that applies to the 18t applies to the 18r. The obvious exceptions are that the R has shorter a-arms and stub axles, and uses the rear shocks on all four points. Other than that and the shock towers, ALL parts are interchangable between the T, B, MT, and R versions. So.. all setup tips apply as well.
My opinion on first upgrades:
1. Steering. Biggest weakness of the stock RC18s. There is a lot of slop in the steering assembly in several places. This makes it hard to get predictable steering, makes the RC 'wander' on the straights, and sometimes it won't straighten out from a turn. Several items to fix here:
a) Servo saver. The servo saver has a plastic "C" clip that holds the steering arm to the servo arm. This plastic is intentionally soft, which helps to absorb some shock and prevent stripping servo gears. I used some small o-rings around this assembly to tighten it up, which worked. Too well.. I stripped the stock servo the first time out with this on. Get the metal bands available from TheToyz.
b) Drag link. The steering rack is just two plastic towers mounted on swivels with another plastic section going between them. These towers have balljoints mounted on them that attach to the steering arms that attach to the wheel hubs. All of that plastic means a lot of bend and slop, replace this with a metal draglink from 3racing. These have been out of stock everyone for at least two months, so good luck?
c) Steering assembly (rack). Same system mentioned in b. Replace the entire assembly with a metal steering assembly with bearings from 3racing. Rejoice.
d) Steering servo. The stock servo is actually very good - transit time of .10 seconds and I think 22 oz torque at 6v. The only downside is it has plastic gears that will strip eventually, especially if you take the slop out with the above items. There is an awesome thread on
www.one18th.com/forums that has a list of steering servos that will work. Almost all of them require some modification to work, except the Hitec HS56, which I use. I bought the HB version which is Carbonite gears. The MG version with metal gears is better, but hard to find. The best servo overall is the Hitec HS65MG - but there are mounting issues. Read the thread for the lowdown, it's not an easy task. Your reward if you go that route? 25 oz of torque
2. MIP super diffs x 2. Need one set for the front diff and one for the rear diff. Great setup, fairly easy install.
3. MIP CVDs x 2. Again, one pair in the front and one in the rear. Be sure to get the 18R version, they are shorter than the T/MT/B version. The stock dogbones are plastic, and although they are suprisingly sturdy for plastic, you're going to chew them up eventually.
4. Steel/Titanium turnbuckles. Simple enough - the stock setup is not adjustable. Again, the R versions are shorter than the T/MT/B version so be sure to get the right one!
Keep in mind that the 18R out of the box is really a great driver - one of the best RTRs that I've ever seen. None of the above is required, just giving an idea of where to look first. Many of these items are simply durability upgrades so you could just wait until you break the stock pieces before doing the upgrade.
That's all I'm saying for now
THE QUEEN CITY BASHERS
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