I picked up my first SC10 this week. I really wanted to get the FT but my local hobby store was out of them so I decided that for the money I would get an RS and upgrade some of the parts. For a RTR option the truck is OK with one major exception, the play in the front end. There is a fair amount of play in the front end and there is no way for the truck to be truly stable with that much slop. It sounds like this is a common problem and I wish AE would have corrected it to begin with but they didn't. I have read about a few different ways to correct the problem, here are the most common:
1. Replace the bushings with bearings.
2. Replace all of the ball cups with RPM ball cups.
3. Add o-rings to the ball studs.
4. Remove the e-clip on the front axles and place one shim behind it.
5. Replace the front axles with the inline axles (not sure what all the different parts are that need replace with that option).

Anyway, I am looking for feedback on what actually works and what doesn't. Should I be doing one or two of these things or do I need to do them all to correct the problem, etc.

Any feedback you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

1. Replace the bushings with bearings.
There are no bushings to replace. The SC10 does come with full ball bearings. I ran mine until they started getting noisy (and one failed) and replaced the full kit with ceramic ball bearings. Not a necessary upgrade immediately.
2. Replace all of the ball cups with RPM ball cups.
I would be less concerned with the ball cups and more concerned with the turnbuckles. The first thing to go on my RTR was the turnbuckles, and I have since replaced them with the Factory Team turnbuckles, although Lunsford turnbuckles are also good.
3. Add o-rings to the ball studs.
Why?
4. Remove the e-clip on the front axles and place one shim behind it.
I run the hex conversion on my RTR and I can't figure out why you would want to do this.
5. Replace the front axles with the inline axles (not sure what all the different parts are that need replace with that option).
Again, I'm not sure why you would want to do this. At my local track (SDRC Raceway) JConcepts BarCodes (and similar) tires work extremely well when worn in, so having the hexes front and rear allows for rotation of tires to save you money on having to buy separate front and rear wheels/tires.

the rtr does come with steering bushings

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I forgot about the steering rack. I was thinking transmission/outdrive/wheel bearings, etc.

Congrats on the SC10RS. In no particular order:

Get the RPM ball cups. I use the stock turnbuckles and yes, I have to occasionally bend one back into shape after a race, but it isn't a critical thing quite yet. Certainly if you have the dough, upgrade. But at least get cups right away. Stock ones pop off if you look at them funny.
Get a bumper/brace either from T-Bone racing (what I have), RPM, or custom make one out of aluminum or something. Do this before going racing or bashing heavily.
Not immediately, get steering bearings sometime when you can. After a few race days or whatever. Definitely go through the car with the manual in hand, and tighten things here and there. My RS needed a lot of that, but it wasn't bad. The rest of the slop is just a trait of the SC10. It doesn't stop you from winning races.
If racing, get smaller pinions as the 3300 motor is geared too high and too hot as-is. A 17t is good, though expect the motor to still get quite hot. Seems like part of what this motor is all about... like 170+ deg after 10min.
Maybe get the RPM arms front and rear sometime soon. I have slowly given my spare stock arms away to fellow racers as they broke them, and my RPM arms are still in perfect condition.
Tighten the slipper out of the box. Simple but important.
If the diff starts making funny sounds (gear diff), add shims to the sun gears and rebuild w/ fluid. That happened to me very early in ownership...like pack #2.
Be VERY sure you have shims after the rear bearings but before the roll pin. For some reason my truck didn't have them, I didn't notice it, and I ruined wheels due to the hex wobbling in the wheel. Bad thing! Watch out on yours.
The stock servo sucks. The slop is worse when your stock servo can't even steer straight. Upgrade ASAP. Also, small RPM cups on the servo rod can reduce slop.
Hmm..that's it for now, enjoy the truck and later on get fluids for shocks and diff, and different spring kits to try different things. Setup sheets on Associated's website are a good starting point.

I don't have shims either! How many do the stick there? There is a lot of slack before the dog bone cup sits flush against the hub.

This track I am running 65k diff oil 30wt shock oil in the rear and 45wt up front green rear springs and silver front springs with a sway bar upfront. I am using Losi eclipse tires up front and holeshots in the rear, its a dryish indoor clay track

there should be 2 thin and the blue spacer for the pin setup,i added shims to my hex so the wheels don't wobble

I was originally using 2 thin spacers but have since gone to 1 thick one (about the same as 4 of the thin ones) to change the offset. I run JConcepts aluminum rear hexes, HPI Blitz front hexes and Associated KMC hex wheels (SC10 4x4) all the way around.

i am going to be running in a stock 17.5 class, how much timing do you guys think i should have?

Nice looking track! where is this..?

Motor enbell timing or boost on the esc?

the esc timing

York Maine