NTC3 Rear Toe Ball Cups
 

I have just tore down my NTC3 and completely rebuilt it for the race season - this will be my first year of on-road. One of the things I have done was replace all pivot balls and hinge pins, and I have a flawless, non-binding suspension now - that is until I go putting the rear tie-rods and ball cups on - the set that adjust rear toe. I am using brand new RPM ball cups, and now that they are on, the rear suspension binds like mad - I can lift the whole rear-end of the car without the arms travelling upwards at all (shocks are not back on yet...) Does anyone have any ideas on freeing up those ball cups, or is this somewhat of a necessary evil with ball cups? I tried some ball bearing oil on the balls, which helped a tiny bit, but it still binds. Any ideas?

you have to use the grey rpm cups, the regular 4-40 ones (blue/yellow/black/purple) wont work, they are too tight

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXBLZ5&P=Z

Binding Rear on NTC3
 

yup the ball cups are the problem .. but if your seriously going to get into racing .. go ahead and spend the I think 40 or 45 depending on where you order it from for the new version 2 rear suspension from Assc for the NTC3 .. its buttery smooth and solves a bunch of the handling quirks of the NTC3 ... it also holds toe settings a lot better ... I was forced off of a dedicated course and sent cartwheeling ... all the rear adujstments were still dead on ... slapped on a new set of tires ( it broke both rear rims during the cartwheeling just to give an idea of the force it took ) and went out for the next heat after a recarge and refuel ... but if you have a big parts stock you might want to wait a few months before geting the new rear end .. I measured and I do think the rear arms and such will work up front .. just no sway bar mounts .. check out the rc10ntc3 thread on here ... bunch of good info there for this chassis.

have fun racing

E
:deathstar

Thanks guys - I thought the grey RPM's were just a standard size in grey. There's still a little binding with new, grey ones, but I assume it will free up once they wear in a little.

Unscrew those ball end and POLISH them a little....but not too much, drop a little drop of diff grease or WD 40 or shock oil, you should be good to go....

But again.....for $35, you can upgrade the whole rear end to the V2 and without worrying those ball cup problem.

Not to mention, V2 suspension does handle better then V1.

You can bind up the new V2 suspension just as easily as the old suspension if you over tighten the caps on the pivot balls.

They need to be just tight enough to eliminate any side to side movement, heard almost like a click when you push and pull the knuckles toward and away from the center of the chassis. Overtighten them ad they will bind.

If they are polished , not bent, and not overtightened you should not need any lube.

WHere are you guys buying the conversion kit, my local shops dont have it, and say it isnt available to them yet.

I bought the parts directly from Associated over the phone. Their catalog did offer a part number for the conversion kit, but as of about a month ago they still didn't have them ready for sale. You still had to order the parts individually.

The parts necessary to make the conversion are as follows:


2271 - Rear turnbuckle eylet and ball set V2 - 7.5 USD
2275 - Lower suspension arm mounts front & rear V2 - 5 USD

2339 - Rear suspension arms V2 carbon - 11 USD
2327 - Rear shock tower V2 carbon - 7 USD
2336 - Rear hub carrier V2 carbon - 7 USD
1418 - Turnbuckle .825 titan - 8 USD


#2319 - Suspension upgrade set V1->V2 - 35 USD
(I'm not sure if this is available yet, and if it is these are not the carbon parts listed above, but rather regular plastic parts.)

Smalls

as of two weeks ago when I bought the parts individually the kit hadnt been released but the guy at the local shop here well Lansing Mi said his supplier was getting them in in the next few days and then he would have some in ... so maybe check with Nick at the hobby hub in Lansing Mi (517) 351-5843 and see if he has em in yet ... I know he has ordered the parts in individually but I think the first batch already sold out before the box came in he might have gotten more in by now .. or gotten the kits in I have to call there tomorrow to see if a special order of mine has come in yet .. so I will check and see if he has them in yet and post here tomorrow what he has in stock ....

if you just get the parts .. you also have to get 4 - M3x18 screws and 2 - M3 nylock nuts for mounting the camber links and two 4-40 x 1.25 inch for mounting the shocks ... the shock towers are thicker now around the upper shock mounts .. so the 3/4 inch hardware isnt long enough to get it all on ... I am currently running the 3/4 inch bolts waiting on the inch and a quarter hardware .. but what you have to do is just use the black shock mount spacer right up against the tower and then yse that silver nut that is usually behind the spacer as the securing nut ... check the nuts after every run and really crank down on them .. so far I have lost one nut but the shock never came off so it must have just fallen off right at the end of the heat ... I'll take a pic of this and post it here in a little bit ... the cars in the garage and its a really good down pour outside right now .. but I will post a pic of how I am running it right now

have fun racing

E
:deathstar

Rear Shock Mounts
 

ok ... heres the pic I was going to post last night of the rear shock mounts with the stock 3/4 in long hardware ... notice how short they are ... the new shock tower is .120 inch wider than the old tower ... so longer harware is needed ... the closest I could find was inch and a quarter locally ... I will probibly cut that down some ...

V.2 Suspension
 

and here are the locatoins of the extra screws and nuts that werent listed .... also someone did a good series of posts about the new rear suspension and building tips for it under the rc10ntc3 thread starting on page 194 or 195 I think ... look there for a bunch of good tips on this new rear end ...

If you don't have the access to the new kit, for about $7 you can make a very strong and non binding rear by replacing the ball cups and ball studs. Buy a set of long Traxxas T-maxx tie rod ends and 4 long 4-40 screws with lock nuts.

run the screws all the way through the rear bumper where the ball studs were and put two thick washers (to prevent pinding) before attaching the tie rod ends to the screws) do the same on the outside on the hub-carier. With the t-maxx ball ends being captured and smoth, the problem can be fixed and is very strong.

I don't have a picture now, my car has been updated to the new suspension, but I will put it back on today and take a picture and add it.