Kyosho RC Car

[Zrooney]

Recently I acquired an old Kyosho 4 wheel drive RC Car.  The rubber on the rear shocks are essentially non-existent and the controller receiver is not working in the slightest bit.  So my question to you do you know of a retailer online where  I find a set of rear shocks and a controller receiver on the internet for under 50$?

[Samstag]

I used to buy all my RC stuff from Tower Hobbies, but it's been a long time and I don't know how their prices match up these days.

But I'm guessing you can get a compatible receiver and shocks for $50 or less with a little shopping around.  I'm a little surprised the receiver would be bad, since they tend to be pretty reliable.  And I'm not sure I understand what you mean by the rubber being bad on the shocks, but if you're talking about o-rings you can probably get some from a hardware store for pennies.

[Zrooney]

No, not O-rings.  The shocks actually have a rubber piece on the bottom of them where they connect to the car with a screw.

[Nephasth]

Bushings. Like these...



...but smaller, for tiny cars.

[Samstag]

Ah, I see.  All the RC cars/trucks I've owned have had swivel ball joints like these:



But it looks like Kyosho sells bushing kits, so you may not need to buy the whole shock.

[knave]

Bushings. Like these...



...but smaller, for tiny cars.

Those look alot like plumbing washers...

[DrumAnBass]

I think eBay is your best bet for vintage RC parts...! I have a few old RC10's, and can always find parts for them on eBay. As for a transmitter / receiver your best bet is to pick up a 2.4ghz set on ebay; I just bought a HongNor (Ofna) 2.4ghz set for $30 shipped on eBay and it works great. Brand doesn't matter when it comes to the radio, as long as your servos will plug into the receiver, which they should.

[Zrooney]

Thanks for all your input men.  Looks like I need to hunt for a bushing kit.

[05SRT4]

do you know the model name or number of the car?

[Zrooney]

Kit NO. 3135*24800
The name is " 4WD Off-Road Racer Optima Mid"

[Samstag]

That was a pretty popular car, but I think that was back in the early 90s.

[Zrooney]

It was expensive too, the sticker says $220.

[05SRT4]

Yeah I looked at a forum and some guy recently sold his for 300. crazy beans.

Did you find the shock bushings? Like said before im only used to newer shocks and everyone has looked the same. you might be able to find a similier model and use theirs instead.

[Zrooney]

I need something like these http://www.ebay.com/itm/DTXC3501-Long-Gold-Shocks-Kyosho-Optima-Ultima-Lazer-Optima-Mid-Rocky-Raider-/251028013232?pt=Radio_Control_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3a726f80b0#ht_500wt_781 ( these would work, just too expensive).  I have yet to find an old bushing kit, it looks like all the stuff I am coming across is to new and not even remotely compatible.

[Zrooney]

I took a deeper look into ebay and sure enough they have the part I need http://www.ebay.com/itm/W5015-Gold-Option-House-Shock-Ends-Kyosho-Optima-Mid-Ultima-Lazer-Raider-Triumph-/251019735996?pt=Radio_Control_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3a71f133bc#ht_500wt_781 . Now I just need to figure out how to take the old one out and the new on in.

[danny_galaga]

for your receiver, just check what kind of plug the servos have. There are a couple of different combinations, other than that they are the same. I used to use a KO radio and I had to switch one of the wires around to use Sanwa servos for instance...

[Zrooney]

I ordered the bushings today. The shipping was more than half the cost  .  Now onto the receiver !

[danny_galaga]

As an addendum to my statement, the three wires on a servo are +, -, and SIGNAL. It will be easy to see which is which if you have a receiver battery pack. The + and - are common on all servos and battery sockets, so however the battery pack plug is configured tells you which is which on the servo. If you have to switch a wire or two around, you can poke a pin onto the tab of the terminal to pull it out of the plastic socket. Swap 'em around nice and neat. If you can't do that for some reason, you can always cut wires too, but only if you are going to solder them. Dont just twitch them together, thats just asking for trouble!

 Or of course, you could just make sure you get a receiver compatible with your brand 

[Zrooney]

Thanks for your help with the receiver,  I got the bushings a few days ago and finally went to my local hobby store to get the radio.  The reciever was $65, with a controller.  After we got it home i reliezed my old servo, for steering, plugs would not fit into the receiver. So i just sanded down the plug end on the servo and put it into the reciever, not the prettiest but it does the job.  After some time farting around with the servo not working with the receiver, I remeberd your post Danny.  Needless to say within 10 minutes I was rocking and rolling, and I now have a 100% working vintage Kyosho. 

[05SRT4]

Thats awesome that you got it going. Did you get a regular FM/2.4 radio or did you try to get something authentic to the model? What size batteries are you using?

[yaksplat]

I have an old Double Dare that i need to bring up to snuff.  I'm trying to decide if it's worthwhile though.  Even when in perfect shape, that car had a ton of problems.

[Zrooney]

05SRT4 questions,  i just went with a regular FM/2.4 GHZ controller so it would work with my new speed control ( the mechanical one is crap, and the old speed control i fried a while back).  And the batteries i am using are one 7.2, 6 cell rc battery.  And for the controller just 4AA, as opposed to the old controller that required 8! 
 
And Yaksplat, I don't know what to say.. as this is my first and only RC car