New Site Format
     As you know
  StampedeProject has
  become way more than
  just Stampede, Traxxas,
  to now include other
  RC brands, accessories,
  and cars. I still don't sell
  anything, I just
  enthusiastically promote
  those RC products I think
  are great.
     Take a look through
  the above links.
  I simply had too much
  information for my
  old site format.
  More fun projects
  coming...
  - Tony

  StampedeProject.com

  Please Private Message
  me Here on the
  Traxxas Forum    

  Copyright 2007
  all rights reserved 

Beginning RC Cars 101
Things I wish someone would have told me.

Thinking back when I re-entered R/C there were a bunch of informational voids of what, how, when, and where, which would have been nice for someone to fill in for me.  I have also realized that I perhaps skipped a step or two on this site for the beginners out there that are just getting into the hobby for the first time.  I would recommend reading this article in its entirety as everything kind of links together. Hopefully this overview will clarify a few things and answer some of the mystical questions that come up initially.

Considerations
Are you wanting a little RC toy that is under $100 that you can drop a couple AA's to have your kid run indoor to keep them mildly entertained?   If yes, a real RC is probably not the best choice. 

To begin with real RC cars are not toys for inside the home in any sense of the imagination - they are simply way too fast and powerful for indoor use.  Not heading this recommendation will cause much damage.  The exception being the multitude of indoor RC car tracks, but you probably don't have one of these installed inside your home - yet.  

Real RC vehicles are not cheap, even your garden variety Wally World or Radio Shack RC is going to lighten your wallet by at least $50-$100 not including batteries and a charger.  The problem with all of these R/Cs is that once broken they are un-repairable – and yes every RC will eventually break.  At that point you have a thrown away that investment, will probably get a little frustrated, and call it quits on the whole RC thing.

Some people also go way overboard on their first RC and buy something that is far beyond their abilities as a operator and RC mechanic.  For a first RC I would not suggest a gas RC, or one that exceeds 35-40 MPH.  Yes the ability to top out at over 60+MPH is very enticing, but if you don't know how to drive R/Cs yet, there are going to be a series of very expensive and spectacular crashes.  Aside from being more challenging for the beginner, Gas RC's have some limiting factors such as where to play.

RC Safety and Where to Play
See this - RC Safety - No sense repeating myself.

Recommended 1st RC Car
What you want to look for is a RTR or ready-to-run.  RTR systems come with everything you need, are usually even assembled, and only require batteries and a charger.  

My advice is to go with a real repairable electric RC car purchased from a reputable hobby shop or online.  I think you will find these R/Cs to be much less expensive in the short run and greatly enhance your long-term enjoyment of the hobby.  There are lots of brands out there; my favorite is Traxxas simply because of overall toughness, support, simple and easy fixes and upgrades, and probably the best availability of replacement and upgrade parts of any manufacturer.  Traxxas' entry line models, the new 2006 Rustler and Stampede, even feature a 50% power training mode for beginners and youngsters but offers more than enough room for growth, upgrades, and speed to keep the attention of an advanced driver.  Enough fun that almost every hard core R/C'er owns at least one of each. 

For general backyard use and jumping the Traxxas Stampede is hard to beat as a beginner RC, is highly durable to accommodate all the crashes of a beginner, and moves pretty well around your yard.  If you or the intended user would like to attempt racing outside of the "Stampede racing class" at some point a Rustler is a good choice.  By simply adding some big tires like Masher 2000s or Moabs, the Rustler will deliver the utility of the Stampede all in one vehicle with slightly less durability due to it's more precise racing steering mechanism.  Want to get into road racing? Touring cars or TCs, are another option.  Traxxas' Electric 4Tec and Sprint are good starter vehicles.  TCs are a little limiting in that they cannot go off road and in the Traxxas lineup, they will go about the same speed in reality as the Rustler.

What do I need to get started and how much will it cost?
The first purchase total is usually around $350.  Breaking the costs down, the suggested retail of these models is $200, the normal street price is in the $180 range.  Adding a good idiot proof charger such as a MRC 959 Super Brain $50-$75, and a couple 7.2V 6 cell battery packs for about $30-$50 each sounds like a lot of money stacking up.  However when you consider that RC will easily outlast any big box store RC, the investment is minimal and the fun is proportional to the amount you spend.  Consider also that you would typically still need to purchase batteries and a charger for any RC and a good charger and set of rechargeable batteries will pay for themselves very quickly.

What are the major components of an RC car?
There are a number of parts and terms that most non-mechanic are not familiar with.

• Body - The cover that does little else except make the RC look like a real car.

• Body Clips - The little metal clips that hold the body on.

• Chassis - The main "skeleton" or "Backbone" of the car.

• Bulkhead - Usually just up front - the shock tower, suspension arms, and chassis attach to this.

• Shock Tower - The thing that attaches to the chassis that the shocks attach to.

• Shocks - The springy things.

• Tires - If you don't know this...

• Wheels or Rims - Tires mount to these.

• Axels - Things that the tires spin on.

• Carriers (bearing carriers) - the thing that holds the axel.

• Hubs or Hex Hubs - The hex thing that goes on the axel that meshes with a recess on the inside of the wheel.

• Caster Blocks - The things that hold the carriers.

• Suspension Arms - The skeleton of the suspension and attaches to the chassis or bulkhead.

• Camber links - Attach from the shock tower to the top of the caster block

• Drive Shaft - The thing that spins the rear axels and in turn the tires

• Transmission - The thing the motor hooks up to with lots of gears inside

• Motor - Uhh you probably know that one.

• Battery Tray - Where the battery goes.

• Speed Control - Also called an MSC (Mechanical Speed Control), ESC, (Electronic Speed Control), or simply a Controller.  This handles managing how much power goes to the motor, how fast or slow you go, reverse, and braking.

• Servo - This is basically a little geared electric motor box that turns left or right and is typically used to move the steering linkage back and forth to steer.

• Servo Saver - Attached to the servo and designed with a little spring inside to prevent damage to the servo when your crash or hit something.

• Steering Linkage - Attaches from the servo saver to the carriers for steering

• Spur Gear - I know what you are thinking like a cowboy spur, so it must be the little gear in the transmission, actually it's the big one.

• Pinion Gear - the little gear that attaches to the motor shaft and meshes with the spur gear.

• Slipper Clutch - This is unit is designed to slip a little to prevent damage to the transmission from impact or sudden starts and stops.

• Parts inside the Transmission that you can't see - Idler gear, top gear, and differential.

Basic RC Terminology (have more ideas send them to me)

• 15T, 14T or some other number with a T - Indicates a 15 Turn Motor for example

• Motor Turn - The number of winds on a motor.  Generally the fewer winds the higher top speed and less runtime you will have and vise versa.  Typically you get what you pay for with motors a quality motor will cost you some money.  14T is usually the lowest turn motor that you can gear properly on a Stampede or Rustler unless you move to a brushless system

• Brushless Motor or System - See this

• Bashing - playing rough with your RC, attempting to break something or in general doing nothing other than just driving it around in a non competitive situation.

• Racing - Racing in a competitive situation

• ROAR - One of the governing RC Racing bodies - www.ROARRACING.com

• Peaked Pack - Means roughly the battery pack is charged to the maximum with a Delta Peak type charger.

• Bowties or Step-Pins - A type of tire pattern used for racing

• M2K or Moabs - Tires from Proline Racing that are considered some of the best for the Stampede and for bashing.

• 2.2s - The industry standard tire size, although Traxxas just introduced a 2.8 inch tire on the new Jato, Stampede and Rustler.

• 5 Second Rule - If you can't hold your finger on a motor, speed controller, or battery for more than 5 seconds without it hurting, it's to hot.  Usually an indication of over stressing.  Suggested that you gear down to a bigger big gear and smaller little gear or go to a smaller sized tire.

• 2 Tooth Rule - A good starting gearing is to start with the stock spur gear (the big one) and install a pinion gear with two teeth less than the number of turns on a standard 540 motor. For example a 15T motor would be geared 13/87 on the Stampede or 13/84 on the Rustler.

• 7 Tooth Rule - Longer 550 motors such as the Titan 12T should be gear up 7 teeth from the number of turn on the motor. It's a torque thing.

• Deans Plugs- These are special high current battery to controller to motor connectors the greatly improve performance and are made by "Deans".

What are the best batteries to buy?
Batteries are the life blood of an electric RC, if you use cheap batteries or improperly charged ones, the RC will not perform as well as it could - you will be much happier if you buy the best ones available.

Most R/Cs are typically run on six cell (1.2 volts each) rechargeable battery packs rated at a total of 7.2V.  Some RC speed controllers and motors can handle more cells and total voltage such as the Castle Creations Mamba Max which can handle up to 12 cells (14.4V).  Depending on wiring (parallel versus series), the extra cells can either provide longer runtimes or more power, just assure you are under the manufacturer's recommended input or you will blow the speed controller.

Batteries are broken down into three basic types, the old NiCd (Nickel Cadmium), the current main stream NiMh (Nickel Metal Hydride), and now the new LiPo (Lithium Polymer).

I would avoid NiCd and LiPo batteries to start with.  NiCd is an old technology and LiPo is too new of a technology in RC'ing.  NiMh batteries with as high a Mh rating as possible are what you want to purchase. 

A higher Mh (Mili-Amp) rating equates to more run time and typically more power.  You will usually be able to tell the Mh rating by the battery name such as IB4200, GP3300, ...etc.

A smoking deal on batteries is the Radio Shack GP3300 at $25 you will be very happy with these.  Other top brands to specifically look for are Trinity, GP, IB, and Sanyo.

What is the best charger?
The MRC 959 SuperBrain is the #1 RC charger and a stellar charger for the cheap price.  The SuperBrain will take you all the way into serious racing and will charge NiCd and NiMh batteries but will not charge LiPos.  On other models, look for an automatic sensing "Delta Peak" charger that automatically senses cell type, Mh rating, and automatically applies the best type of charge and stops when the battery is charged.  A really good charger can also charge LiPo batteries and can set you back a couple hundred dollars but will give you the best charge on each respective battery pack.

Understanding Tire & Wheel Selection
Like you I was a little confused about what tires and rims/wheels fit what vehicle.  The older  Stampede, Rustler all feature 2.2 inch wheels and tires.  The newer versions of these same R/Cs features newly created 2.8 inch wheels (previously introduced on the Jato) that accept only Traxxas' Stampede, Rustler, and Jato 2.8 inch (inside diameter) tires.  Then there are all those great Maxx/Revo family tires that won't fit at all on a Stampede or Rustler.  Other considerations are that although there is some industry standardization, many other brands don't use the same wheel adapter/hex hub.  Some RC's use more efficient "in the wheel" bearings and don't use a hub.  Then there is the different front and rear wheel offset issue with the Stampede and Rustler (basically the front hub is deeper than the rear and requires special Stampede/Rustler specific front and rear wheels).

So what to choose.  If you want to stick with the 2.8 inch wheels, you are also stuck with Traxxas 2.8 inch wheels and tires for the moment.  If you want to go the industry standard 2.2 inch tire and wheel on a stock Stampede or Rustler you are limited to your choice of wheels/rims.  Aside from buying more stock Traxxas front and rear specific wheels (which is fine), RPM is about your only other manufacturer option but you might have to look hard to find them.  The good news is that any 2.2 inch tire your can muscle and glue onto a 2.2 inch wheel/rim will work at that point.  If you do widen your Rustler or Stampede you can use any standard rear hex wheel on both front and back (this is nice to be able to rotate tires for wear.)

Recommendations for the Stampede are the Proline Moabs or Masher 2000s.  On the Rustler the Dirt Hawgs and Dirt Works are tough to beat for an all around street and dirt tire that will offer lots of life.  For racing some directional Losi or Proline Edge Tires on the front and bowties or step-pins on the rear is a good starting setup.  Getting the Rustler moving on grass can be challenging and the TractorGators or Dirt Paws are a great option.

This area of the site will give you some additional tire and suspension suggestions.

The 50+ MPH Full Monty
Let's say you want to whip out the wallet and do it all right now. In other words what would I do with an open check book. 

• $180 - Either of the new 2006 models - Rustler or Stampede.

• Sell your new un-used ESC and motor on eBay for $50

• $160 - A MRC 989 (the 959's big brother) which also will charge Lithium batteries as you move to lithium power later on. 

• $45 x 3 - Sink some money into really good NiMh batteries up front such as IB4400 or GP4400 or at the very least the Radio Shack GP3300 packs and rebuild them to high current packs.

• $45 - RPM bearing carriers with Boca Green Seal bearings are needed to get the wheels spinning freely.

• $6 - RPM bumper is a must for any skill level (crashes do happen).

• $10 - Traxxas Aluminum Idler gear upgrade (see this article)

• $250 - Buy a Mamba Max 4600Kv motor and be done with ever worrying about not having enough power or screwing around with motor maintenance and it's waterproof.

• $10 - Convert the battery to ESC connection to Deans high current connectors.

• Total around $800, $750 including the eBay sale - yeah, that's why you should do it slowly.

Have fun!