ttdragon23

I am completely new to hobby-grade R/C vehicles... it was not until recently that I found out that a person could build their own. Until then, I thought the only R/C vehicles a person could get were the ones out of Toys R' Us. So, I became interested, and have been doing some research. I just had wanted to ask those that havegood knowledge and experience in the hobby-grade vehicles a couple questions before I start on my own.

In my research, I saw that the "R/C Car Bible" seemed to be the best choice for anyone wanting to build their own vehicle from the ground up. I want my R/C car to trully be my own. When I was a kid, I would save up my money from mowing lawns, allowance, andwhatnotjust to buy the massive lego sets simply for the pieces so that I could build something even cooler than what the box was advertising. So,is the "R/C Car Bible" the best way to go to help me build my own vehicle? Does the bookhave instruction in a variety of types of cars and trucks?

I've seen "Starter Kits"... do these kits allow you to build onto and outside of what the kits actually provide?

I've seen multiple builder books for Helicoptors... is there a best-seller?

Thanks!

firebird78

tt...I dont know for sure but I think the bible is about set-ups, tuning and maintanance....and the starter kit is the basic tools you will need to maintane and start a nitro rc...glow plug ignitor, charger (for the ignitor), fuel bottle, screw drivers, and a couple multi function tools

Chris_RC

How custom do you want to go? For someone liek you, you could buy a kit, build it yourself, then purchase the motor/speed control/controller and receiver/servo on your own, then upgrade as you want.

How much is your budget on this?

ttdragon23

I want to be very custom... but I dohave a great deal of time and patience. As far as my budget, I plan to save up something like $400 to $500 for justsomething basicor however much I need for the necessary pieces and parts...and then turn it into something awesome - as if I were buying the ugly house that cost me thirty grand and then turning it into a 500 grand house that everyone slows down to look at. So, I could save up to the $400 to $500 amount, buy what I need to start off, and then I would be able to spend about $100/month afterwards for custom work.

Druss

One thing I want to point out is that lego, even if the pieces are from different sets are all... lego and will fit together. RC cars are built to some pretty tight tolerances so just taking pieces from one kit to put on another will not work in most cases.

You can customize things like the electronics, body, wheels/tires, motor/engine.. etc. and make it look your own but the guts of it will be the same as everyones. Now keep in mind that many companies just specialize in hop ups (up grades) so you can take a vehicle and replace literally every part on it with hop ups if you wanted (RPM is an example of one of these companies).

Some people with very good mechanical skills and the machines to do it will make their own custom parts but then you get into things like cnc routers... etc.

Most people content themselves with wheels/tires, electronics and paint their own body.

cummins driver

My Feedback: (31)

If you really are into the customizing, a T-Maxx may be what you are after. I have to think the t-maxx has more aftermarket support than any other r/c vehicle out there that i know of, and you can spend some big $$ on one if you really want to go all out buying parts for it.

BKoz559

My Feedback: (3)

Druss sums it up very well. Underneath all T-Maxx's are mechanically the same. One guy may have swapped plastic parts for machined aluminum or another guy is running different engines / motors. Really if you have the right shop equipment, tools technical ability you can create virtually anything you can imagine.

I just wanted to add a few cents to the pot. Find out if there are RC race tracks in your are as well as hobby shops that carry RC vehicles so you can see the different types of vehicles that exist. Get an idea of what type of vehicle you would like to run (i.e. on road cars, off road stadium trucks / buggies, monster trucks or replica / scale vehicles like some of those from Tamiya). Done right, the latter can look amazing with realistic features! Look up a video of a Tamiya Semi Truck with trailer.

I think once you have an idea of how and where you will be operating your new vehicle you can make a better decision of which one to buy. In my opinion, monster trucks and crawlers seem to be all the rage. They definately stand out and when you're running one at the local park, and usually draw attention. If going fast is more your style, consider a stadium truck or buggy. They still have some off road capability yet can haul @$$ when properly equipped. Of course touring cars are probably the fastest cars out there but are limited to large open smooth surfaces like a school yard basket ball court or open parking lot. Heck, even the the latest mini and micro vehicles are so popular that many companies make CNC machined parts for tiny cars like the Losi Micro vehicles.

Like some of the other posters mentioned, virtually any popular vehicle has a plethora of aftermarket accessories available to make yours stand out from the rest. Have fun!

Ttam Says Blarg

You can NEVER go wrong with a tamiya!

kistner

My Feedback: (10)

check out this thread. It has a lot of custom work and some off the shelf custom pieces: http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_84..._1/key_/tm.htm
should give you an idea of how far you can take it, if you want

samguan

To be honest with you. It is not easy to start with a kit. When I first started this hobby, I had to take my truck to the hobby shop for a broken arm. Now when I think about it, it was kind of stupid I guess. Imagine building a kit on my own at that time, I would be so frustrated. I broke two new servos in a day because I didn't know I had to center it before I put the server horn on.

As I learn more about RCs, I was able to fix any problems. It is not rocket science, but it does take a bit of time to pick it up.

But if you do take the time to read before building, you should be fine. There is a lot of basic stuff that you need to learn. For example, the speed controller, gear ratios, radios, differentials etc. Nothing complicated but if you don't know anything about them, you will struggle.

Don't spend any $ on those books, everything the RC world has to offer is are on the internet.

samguan

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kistner

My Feedback: (10)

They do say that if you build it yourself from a kit you have a greater understanding of how everything fits and end up with the knowledge to fix it when it breaks. The couple kit cars I have (I'll admit I bought them used/already assembled) had directions that were easy enough to follow. If you built the static models we had as kids then you could build an rc kit.

Druss

Quite right, my first RC was a Tamiya on road and it was a kit. Tamiya has great manuals and tells you how to do everything including the fact that you need to power the servo up before you put the arm on....

I would always recommend a kit, along with some other skills building a kit is a basic skill I think all hobby level RC people need to learn. Soldering is another skill that's lacking. A hobby shop will charge you $10 to solder on a connector, you can buy a 40w soldering iron for $20 and save yourself a trip.

ttdragon23

Thanks for the replies, guys! Keep 'em comin'! The more I know the better.

My dad was an electrician and my father in law works for BP as a computer tech and he's an official radio control operater (I think that's what he calls it)... but soldering is something I can definitely get training on and learn for myself.

firebird78

the revo seems to have lots of customizing support as well....only bad thing is working on them...to me they are a pain in the neck..lol......but anyways I got a friend that dumped probably atleast $2,500 in a revo (not counting buying it)...the chassis was chromed, custom built wheels, custom painted bodies, and on and on....bad thing is it blew away in a tornado.....so if it was intact when it finally landed, someone got a really pricey rc...lol

Chris_RC

One reason why I don't like MT's-they are moneypits. But if you want a super expensive custom MT, go for it!

cummins driver

My Feedback: (31)

Money pits? Says who?

The ONLY thing i have upgraded on my Savage or MGT is the engine and clutch setup. After 6 gallons I rebuilt the rear differential in my savage, and that is still the only part i have broken aside from some clutch bell bearings and 1 spur gear on each truck. You can go crazy adding on aluminum and other things that arent needed, but if all you do is run the truck and replace parts as needed, they are not anymore expensive than anyhting else to keep going provided you arent going around running into poles at full throttle. I was just saying the upgrade potential is there for the t-maxx is that is what someone is into.

Eric

Chris_RC

Let's see:
Revo
T-maxx especially
E-Maxx
Muggy (for me it was a moneypit)
and maybe the Savage. I hear they are indestructible, but I have never really been impressed with them, and the diff gear issue worries me even more. Another reason why truggies are more durable than MT's; MT's dont have a center diff while truggies do so it puts alot of stress on diff gears under hard landings doing WOT or pointless ski jumps which puts alot of pressure on the ring and pinion.

cummins driver

My Feedback: (31)

I hardly ever jump my trucks. More into climbing things and just running around the yard. The stock differential made it 6 gallons, and now that it is shimmed, I dont see why it wont go longer than that. Cost me about $25 to fix. The driveline of a buggy or truggy is stronger normally, but a good MT is darn strong unless you are just abusing it.

I will agree the t-maxx and e-maxx are not the strongest things from the factory. Dont know about the revo. My T-Maxx was always breaking something, but it was also ragged out before i got it.

I had a buggy which i liked, and was of awesome quality(sportwerks mayhem pro), and i loved the driveline on it, and didnt break anything on it either except for a front shock shaft and suspension arm when it ran away from me and hit a fence post.

Its really all personal preference. A good MT like the Savage, MGT, or LST2 are all good trucks if you know how to run and maintain them.

Eric

Chris_RC

That's why you dont break them. Try jumping 45 feet into a fence while the front tires clip the fence (running almost parallel to the fence) and see what happens to your MT's.

dsales

Dude, you must have issues if you like jumping your truck into fences just for the sake of breaking them.

cummins driver

My Feedback: (31)

Try doing that to your truggy's.

I have came off of jumps where my savage hit straight into the ground nose first with the front tires. All it does is bounces back up. Havent broke it yet. If you are flying in the air, and "clip" a fence with the front tires, all it is going to do is cartwheel the truck and then it will hit the ground.

Dont get started with big air. I see far more MT's getting big air than truggy's.

cummins driver

My Feedback: (31)

x2

supertib

Truggies are way more durable then MT's.....

firebird78

well to me any rc can be a money pit....just depends on how far you want to go into it....seems to be countless upgrades for almost anything...

personally I dont see dropping alot of coin into any rc....especially just to make it look cool and sit on a shelf...but thats me....personally I dont like the revo and I own one...I've ran a t-maxx and know a couple people with them....one of my friends bought one and then sold it within 2 weeks cause he got bored with it...all it wanted to do was pop a wheelie...I can imagine how fast that got old....he took it the the place he bought it and they gave him a parts list to keep make the truck handle more to his likeing...he didnt want to put all of it on it so sold it...as you may be able to tell, I'm not a traxxas fan....lol

I'm not a big mt fan either...I'm mostly a buggy guy...but if I find some terrain my buggy cant handle (which isnt much), I'll dig out the truggy...both handle better then a mt for less $$$...and I'd rather have a rc that is raceable for less $$$