RC Repairs - keeping your RC rollin' on the Sunshine Coast

RC repairs on the Sunshine Coast

When you spend upwards of $500 on an RC Car, you want to be driving it right? That's why it's important to get the right help when you need it, if you need it, to keep your initial investment dialed in.

Most cars come 'Ready to Run', which means that the manufacturer has assembled it for you, and all you need to do is add batteries (or fuel) and you're able to head out for a rip! But what that does mean is that you are relying on the manufacturer's workers to have put your car together perfectly.. and think about it.. they are assembling thousands of them.. and people make mistakes right? So, it's worth giving your new whip a check over before you take it out for the first time, but what do you check?

Worth a look

As a kick off, its a great idea to make sure you buy the right battery for the car you have. This seems obvious doesn't it? But its not that straight forward. Your RC car (if its electric powered and runs on a LIPO) will boast how man 'S' it is capable of, but its not always as straight forward as just buying a pack with the right 'S' number and chucking it in.

First of all, will the battery pack you have chosen even fit in the car!? Believe it or not this is the biggest mistake people make when they order online, as they don't research this essential factor. Buggies for instance have a smaller battery tray than Truggies, purely because of the physical size of the car, and the way the body shell hugs closely to the chassis pan.

What about the type of connector that the car accepts. Some cars, like Traxxas models, will only accept Traxxas batteries, as they have their own connector style.Its always worth giving the store a call and working out what you need before you pull the trigger on a battery for a particular car.

Next, thing I'd recommend checking is the grub screw which locks the pinion gear onto the motor shaft. What am I talking about?!

In this picture we see a 22 Tooth pinion gear which is held tightly on to the shaft that sticks out of the electric motor using the picture grub screw. I have been surprised at how often these are either installed without blue thread lock liquid applied (so they work loose) or aren't tightened up enough in the first place. Whats the big deal? If this works loose, first you loose drive, and worst case, your pinion will move, and destroy the gear it is meshed to.

While we are on the subject of gear mesh, Is probably worth just double checking that the manufacturer actually meshed these two gears together well when they built it. Too tight and the spur gear won't last and load on the motor will be higher than necessary, too loose and, well, that spur gear is a delicate little chappy.

If you are planning on running your rig in wet conditions, have you made sure that the gear that is fitted in your car is equipped to handle getting a little moisture on it? Also, RC car wheels often have small holes in them to prevent tyres ballooning too much, but that also means water can get in. If water soaks into the foam inserts, they become heavy and out of balance, and eventually, the foam rots away. Block those holes with tape.

Its also worth checking that the tyres are properly glued on to the rims all the way around.

Have a go

When things break or wear out (and if you're having fun, they will) I would always recommend having a go at repairing or servicing the car yourself, after all its all part of the fun right?

Grab the manual and in there you'll usually find a picture of how the whole car goes together, and it'll usually have the replacement part numbers listed there too. Get yourself a good set of hex driver tools (trust me its worth getting good ones, so they don't round off the heads on your screws) and have a go yourself!

If all else fails

If all else fails, or you just don't feel like doing it yourself, we can do any repairs, servicing or customizing for you! Just contact us and we'll sort it out for you.

 

Happy RC-ing!

 

Greg