Meatball Racing

Radio Control Blog

Shipping your RC car, racing out of town

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Our family did our first post-COVID airplane trip to Salt Lake City, Utah. We were there for a week, so I looked up Intermountain RC Raceway (IRCR) – a place I had visited before but never raced at. Their off-road club racing is Wednesday night, so I got the B6 ready to hit the clay.

It was also the first airplane trip that I wanted to bring my RC car on. Normally on road trips it’s a no-brainer. This would be a learning experience – hopefully you can learn from my (many) mistakes.

I could (and probably should) have just packed my car to travel on the airplane as it was only $30 per checked bag – I thought it was going to be $50. Instead I mailed my car to a relative at our destination for $40. If you’re looking for a good video on packing your car for air travel, check this one out by Team Associated:

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TDK Traction Compound

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On carpet tracks, the owners are very particular about what traction compound you’re allowed to use. Rightly so as the tire rubber and compound ultimately work their way into the (expensive) carpet.

On dirt and clay it’s not as regulated for club racing because it’s just dirt! This has unintended consequences… One popular “tire sauce” is liquid wrench. You can even find it listed on the pros setup sheets. While I admire the inventiveness, take a look at the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS). With warnings like Use only outdoors or in a well-ventilated area and Causes skin irritation, it makes you wonder if there’s a better way.

When using liquid wrench I would wear nitrile gloves to make sure it’s not soaking into my skin. Wearing gloves for tire chemical treatment is generally a good idea, but if I can also avoid irritating fumes, even better.

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B6 Carpet to Dirt (Clay)

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Off-road carpet racing is gaining more and more traction, literally. It is especially convenient to race on carpet surfaces up here in Minnesota – inside in the winter. Also the track can be configured in off-road and on-road configurations, allowing proprietors the opportunity to serve both off-road and on-road racing enthusiasts.

The Team Associated RC10B6 is the second iteration of RC10 kit to come in both a carpet and a dirt version of the car. I had the opportunity to pick up my friend Chad’s B6.1 carpet car as he was switching to the TLR buggy platform. Chad’s B6.1 included everything and the setup was already dialed for carpet. I was glad to drive it as-is at MMR, Dollar Hobbyz, and Thunder Road carpet tracks.

Sometimes dirt is fun too. There’s a clay track called The Toy Box about 45 minutes away in Wisconsin. So I was wondering, what would it take to get my carpet car race-ready for high-grip dirt and clay?

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Gold Tub RC-10

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Many would argue that the golden age of R/C buggies in the 1980s was truly golden, a standard set by Team Associated’s RC-10 – a racing buggy which featured a gold-anodized aluminum tub.

As a kid, I couldn’t afford an RC-10. I kept hacking away at my intermediate Kyosho Raider, upgrading parts piecemeal as I could afford them. But my friend Adit convinced his parents to buy him an RC-10. He had never driven one, but he knew it was the best – probably because I told him so.
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