There seems to be some serious hotness to steering racks in the world of RC racing right now. For instance, we have TLR going to a bell crank system instead of it’s original slider design on the 1.0 and 2.0 cars. You can now purchase aluminum upgrades by all the major RC manufacturers like Kyosho’s gunmetal aluminum goodness and Team Associated has the FT blue aluminum for the B4 and B5 cars.  Well, and then there are companies like Exotek and STRC who are also in the mix delivering their version of the steering upgrade. Some consists of just the aluminum bell cranks and others have their aluminum Ackerman as well for a full aluminum system.

Today, I’m going to PRE’view and tell you about a hot little product from Schelle Racing Innovations for the Kyosho RB6. This steering rack will fit all of the 6 series cars from RB6, RT6, and SC6 without any modifications. All hardware is provided and the only thing you need are the original two 10mm screws and you’re done.

**** Unfortunately, my local indoor clay track has just recently shut down for business, but the good news is it is relocating and going to a carpet indoor off-road track! So this is the preview and within a week or two, I’ll be able to test this on an indoor, ozite carpet off-road track and let you know the differences in handling and even the lap times improvements. I had originally tested the rack at a outdoor, loamy offroad track but the traction was so low that it’s really hard to tell steering difference as you’re basically sliding the whole time. Thanks for being patient and hope this “Preview” will spark some interests until the performance “review” is released next week. Stay tuned!

Initial Impression

I’m not sure about you guys, but for me it’s a huge plus because it’s black! Not gunmetal, red, blue, light blue or dark blue….just clean and simple, can’t go wrong with black – black. The other thing I really love about it is just by looking at it you can see all the thought that Kurt Wenger puts in on each and every one of his products. Schelle isn’t about just copying what’s already out there, but constantly innovating to make what’s out there even better. A mind like Kurt’s is always at work. For instance, some of his earlier work with AVID was outstanding. One example is the AVID bell cranks for the B4.2. With just one look you can tell they were crafted by an artisan and not just an “engineer” who chooses logic and reason over aesthetics and style. The lines are very beautifully CNC’d to perfection and in the end look much more than just a set of ordinary bellcranks. They look like they belong in a glass case protected in a museum. Bravo!

The Schelle RB6 rack, in many ways continues Kurt’s innovative style and design by incorporating a different and rather unique shape separating him from all the other manufacturers. The other’s are just basically clones of the Kyosho factory stock plastic and aluminum part. On top of that, Schelle’s design uses 4 flanged bearings to ensure the smoothest of operation while providing the closest thing to a slop free steering rack the world has ever known. This thing is tight! I even had trouble putting in the flange bearings as they had a really tight tolerance, but they fit without issues. Just make sure you line up the bearings properly before giving a good press.

Another unique thing about the Schelle rack it states in the installation instruction set, says that the Ackerman ballstuds (without washers) is actually 1mm further back than the stock bar with the arrow facing forward (which is the factory setting). In the0ry, the further you move the Ackerman bar towards the rear of the car… the less aggressive the steering becomes. A lot of guys, including World Champion Jared Tebo, run the Kyosho rack backwards so that the arrow is actually pointing towards the rear of the car. By flipping the Ackerman backwards it moves the ballstud about 2mm back. Playing it smart, Schelle decided to go inbetween -2mm and 0 and they’ve designed the rack to have a mellow setback of -1mm since the Schelle rack is not reverse mountable. (Actually, I’m sure you could mount it backwards with spacers and running the nut of the reverse side if you really wanted to).

Lastly, this little rack has a secret up its sleeve. There’s a new adjustment this rack has that no other rack on the market can do and it’s so simple! The Ackerman ballstud actually has 2 holes for adjustability. The inside hole matches the factory setting and the new outside hole moves the ballstud further to the outside shortening the turnbuckle length to the spindle! Genius. I haven’t been able to run the rack on a track with decent grip to see what it does for handling, but it is said to stabilize mid corner steering and through Schelle’s R&D, it makes the car feel better and most of the guys run it on the outside hole.

Conclusion

So let’s recap all the positive things

+ Booooom…….It’s black.

+ It’s comes with 4 bearings for precision tolerance and closest thing to zero sloop.

+ -1mm setback from stock rack. Use 1mm spacer to equal the stock rack. Use Kyosho’s low mount ballstuds to get -2mm.

+ Super tunable alternative Ackerman ballstud location to fine tune steering geometry and feel.

If you are still running the plastic Kyosho parts and have been thinking about upgrading to the more responsive, more robust, and durable aluminum piece….. I would strongly suggest you to take a look at the Schelle rack as it provides a lot of positives to the price and very comparable to the Kyosho Gunmetal bit. It adds features, adjustability, and style and basically a hands down no brainer if you’re in the market.

Although one thing to mention is that if you’re running aluminum bellcranks as well, it is highly advised you to follow the instructions and use a bit of blue thread lock when installing the new rack. I thought with the tiny shims provided I would be able to lock this sucker down, but in doing so would bind the entire steering system up. I had to apply thread lock, tighten the screw while feeling for freeness and let it sit and dry before running. I think this is a result from not having a “crush tube” in between the bearings. If you’re super dialed… I guess you could play around and make a crush tube from tiny shims :).

As always, thanks for stopping by and hope you return for the actually performance review!