Any Tips for an RC noob?

I've been wanting an RC car for a long time. I tried out a nitro car a few years back but don't have the time or patience to deal with them, even if they are cool. After that I moved onto a 1/18th (or was it 1/24th?) 4wd rally car for indoor use. I had my fun with that and sold it when I ran out time to play with it. I've got plenty of time now so I just picked this up.

I took it outside today and had a blast. Then the battery ran out. So immediately I started thinking about picking up an extra battery, going for Lipo, etc. Then I realized I have no idea what I'm doing. Any tips for a noob? I'm not looking to break the bank, just have some cheap fun. Any tips on maintenance? I've been giving it a once over after every run but really don't know what I'm looking for outside of broken/ loose stuff.

Be careful. It a deep hole. One t4 turned into 2 t4's, a hybrid slash, an 18mt, 3tt01s and a custom tb03 grt v2 drift car. I'd say for right now, stick with it. The ECX trucks are pretty tough bashers. The more you upgrade, the more you break and the more.you upgrade. Stock.... Is your friend. Lipos are piles of fun, but can get expensive, quick. I use turnigy hard cases for my stuff because I need them to swap car to car and my trucks take a pounding. Also, he careful the lure of castle brushless. It makes things stuuuuuuuuupid fast.

Brushless and LiPo are the only way to go. The lower end packs will blow away any of the NiCads and NiMHs you remember. Mail order is so much cheaper. An under hundo chatger will be fine. Buy batteries and electronics new. Many used ESCs are burnt out.

If you want all that, but don't want to risk breakage, smallest pinion and a larger spur gear will still be faster and give you stupid run times. Think half hour+.

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__86__85__Batteries_Accessories-Li_Poly_All_brands_.html

Start here for batteries. The Higher the Mah, the longer the run time. the higher the C (IE 30c) the higher the discharge rate. voltage is voltage. Make sure you have an ESC that is set up for lipos (You need low volt cutoff or you'll potato your batteries and potentially set your truck on fire). Hard cases take impacts. Charge outside or on concrete if possible. I run turnigy 5200's in my drifter.... they're heavy bastards but I outrun EVERYONE. And they're berkeleying scary in my frankenstein truck. I've got a cheap Thunder charger, but it does the job. As far as brushless setups, I only run Castle- I may be a name whore like all the hobby snobs say, but I can't argue with teh quality. I've got a 5700kv 1406 4 pole and an SV2 in my drifter, and a 6800kv micro pro setup in my 18mt (Scariest little rocket ever. That thing is HILARIOUS). I have a half dead traxxas setup of some sort in the franken-truck that I inherited when I got it as a rustler. The build thread is around here...somewhere. The ESC is fried- I'm debating exactly how stupid of a motor I feel like hammering into it. Plates exist to let me stick a Mamba Monster into it- 8th scale power in a 10th scale truck, I already have a solid steel trans and an upgraded diff... I want to put a spool in it because I can't drive it sideways enough.....

Like I said, the hobby gets deep.

Piling on here, hopefully not threadjacking. I dabbled with RC cars when I was a teenager but never had the funds to buy anything good. I'm considering buying some kind of RC car for my 13 year old to mess around with in the yard. He's had a couple of Airhog things and one really basic department store car, but I want to get something a bit more rugged/powerful but not overly complicated or expensive.

So that truck comes with a LiPo ready ESC. So for now, just buy a couple LiPo batteries, I'm not a huge fan of the Turnigy ones over at HobbyKing, I prefer the Gens Ace batteries over at Hobbypartz.com They are ROAR approved and the hardcase keeps them from getting punctured and starting a LiPo fire. I also would recommend getting a charger from that site, I have the Thunder AC680 and it's a great charger with a built in power supply for A/C usage, you can also use DC power from your car if your out bombing at a construction site.

Like mndsm has said you can end up on a slippery slope real fast. Just have fun with it and if it didn't come with a 2.4ghz radio I would look into one of those too, amazing range and no messing with crystals.

chrispy wrote: Piling on here, hopefully not threadjacking. I dabbled with RC cars when I was a teenager but never had the funds to buy anything good. I'm considering buying some kind of RC car for my 13 year old to mess around with in the yard. He's had a couple of Airhog things and one really basic department store car, but I want to get something a bit more rugged/powerful but not overly complicated or expensive.

I would get a brushed Traxxas Slash to start off with. Super rugged, tons of upgrades, can be really fast, but has a 1/2 power mode on the ESC that can slow it down till he gets the hang of it. I would try and find a used one on rctech.net you can usually find a good runner with spares for under $100.

^Brushed slash is a good start, and you can usually find a Velineon takeout from an upgrade for cheap when you want to go brushless. Traxxas trucks are also like legos, so if you own one, chances are you can make it into a couple others with a minimal amount of work. (I currently have an LCG brushless slash, however- I've never actually owned a real slash. This one started life as a Rustler that I bought as a speed run truck).

I'm just starting to learn these things. My 10 year old recently bought this.

It's the very basic model...we're running with what came in the box. 2WD. At first, I had it on 50% throttle and top speed was 15mph or so. Now he's able to control it at full speed, which is 30mph I think. He loves it, but wishes it could do better donuts. They definitely are like legos, which is great for someone not super mechanically inclined like me. He took it up a dirt hill, which had a grid of string just under the surface...who knew?? The string got hopelessly entangled in the wheels. I had to take the suspension apart to get it all out, and it was surprisingly easy.

Of course now his 7 year old brother is dying for one too.

In reply to Klayfish:

Lock the rear diff and she'll have more than enough juice to come around for some donut action. My brushless one will legitimately leave rubber.... it's sort of hilarious.

Plus eleventy billion on TRAXXAS.

Also, Traxxas is 'Merica, so there is that. Might not be the best "racer" out there, but holy E36 M3 can you beat them. Had my rustler speed run truck take a wicked roll at like....70 and all I did was pop a steering linkage bit.

I haven't had an RC car in 20 years but I had a Traxxas Fiero GTP once upon a time that held up well.

I'm glad to hear Traxxas has gotten better over the years.

I had a Traxxas "The Cat," and that thing had a nearly 1:1 charge/repair ratio.

For quality kiddo time, I'd suggest considering a solid Tamiya kit. The near disappearance of kits from the hobby really disappoints me. Building a car from a pile of parts, carefully, over a handful of hours, is incredibly rewarding. If your kid has the maturity, building a matching pair of cars together really seems to me like a great time.

To this end, Tamiya is great, because they have great instructions, well organized build plans, bodies that make you look like a paint pro, and you can get different designs with the same chassis. Your kid can have a CR-Z, and you can have a CRX. You can choose a 240Z rally car, and your kid can have an EVO.

mndsm wrote: In reply to Klayfish: Lock the rear diff and she'll have more than enough juice to come around for some donut action. My brushless one will legitimately leave rubber.... it's sort of hilarious.

How do I lock the rear? He'd be thrilled.

Klayfish wrote:

mndsm wrote: In reply to Klayfish: Lock the rear diff and she'll have more than enough juice to come around for some donut action. My brushless one will legitimately leave rubber.... it's sort of hilarious.

How do I lock the rear? He'd be thrilled.

If the differential is fully enclosed (spider gears are not exposed to the rest of the gearbox innards), one of the old school tricks is to open it up and put a wad of silly putty in there.

Man. I got DEEP into RC in the late 80's/early 90's. None of my experience is relevant any more, though. I'm glad Traxxas has gotten better, at the time I was in it they were kid's toy grade, if you wanted good you bought an Associated RC10. I bougt an RC10, then another, then a Schumacher CAT (blistering fast but fragile) and a carbon fiber pan car, each had to have its own batteries, motors, gears, speed controls, I also had 3 radios; my favorite was an Airtronics. I got into Losi stuff toward the end, at the time I was sorta disappointed; I couldn't make the Losi stuff handle like the Associated. I sorta lost interest so I sold it all and got back into racing motorcycles.

I discovered that dirt bikes were actually CHEAPER to run than the fleet of RC stuff.

Mike wrote: For quality kiddo time, I'd suggest considering a solid Tamiya kit. The near disappearance of kits from the hobby really disappoints me. Building a car from a pile of parts, carefully, over a handful of hours, is incredibly rewarding. If your kid has the maturity, building a matching pair of cars together really seems to me like a great time. To this end, Tamiya is great, because they have great instructions, well organized build plans, bodies that make you look like a paint pro, and you can get different designs with the same chassis. Your kid can have a CR-Z, and you can have a CRX. You can choose a 240Z rally car, and your kid can have an EVO.

Tamiya makes some cool stuff, but I wish they wouldn't blatantly piss on their fan-base. There is no excuse for them to be selling kits with plastic bushings throughout in 2014, and they shouldn't have been doing it in 2010, 2005, 2000, or 1995 either.

For instance, the Dual Ridge:

Yet another of the gazillion TT02 variants. It's an entry level 4WD buggy, aimed at beginners, with non-adjustable camber & toe, plastic gears, plastic shocks, and has a full compliment of worthless plastic bushings, yet it costs $140 for the kit by itself (no radio, battery, or charger). For $140, you'd think they could at least include bronze bushings, if not full bearings...It's downright insulting that they do not.

Rather than spending $230-250 to get his Tamiya entry-level buggy operational, an RC newcomer might prefer to spend $160 on something like the ARRMA Raider:

It's 2WD, so not a perfect comparison...But this car comes ready to run with battery, controller, and charger, has an aluminum chassis, adjustable camber & toe, is li-po ready, has all metal gears, and has metal ball bearings throughout. Parts are available from Tower Hobbies and several other places. The negative is that you don't get to build it as a kit.

I'm with you, it sucks that the hobby these days is no longer kit-oriented. I wish I could buy something like the ARRMA car above, as a kit, and for an even cheaper price since it wouldn't have to be assembled for me, but the fact is that the market just isn't there.

Curmudgeon wrote: if you wanted good you bought an Associated RC10.

What about the JRX2 or Ultima?

Banging around in the yard is no where near as much fun or as challenging as racing. Go to your nearest RC track and check out the SPEC RTR classes. Buy a new car not someone's used up junk. Don't buy a bunch of gee gaws, get a couple of pairs of tires, good batteries, gears. Secret is driving slow to go fast.

Lock diff, here. https://traxxas.com/forums/showthread.php?8923431-Bored-with-wheelies-Try-bicycling

Conversely you can get spools on eBay for about 10 bucks.

bentwrench wrote: Banging around in the yard is no where near as much fun or as challenging as racing. Go to your nearest RC track and check out the SPEC RTR classes. Buy a new car not someone's used up junk. Don't buy a bunch of gee gaws, get a couple of pairs of tires, good batteries, gears. Secret is driving slow to go fast.

How dare you call my junk used up! Its perfectly useful. this is the truck I lovingly call project junkpile, or the freak show. I bought it as a rustler with a bunch of rpm upgrades and a velineon system. After I balled it up I decided to try my hand at drifting.

This eventually happemed. Then I realized that was sort of fragile and if I wanted to crash something I needed a truck. So, I started reading, and it was determined a slash was what I wanted. Along the way I'd seen some grumbling about something called an lcg slash. Stood for low center of gravity. Used a rustler tub. I had a whole rustler! Little bit of digging determined that roughly 85% of my rustler parts were direct translation, and only one part wasmt a direct traxxas. Thing is, I'm not that far off a 2wd stampede nwith this setup.... Or most of their other 2wd stuff.... Gotta love parts bin.

JamesMcD wrote:

Curmudgeon wrote: if you wanted good you bought an Associated RC10.

What about the JRX2 or Ultima?

I got my RC10 before the Ultima or JRX2 were even thought of. I bought it in the 7 grade after my friends bought Tamiyas because I had to have a race car. It took me about three months to getting working right. It was pretty much a collection of roughly shaped parts that were waiting to replaced with better bits. Once it was finally together and sorted it did make a damn nice piece though.

Klayfish wrote: I'm just starting to learn these things. My 10 year old recently bought this. It's the very basic model...we're running with what came in the box. 2WD. At first, I had it on 50% throttle and top speed was 15mph or so. Now he's able to control it at full speed, which is 30mph I think. He loves it, but wishes it could do better donuts. They definitely are like legos, which is great for someone not super mechanically inclined like me. He took it up a dirt hill, which had a grid of string just under the surface...who knew?? The string got hopelessly entangled in the wheels. I had to take the suspension apart to get it all out, and it was surprisingly easy. Of course now his 7 year old brother is dying for one too.

That is what I would like to get for my kids. What is the model name?

Dakar Slash?

As noted above, the Arrma Raider brushed 1/10 buggy is a nice deal. Got one for the boy for $129 shipped from Tower Hobbies. Its decently fast--maybe 30mph actual, which is 300 scale.

The downside is the neighbor boy drove it into a parked car and busted it up pretty good in the front. Looks like about $25 in new parts and an hour or two of surgery and it'll be good to go again.