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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Body painting inspiration

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When I first registered MeatballRacing.com in 2006, I had an idea to write a post called “Ban the Stratus” – here’s an excerpt:

For a while the Dodge Stratus seemed to be the body of choice for 1/10th scale radio controlled touring cars. It is the body that every company makes that all R/C racing sanctioning bodies approve of. While many racers have recently sought alternatives, I will not be happy until the Stratus is gone entirely.

To quote one rulebook: “Bodies used in ROAR-sanctioned events must resemble vehicles used in full scale racing for the type of event being conducted.” But you’re more likely to be hit by a Stratus in a car crash than you would see one on an actual race track. If everyone’s going use the Status body, why not paint them faded Chrysler burgundy and require torn cloth interiors, as they’re seen in full scale?

There are several other sedans that could be approved by racing bodies that are actual race cars, why not them? Admittedly, I must give props to those racers who have already switched to the Mazda6 body, which can be seen in the Speed World Challenge Touring Car series.

Bleh, I’m glad it’s gone! That’s why I like the Vintage Trans-Am (VTA) and USGT racing series. I want to see race cars like this:

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200mm TC6

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I did this mod to my TC6.1 because it’s a dedicated VTA racer. To be honest, 99% of the people out there racing VTA are using 190mm touring car chassis’. However they’re all also running 200mm bodies on them, which can sometimes look a little weird with the wheels tucked way up underneath.

Many of the 200mm VTA bodies that we use today were created by HPI in the early 2000s before the USVTA series existed. They were originally intended to be used with their RS4 chassis which included settings for both 190mm touring car bodies (The chassis actually measured 180mm), and 200mm for their wider bodies. The rear vintage wheels and tires have an offset so the 200mm bodies don’t look too bad on a 190mm chassis. But a select few bodies like the ’70 Charger and ’68 Camaro have an extra-wide 210mm rear. This is when the wheels tucked under look a little silly. Let’s fix that…

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Team Associated TC6/VCS3 Yokomo Spring Upgrade

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What’s the point of switching to bigger bore springs on a standard bore shock? Some say the wider springs provide a different feel, but mostly I did it to be able to run a spring rate softer than the softest Team Associated Green (12lb./in.) springs. Softer springs are especially helpful for tight (read: small) high-traction indoor carpet track racing like we have here in Minnesota. Most of the guys that do this mod switch to Yokomo springs, so that’s what we’ll cover.

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