Redcat RS10 project – dual DIG w/ STOCK Lansu radio!!!

[zodiaci]

This project was to see how far a Redcat RS10 could be modified to act more like a comp rig BUT without spending more than $250 total (including radio!). Impossible? Nope.


After many mods and a lot of reworking it has become a VERY capable rig. The biggest change/improvement was the front/rear dig using the stock Lansu radio. I wasn't easy to figure out, but it works very well. If fact, there have been no issues at all with it.


I'll go through the mods quickly and then focus more on the radio changes in detail towards the end.


Here's the price breakdown:
(1) Redcat RS10 w/radio - $160 shipped
(1) additional Redcat ESC (for dual ESC DIG, same as stock ESC) - $40 shipped
(1) Tower pro MG946R high torque servo (stock servos died quickly) - $22 shipped
(1) set of stick on lead weights (9oz. total, 4.5oz in each front wheel) – $3 LHS
(1) 5000mAh battery (heavy, but my son drives it forever!) - $25 shipped


Total - $250


So here it is:
Body was lowered and trimmed and wheelbase was shortened to about 12":




Tires have been sipped (every other set of lugs removed) and the foams are "star" cut:





The chassis was narrowed at the bottom (same width at the top) and the electronics tray was lowered:




Added dual ESC's and relocated the switches, antenna, etc.
You'll also notice channels 1 & 3 go to the ESC's and channel 2 goes to the steering servo (more on that in a minute...):




Above the link BTA steering! A very worthwhile mod. Everything used to do this mod (links, rod ends, etc.) came from leftover parts from the rear steering. The tie-rod does not rub the lower links even though it may look like it does:




Lots of steering now. About 40 degrees worth! The narrowed chassis helps keep the lower links inward for more tire clearance. In order for this to work without the dogbones jamming all the time, I had to stack/glue small 3mm washers inside the dogbone drive cups within the axle. This takes up the play and pushes the dogbones outward towards the tire keeping the dogbones engaged into the drive cup at the wheel during a full turn. They have not jammed since:



Rear steer lockout. Again, everything used to do this mod (links, rod ends, etc.) came from leftover parts from the rear steering. The lockout links used to be the old tie-rod:



Motor wires had to be moved/re-soldered for tire clearance. Notice the tie-rod has a slight bend at each end to clear the gear housing at full turn:



The chassis is about ½" narrower at the bottom and is the stock width at the top (just wide enough at the bottom for the battery). This was a must do for tire clearance:



The shocks are mounted using the same bolt that secures the upper chassis support bar. After playing with this a lot, it seems that this gives it the perfect ride height and articulation. I tried to mount the stock shocks on the axle as others have, but a severe lack of front tire clearance quickly ended that mod:



Speaking of articulation... It's about 60 degrees or so. You can see the "S" bend in the lower links here. This gives it more clearance while allowing the stock shocks/mounts to still work:



Ok, now on to the radio.
You probably noticed above that channels 1 & 3 go to the ESC's and channel 2 goes to the steering servo on the receiver. "So how does that possibly work" you might ask?


Well, it dawned on me one day that since the stock radio already mixes channels 1 & 3 for steering using the 3rd channel button, why can't I somehow set it up to mix them for throttle instead without an expensive hack which would put me over budget? Well, let's open it up and find out how:


So, it had the capability to mix and then cycle through the various mixes, BUT, it's for the steering which doesn't help me out with dual ESC dig. I investigated further. If I plugged the steering into channel 2 and the ESC's into channels 1 & 3 it would work, BUT my steering wheel operated the ESC's and the throttle trigger operated the steering. This of course would not work.


Then I decided to try something. There are two potentiometers (pots) in the radio, one for the steering and one for the throttle. Their job is to supply a voltage into each radio channel relative to their position. So, since I wanted to use the pre-programmed mix of channels 1 & 3 for my ESC's but I didn't want the steering wheel to control my ESC's, then all I need to do was to solder the steering pot into channel 2 and solder the throttle pot into channel 1. I now had dual ESC DIG control with a $30 radio with no hack!


It looks like this:


A lot of things changed on the radio now but I got used to it. Channel 1 & 3 trims, D/R, etc. will affect the ESC's and channel 2 trim, D/R, etc. will affect the steering. It's a little weird at first, but I got used to it quickly. I had to set up the channel directions, trims, D/R, EPA, etc. to get the wheels to turn at the same rate and top speed. It was easy overall.


The settings I'm using at this point:




When you first turn on the radio it will power only the front ESC (steering mix default) so you have to press the 3rd channel button once to activate 4WD. Then off you go!


Here are the four modes that this modification achieves with the 3rd channel button:

1. 4WD
2. 4WD opposed (front/rear wheels turn in opposite directions, likely not used)
3. Front DIG
4. Rear DIG

The mode is indicated with the LCD display (once used for the steering) so you know where you are in the mix at any time!


So, for $250 you CAN have a rig with dual ESC DIG with a radio!!

[CAIRN]

OK. Awesome.

[hoghead5150]

doing this mod, do you get porportional control, or is it just front/rear dig only?

[zodiaci]

Front or rear dig only. No proportional.

A radio hack/re-program would be necessary for proportional control which I believe has not been done yet for the stock Lansu radio.

If you need proportional control, then a FlySky radio is the best way to go for the least amount of $$.

Products - OverkillRC

[The Jackalope]

You sir, are a genius!

[rc2008]

that is freaking sweet!!!

[zodiaci]

All good points, but as I mentioned, this rig is for my 5 yr old son! I didn't want to spend $1000+ on a toy that he would destroy in an hour. But I wanted the rig to have much of the capabilities of my rig (XR10) without the steep cost. He loves it, my wallet is still fat, mission accomplished!

[MuddyOval]

My kid likes his too. Hacking the radio- more trouble than I would go to for one of these, but mad props for getting it done.
No reason for someone who hates the platform to come into this section of the forums just to be a trash talking a-hole, though.

[zodiaci]

Originally Posted by MuddyOval

My kid likes his too. Hacking the radio- more trouble than I would go to for one of these, but mad props for getting it done.
No reason for someone who hates the platform to come into this section of the forums just to be a trash talking a-hole, though.

Couldn't agree more.
What's wrong with saving a few pennies in order to get our kids into the sport with a capable rig? We need them to carry it on after all.

[MuddyOval]

I bought an RS10 for myself after my kid liked his so much. Nothing wrong with owning something that is less than a professional level machine. I've been doing R/C stuff for 25 years and probably have $50K in R/C stuff my basement and I've seen this kind of behavior many times over the years. People who pay more think they are somehow superior. It's a psychological issue...
Anyway, I'll be bashing with my RS10 instead of my AX10. I really don't think i'll ever go back to 2WS.

[Docwolf]

This is cool, will i do it? No, not with duel ecs'. But here is a thought, could this radio be hacked much this same way, but to run a dig switch servo based on the mode selected? Me thinks yes. Would i do that? Yes, considering then all you have bought is the stuff to build your dig, or a pre built, its all independently upgradeable, and it only uses one ecs. might have to look into this, would allow me to get more life out of my stock radio set, considering i dont comp. for you haters, piss off, this is my rig.

The more ithink about this, the more i like it. The mod would be the same,ex ept one ecs would be replaced with the dig servo.

[Docwolf]

think i will crack open my Fm hand held something this week and see how similar they are, i assume they are pretty much the same inside. either way this hack can me applied to both units.

[zodiaci]

Originally Posted by Docwolf

think i will crack open my Fm hand held something this week and see how similar they are, i assume they are pretty much the same inside. either way this hack can me applied to both units.

Yes. What I did here can be done to virtually any radio.
The radio only needs a variable voltage input into it's channels from a pot.
It doesn't matter if the pot is connected to a steering wheel, throttle trigger, button, or even something else, the input channel will ultimately give you an output at the receiver.

[MuddyOval]

Actually, none of it NEEDS to be replaced. My son is perfectly happy with his entry level RS10. He can't appreciate what a fancier radio does, nor could he appreciate an expensive servo upgrade. Just because it is not a competition winning machine out of the box does not make it bad. Same can be said for many things in life- I could bag on your car all day long about how some other car is faster or better on or off-road but who cares?There's always something better somewhere. People choose what they want. I could have easily dropped a grand on a crawler for my kid and never missed the money, but why should I? I ended up getting another RS10 for myself while I rebuild my AX10.

As I said- nothing NEEDS to be replaced, you just WANT to replace stuff for various reasons. Judging by most web forums, the highest motivation for replacing things is because "everyone says to." Seriously, how many people are competing with their R/C toy trucks? Keep it in perspective.

[Docwolf]

here is my thing, yes, i may end up upgrading my radio down the road, but till then, i want to get as much function out of the unit i have. should i fry it (unlikely), then i will have a reason to upgrade sooner, if i don't fry it (more likely) then when i do upgrade, i have full set of electronics to start the next build with. i can't afford to go online and order all the parts i need to do a ground up build, and if i did, i wouldn't want to. i like the build and challenge associated with doing it from scratch. if no one accepted challenges, then this hobby would not be where it is today. personally, not bashing the axial rigs, but seriously, to me it seems like cheating to drop 300 bucks plus electronics in a kit, spend a weekend putting it together and then go out and have a rig capable of more then you can drive. i would rather have my rig grow with me and form it's own design and path. is it comp ready? no. is it an true scaler? no. do i care? no. Am i having fun with it and meeting new people? yes. is that what matters? HELL YES!!!!!

[Haverchad]

Originally Posted by Docwolf

here is my thing, yes, i may end up upgrading my radio down the road, but till then, i want to get as much function out of the unit i have. should i fry it (unlikely), then i will have a reason to upgrade sooner, if i don't fry it (more likely) then when i do upgrade, i have full set of electronics to start the next build with. i can't afford to go online and order all the parts i need to do a ground up build, and if i did, i wouldn't want to. i like the build and challenge associated with doing it from scratch. if no one accepted challenges, then this hobby would not be where it is today. personally, not bashing the axial rigs, but seriously, to me it seems like cheating to drop 300 bucks plus electronics in a kit, spend a weekend putting it together and then go out and have a rig capable of more then you can drive. i would rather have my rig grow with me and form it's own design and path. is it comp ready? no. is it an true scaler? no. do i care? no. Am i having fun with it and meeting new people? yes. is that what matters? HELL YES!!!!!

^^WHAT HE SAID !!!!! ^^
As long as you're smilin' while you're crawlin', then all's well !

[zodiaci]

Originally Posted by Docwolf

...it seems like cheating to drop 300 bucks plus electronics in a kit, spend a weekend putting it together and then go out and have a rig capable of more then you can drive. i would rather have my rig grow with me and form it's own design and path. is it comp ready? no. is it an true scaler? no. do i care? no. Am i having fun with it and meeting new people? yes. is that what matters? HELL YES!!!!!

Thats wat I'm talkin' bout. Nail on the head bro.

This rig has been a blast for my son AND me, and like I said, my wallet is still fat. So, to all the yuppie types that own $1000+ rigs who are all show and 0 skill, BRING IT.

[Docwolf]

i crawl with a couple of guys here, one has money coming out his noise, the other works for a company that keeps laying him off for weeks at a time, jobs options are slim, so money is tight. Poboy has a servo go out, money bags convinces him the only solution is a 125 dollar unit........uhhh what???!?!? what can your 125 servo do that my 20 dollar one can't??? faster response and and more accurate turning..... it's a rock crawler.......how accurate does it have to be???? are they both metal gear? yes can you buy 2 of the 20 dollar units and carry a spare??? yes......money does not fix everything.

[zodiaci]

Originally Posted by smitty808

"It's not what you buy...it's what you build!"

And zodiaci, Keep up the good work! Excellent writeup!

Thanks!

[zodiaci]

Originally Posted by jsowens

Time to get this thread back on track. Zodiaci, how's the testing going on this?

Right.

It still works perfect. No issues at all with many many packs through it.
The only weird thing is that you have to push the third channel button twice to get to front dig mode from 4WD mode and then two more pushes to get back to 4WD mode from front dig. It's not perfect but it works.

This rig is easily 5 times the rig it once was. It use to break constantly. It's been a month now since all the mods with no issues or breakage at all.