Welcome back, one and all, to the home for the best in the RC industry! Ok, maybe that’s a bit of an oversell but I stand by that statement. We here at 1i-rc strive to bring you, our cherished readership, the best RC content possible and this week is no different. While it has been a slower week, the last seven days have seen a handful of new releases from Team Associated. Axial and Pro-Line; the holiday shopping list is growing, slowly but surely! Let’s dive in and see what’s new!
TEAM ASSOCIATED
New this week from Associated (and Reedy, an in house subsidiary of TA) are a new Factory Team 4.5mm short nut driver for 1/24 and 1/28 wheel nuts as well as new Reedy Power RT3507A Low-Profile and RT7011A Standard size servos. .
Up first is the new Factory Team “short” 4.5mm nut driver, a size commonly used for 1/24 to 1/28 vehicle wheel nuts. These new shorter nut drivers prevent the user from over-torquing the wheel nut (which in most cases is a nylon nut) and leading to a stripped hex, a lost wheel, or worst of all, an upset child. The handle has straight ridges allowing two fingers to find a grip, while the black anodization and laser etched Factory Team logo enure that your pit looks as “Pro” as possible with this tool sitting in it.
Item #21694 Factory Team 4.5mm Short Nut Driver https://60years.associatedelectrics.com/ft-4-5mm-short-nut-driver/
Up next for those in need of a low-profile servo Reedy Power has a new RT3507A competition servo that boasts .065sec/60° speed @8.4v, 486.1oz-in of torque (also at 8.4v), a full aluminum case, brushless motor, steel gear train, a 25t output shaft and precision ball bearings for smooth operation.
For those who don’t require a low-profile servo, Reedy also offers the RT7011A Standard height servo that, similar to its LP sibling, has a full aluminum case, ball bearings, a 25t output shaft and brushless motor for power. While not quite as fast as the LP at “only” .11sec/60° the standard height servo cranks out 992.1oz-in of torque, both at 8.4v. These servos are aimed at 1/8 off-road racers or 1/10 off-road drivers who prefer the added torque at the expense of space and speed.
Item #27179 Low Profile RT3507A Servo
Item #27180 Standard Height RT7011A Servo
AXIAL
New this week from Axial is a new version of the palm-sized SCX30, this time in a Toyota Tacoma TRD PRO variant (Axial’s first licensed Tacoma offering). This new truck is offered in two versions: a crawler and an overland style. While both trucks are functionally identical under the ABS hard body, the overland and crawler style trucks look surprisingly different just based on their rolling stock and detail pieces. The crawler edition includes licensed BFGoodrich Krawler T/A tires on KMC Torx wheel, wider offset hexes and a fender delete for a more “hardcore” trail truck appearance while the overland style truck includes Yokohama Geolandar tires on Black Rhino Bahari wheels and features a molded roof rack with storage containers as well as a set of fender flares. Under those beautiful 4th Gen Tacoma bodies is a longer wheelbase version of the previously released SCX30 chassis that includes high clearance rear links, an angled skid, ramping axle housings, SCX24 worm gear compatibility for gearing changes, a brushed 030-size 88t motor, Spektrum electronics, ball bearings throughout and each package includes a 160mAh, 2s Spektrum LiPO battery and 0.5a USB charger to get you going straight out of the box on Christmas morning… hint, hint!
Item #AXI-3289T1 SCX30 Toyota Tacoma TRD PRO Crawler Edition
Item #AXI-3289T2 SCX30 Toyota Tacoma TRD PRO Overland Edition
PRO-LINE RACING
Pro-Line announced last week that they were working on a new wrap for their 1/12 NASCAR bodies to commemorate the winners of each of the final 10 races of the season, known as The Chase., beginning with Christoper Bell’s #20 Mobile 1 JGR Toyota that sat in Victory Lane in Darlington. The plan is to offer these wraps for one week only, as a pre-order, until the next race when the next winner gets their scheme turned into a wrap. While CBell’s wrap is no longer offered for pre-order, Kyle Larson’s #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet scheme from Worldwide Technology Raceway will be available for pre-order until this coming Saturday’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway when a new winner gets their chance at becoming an RC wrap. These wraps are sold separately, meaning you will need a clear Pro-Line body of your choosing (Camaro, Mustang or Camry Cup body sold separately), which technically gives you the chance to mix and match brands and driver’s in a weird, alternate reality, what-if… if you so choose to do so!
CBell’s Wrap From Last Week
Larson’s Wrap Available For Pre-Order This Week
For more information visit https://www.prolineracing.com
THOUGHTS FROM THE WORKBENCH
This past week I did hear back from Radiolink about the issue we’ve been having with our RC8X and R4GM receivers. I was informed that the R4FGM’s produced before April 26, 2023 or that use a version older than 2.1 will work with the FHSS V1 protocol instead of the radio’s recommended V2 (when viewing the compatibility list on the RC8X itself). Reviewing the back of the receivers I have on hand shows a date code of February 2025, August 2025 and April 2023. The two made in 2025 continue to have the same issue, no throttle channel function on either, while one now does not have a functioning channel one either, while the third won’t even power up any longer (the 2023 date code). I sent these results to Radiolink and we’ll see what the next steps are.
This past week saw the 25th anniversary of 9/11 and with it brought me back to where I was when it all happened. For people my age this event was our JFK assassination; we will never forget where we were when we heard about it. Although a quarter century later, I still remember the blue plastic and cramped wood of the desk, the feeling of the basket under the seat in front of me where me feet rested, the low hum of the fluorescent lights overhead, the white blouse that my 10th grade Natural Sciences teach Mrs. Peggy White was wearing, the glare of the morning sun shining thought the window to the courtyard of the school. It is as clear as if it happened yesterday.
We were all told to keep our cell phones off during school hours, even though most didn’t have one yet, and if you were caught with one it was a pretty big deal back then. Class had been going for a bit when a phone went off and everyone looked around at each other to see who was going to get the lecture. Mrs. White even said “we know we should not have our phones out during class hours…” It wasn’t until the phone started to ring a second time that we all realized that it was her phone ringing in her purse, to which we all laughed at her embarrassment as she tried to silence the ringtone. When the phone started ringing a third time she answered it and was almost immediately cut off.
It was her husband, my dentist, Dr. White, calling to say that she needed to stop what she was doing and turn on the TV. He didn’t tell her why, just that he loved her and he had to get back to work. We got the TV cart out and hooked up for her pretty quickly; just in time in fact to see the second plane hit the tower. This was the middle of second period for us and we knew what the rest of the day would look like. Classes were dismissed and we went on to third period where the TV was already out. We all sat around and watched as news of the towers falling and the Pentagon being hit came in. I don’t remember who the first to say it was but one of the guys in my class made the statement to no one in particular “we’re gonna be the ones fighting the war to make this right,” He was right. We were sophomores in high school; most of us weren’t old enough to drive yet but would be military age by the time the way was in full swing. If you had offered us the chance to go that day we would have gladly picked up a rifle and shipped off, no questions asked.
I remember sitting there, feeling this unusual sense of helplessness and anger, for a place I’d never been and people I didn’t know. The patriotism that began to boil up inside me was a feeling I can never forget. These people were attacking my America and I was not going to stand for it. Surprisingly I still feel just as strongly about my beloved country to this day, unlike many of my classmates.
I implore you, as Americans we must band together and put our petty differences aside. We are all living here together, in the greatest experiment the world has ever known, and facing attacks from many different sides at once. What all of those threats have in common is that they are affecting us all, not just one group or another, threatening our way of life as Americans. When you cut us, we bleed; no matter the political affiliation, religious belief or social class, we’re Americans and these issues affect us all. It is time we stand together as we did that day in 2001, as Americans, side-by-side, shoulder to shoulder. Our strength is in our fighting spirit and our willingness to take on any challenge or threat placed before us.
I want to thank you for joining us again for TWIRC, we hope to see you again next week for the latest news and maybe a project or review thrown in too! Until then, be good to yourself, be good to each other, be good to your RC.