itriall3sports

My son and I were watching the neighborhood kids running a few different traxxas cars around the cul-de-sac. I mention to him that I have an RC car in the basement and he said lets drive it. I explained it has been in the box for over 30 years and it would need a new battery. So we dig it out and it's my original 84/85 RC10 with the original battery that is now looking very rough. I pull the battery out, put it for recycle, and show the neighbor kids/dads the car. A few kids were like what is that? lol I explain it was a car I raced as teenager. I then start looking for a battery for it online and it looks like the car is possibly a collector car now? That gets me thinking maybe I should put it back in the box and just get a new car that my son and I can build together. But doing a little research I've noticed there are a lot of options these days and I'm not sure where to start. Not sure if I want a 2wd car or a 4wd but would definitely want a car that I can turn up when I'm driving and turn down when he's is at the controls. Would we race it maybe? More than likely just a lot of asphalt and dirt time for the first year. I'm pretty much open for any expert information you can provide i.e. car, controller, all electronics etc. Budget looking to stay under $600 for initial investment for car, electronics, controller etc. Thank you

the rc guy

Hello and welcome back into this great hobby...so the ole 15 minute charger with timer? Id look used and I way towards the 4wd .. gonna need to review your battery handling technics...New batteries like the lipo/ LiFe /A123 ..Got a 12v supply with 15 amp laying around? a modern radio with endpoint adjustment will be the bill for when u and ur son are on at different times. lower endpoints in Throttle when he is on..2.4Ghz will do Id search Fb marketplace 1st..or CL Or Use Paypal pay only with Goods/services..(people try to be shaddy) using Friends family....Electric RC info, how-tos and such - TJinTech
I like the Toolkit M8 charger has a lot of options just needs 12v or more with 15 amp supply.. full size car battery will do

Backyard RC

Hello and welcome back into the hobby. Hopefully it creates a good bond between you and your son. My advice depends on a few things. You mentioned that you want to run it up and down the street and maybe some dirt. You can don this with any style of vehicle so your options are wide open. An on road car might work good. You mentioned that the neighborhood kids have some RC cars. What model do they have? Having a similar vehicle may make it fun for cul-de-sac races. You also mentioned building an RC car. Back in the 80's that was the only option but today most start up vehicles come ready to run, RTR. You can still get kits and build your own if that's what you want to do but it's not a necessity. Tamiya has a lot of on road kit options and you could possibly get two in your budget so you and your son could each have your own. For an RTR vehicle I would recommend the Arrma Senton 3S. It has a setting to turn down the power.

Good luck with your choices!

TimF

iTrader: (105)

Welcome back- The Trxxas RTR stuff is a good "starting point" but the lack of kit build with them is too bad (they come RTR). You mention your son, not sure how old, The RTR traxxas stuff comes with ESC's that have a "training mode" you set it training and the speed is cut in 1/2. not adjustments to the radio/esc. When you drive reset to "standard" and it goes back to 100% speed.

The Slash 4x4 and 2wd are good starting cars if you were looking to see how interested you and your son truly are (2wd starts at 250 with radio, truck, battery, and 4hr charger). the 4x4 starts at 350 for the same. I think the bandit and rustler come with bushings (plastic) so if you went that route you would NEED to buy the bearing kit and tear the car down and rebuild with bearings.

If you went kit route, AE kits start at 300ish, and for ESC,Radio, motor, servo you would be at 200-250. A lipo and charger will start at 80-100 and go up as high as you want to spend. The AE and Losi kits are great and durable (made for racing but can bash). They are kits so you get to build and paint the bodies (like in the 80's).

Some people love the ARRMA stuff, I've never run it, it's RTR.

Tekkno kits are extremely durable. (all 4wd)

You can go used and there are lots of good deals on this site, but that again would have you forgo the building process.

4x4s are fun and fast and easy to drive, also have more wear and tear due to more moving parts and higher speeds= more higher impact crashes.

On common piece of advice on this board. Look at what has parts/support locally, so you have access to parts from a local source. This source shoud ahve some knowledge as well.

Best of luck

itriall3sports

Thanks the rc guy. Great info on the Lipo batteries and radio with endpoint adjustment! Yea, still have the astro flight charger in the original box

itriall3sports

Thank you Backyard RC. Yea, it does seem like we might start with an RTR or at least for him and he can help me do another build and learn about the pieces of the car and how they are similar to an actual vehicle. I do remember the Tamiya cars from the 80's, still looks like they have a full range. I watched some videos of the Arrma Senton 3S BLX and it looks like a solid RC truck! Thanks again for the info.

itriall3sports

TimF great info, lots to digest. Yes, the neighbors are all Trxxas RTRs with one being a Slash and the other two I'm not sure of. I did look at the AE kits since that is what I started with and I might go that route or maybe change it up and get a Losi?? It would be fun to build it from the ground up and have my son pick the paint scheme! Again thanks for the time and info...much appreciated!

IndyRC_Racer

iTrader: (9)

Even if you decide to buy one of the many different RTR kits, you can always buy a clear body to paint later. Several companies make Short Course Trucks like the Traxxas Slash. Here are a couple of Short Course (SC) Trucks that Team Associated makes...

https://www.associatedelectrics.com/...10/AETeam_RTR/
https://www.associatedelectrics.com/...C10SC6.1/Team/

Before buying any kit, make sure to check what is included. Usually the RTR kits come with everything you need to use the vehicle, but they don't always come with a fast battery charger.

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As far as your original RC10 vehicle. Several years ago AE released an updated Worlds Version of the SC10. If you have one of the original gold tub chassis it can be worth something to collectors. However, since they re-released the kit you should still be able to find replacement parts from AE. However I believe the updated RC10 wheels were different to the orginal RC10 wheel and I don't remember how they mounted. There should be good information on the web about the differences and how to use new wheels on the old chassis.

One more quick bit of info, you can still buy 6-cell stick pack Nihm batteries that you could use in your old car. You may need to modify the battery connector depending on what you were using on your original speed control (assuming you had one). They still sell batteries with the old white Tamiya style connector if that is what you were using.