The influx of new members into our hobby is always a wonderful and welcome thing, I’m sure there were many new kits unwrapped on Christmas day and faces lit up like a 500 watt bulb. Of course the first thing you wanted to do is sit down for a good read of the instructions… yeah right!
The manual itself is all well and good and of course to the untrained nitro user, it should be read and re-read until it’s understood. But it doesn’t tell you everything, and in some cases it tells you bugger all! Still, I bet you quietly cussed the present giver for not reading them for you so they could tell you exactly what to do and let you get straight out there playing. Luckily we’ve come up with a basic guide to help you establish a good relationship with your new machine that’ll help you reap the rewards and fun factor that the RC hobby can bring, and perhaps the best way of spending any left over Christmas cash to optimize your ride.

Nitro mechanic

Some of you may be all too good at having a fiddle with things, but it’s no good for your concentration and your eyesight will suffer (or so I’m told). You could make the best of your time by instead learning how to maintain a nitro model, neglecting it will only see its performance suffer, which triggers the enjoyment to lag and not long after yet another nitro truck is thrown to the back of a cupboard to languish out its days till it’s a worthless piece of scrap metal. In addition, getting to know your nitro car is a great way of bonding with it and gaining valuable experience.
When I was a wee nipper, I was always known for taking things apart to find out how they worked, so when Mum and Dad got me my first RC car they weren’t too worried when I stripped it to pieces, as I had a knack for putting things back together in good working order. I soon learnt that by taking the bits of fluff and remnants of dirt and grit out of the workings, it would soon perform as good as, if not better than, new. The same applies to a nitro, but even more so as there are more moving parts on them than on a “Toys R Us” special.

Time to learn

The most important things to possess right now are common sense and some confidence. The common sense to do the right thing and the confidence is to tackle the job in hand. Nine out of ten will start with an RTR kit (if not you really have been thrown into the deep end) and it’s always advisable to regularly make sure all the screws are tight, as the engine will cause vibrations that’ll loosen off anything it can, applying a drop of thread-lock to those with metal to metal contact.

Keeping your RC clean is always a good idea too, with the engine and radio gear removed you can quite literally chuck it in the kitchen sink for a good scrubbing, I always find that removing the wheels and fuel tank helps to get into those places you wouldn’t normally be able to. An old sponge, toothbrush or paint brush is all that’s needed to make it look nice and shiny again.

Then dry it as best you can and spray the metal parts with a dose of GT85 or WD40 to keep the rust at bay. Whilst doing this you can also have a look for any damaged parts, a little crack found somewhere is usually better fixed or replaced than allowed to keep being stressed and eventually break, as this will cause a lot more expense in the long run.

If your engine’s in need of a spring clean, grab yourself a copy of issue 17 as we covered in depth how to strip and clean one to keep it running at its absolute best. But whilst on the engine, you will need to keep the air filter as clean as possible at all times, any dirt allowed past it is destined for the insides where the piston and liner live! Air filters can be washed in soapy water and re-oiled, but always make sure to allow enough time for them to dry properly before the oil is applied. If damaged, simply replace the item, after all they’re cheap compared to the cost of a new engine!
The shock absorbers have an important job to do on all RCs, so keeping them topped up with the correct weight oil is another “must”, especially to those who like to go jumping, overlooking shock maintenance is almost asking for trouble. If you don’t know what the correct weight oil is for your particular model and this information may not be in the manual, ask for advice on the MB online forum and then simply fill them up almost to the top and work the shaft up and down slowly to disperse any air bubbles before tightening the caps back on.
Should you plan on leaving your RC alone for a while, always remove the batteries, drain out any unused fuel and slip a few drops of after run oil into the engine via the glow plug hole, then pull on the pull starter, or flick the Roto start for a few seconds to spread it around the insides because we wouldn’t want it to seize up now would we? And always remember to store your fuel safely, it’s is after all highly explosive stuff. A tip if you plan on stripping the RC to pieces is to use an old egg box or similar and place the screws and parts into one section at a time, so as not to get them all mixed up, or place the screws back into their respective holes once taken out, to make it even easier to know exactly which one goes where.

Tools for the job

If you plan on doing a lot of wrenching, having the right tools for the job is a big help.  You probably got a set of allen keys with your kit but some decent allen drivers really make things easier.  Like most tools, you get what you pay for and ones from HUDY and Team Magic are about the best.  Remember to clean the mud out of the screw heads before you start wrenching.

The money pit

You can of course get completely carried away when it comes to splashing the cash on an RC, but not all hop-ups go towards its performance or are any benefit at all. One of the first and foremost of upgrades is a failsafe device, for those Hamlet moments when your RC decides to just wander off on its own… at full throttle usually. Its job is to detect when there’s a problem and place the servos into a predetermined position which is normally just to apply the brakes and halt a runaway. It’ll pick up when the battery power is fading and hopefully it’ll kick in if there’s any radio interference too saving your pride and joy from possibly a fatal accident. The cost of a failsafe and the cost of a replacement truck are quite different!

Next up would be a 6V battery pack, the four rechargeable AAs you stuck in are only pushing out 4.8V and although it’s only a 1.2V difference, you’ll sure notice how much faster your steering response becomes with it and the brakes will grab a lot better too. As it’s rechargeable it’ll save you a packet in the long run from not buying so many batteries, so it almost pays for itself.

Some servos will still not be upto the job of giving a good reaction time, so next on the shopping list might be a high torque, high speed servo or two. You can easily spend anything from £30 to £130 plus on just a servo, so do some research here and stay within your budget. You’ll be amazed at the difference a decent set of servos produce! It is also said that a good transmitter will improve your driving abilities as they have the capability to be programmed. By this I mean they can be setup to suit any particular model and allocate a completely different feel to its driving experience. Again the good ones are by no means cheap, but with the release of the Spektrum DX3 system, you could snap up your servos and a transmitter in one package for only £170 and have digital communication with your RC without ever having any worries about interference or a frequency clash, it even has a built in failsafe!

To get the best out of the engine, you’ll find a proper tuned pipe will work wonders. These are usually found to be made of aluminium, but as of late there are some carbon jobbies on the market that do a fine job and look pretty cool too. But looks and performance aren’t always found to go hand in hand. Some will better suit a faster acceleration, while others will help the engine breathe and push out a higher top speed. Only you can decide what it is you’re after specifically, and as with most aspects of the after market supplies, there are a lot to choose from.

Next on someone’s list of importance may be the point of contact, tyres. No matter what flavour of RC you have, be it on-road, off-road, a buggy, stadium or monster truck, there are a vast number of different choices to be made. All are aimed at a certain running surface with some boasting to accommodate the “all rounder” approach. Decide which kind of surface you race or bash on most and look into the available choices before making your mind up, in this instance it could be a case of “He who hesitates, makes a wiser selection”.

Decisions, decisions…

The investment could go on and on. A new engine to make it go faster, new aluminium shocks to withstand those huge jumps you plan on doing, aluminium A-arms to add strength, a new body shell and some shiny wheels to change its appearance etc. the list is endless.

Some choose to try and make their RC the shiniest ever produced and never drive them, others beat the living daylights out of them, but it’s all about the enjoyment. Whatever it is you choose to do with yours the most important thing to remember is… have fun with it!