Maintenance, maintenance... and more maintenance! Share your tips please!

[Nicochau]

Hey guys,

Wrenching is 100% part of the hobby or maybe there is no hobby without wrenching. Either way, once you have multiple cars and run them on a regular basis maintenance can become a bit overwhelming.

Please share your experience, feel free to vent, share your fails or share your best tips. Thanks

 

[Nicochau]

I'll start, best buy this year: electric gyroscopic screwdriver with MIP tips.

This thing is awesome! Cuts your wrenching time by half. It is that good!

 

[Nicochau]

Second tip, start a Maintenance Log.

Allows you to have a way more factual approach to your maintenance. Reduce the useless work. Track maintenance on a growing inventory of trucks and parts.

 

[RCTruth]

Keep an inventory of commonly broken parts . Waiting for parts can be very discouraging . Spend
the extra money on quality tools , better tools make the maintenance work easier .

 

[MAVERICK]

Thanks for bring this up. I feel this topic should be more of a popular thread. Maintenance is more of a part of the hobby then the build

I like that you use the word wrenching. I am by trade a dealership diesel tech. And all I do all day every day is wrench on broken Peterbilt’s and r/c’s

My household now has 11 r/c rigs and we have been in the hobby for 4/5 years now. I have never had a maintenance plan. Just fix it when it broke.

But now with such a larger collection I feel I need to have more routine maintenance schedule and spare parts on hand

I think having a dedicated work space, work bench, desk for the hobby and only the hobby wrenching ( and I don’t ) is a big advantage in staying organized and not losing/misplaying parts

Thanks aging this is were I need to step up my game in the hobby the most

Also just giving the rig a quick ones over after every run and not just putting it back on the shelf can save money by catching a failure early and not becoming a catastrophic failure

That’s my rant for the day

 

[Billl DeLong]

I keep a race log, different worksheet for each chassis to include columns for: Date, Hot Lap, Hot Qual, Hot Main, Hot Consistency, Notes

In my notes I will record every rebuild where I like to go no more than 3 race days between rebuilds, I also note when I replace tires, break a part, or any tuning changes that improve my lap times/consistency.

I color highlight my track records for a given layout, this allows me to "race myself" so if I don't make the podium but beat a PR, then it's still a rewarding experience. I will reset my PR's every time there is a new layout.

A typical rebuild consists of a complete tear down by removing every single bearing, prying the rubber seals with a hobby knife and soaking the bearings in Berrymans Chem Dip while rebuilding the rest of the car. I apply fresh grease on all rubber seals in the diffs and shocks as well as apply fresh fluid. Check mesh and replace any pins that are starting to form flat spots. After the bearings have soaked for at least an hour, I will use an air compressor to blow out the dirty grease and then re-pack with fresh grease and snap the seals back after wiping them clean with a terry cloth. Then I resume the re-build by double checking all my setup settings on a setup board.

• Tools for the Pit Table
• Pin Replacement Tools
• How to setup steering
• Steps to diagnose electrical problems
• Shock Oil and Temperature Relationship
• Tire Prep
• Green Grease to prevent leaky shocks
• Which Soldering Iron is the best?

 

[Nicochau]

I keep a race log, different worksheet for each chassis to include columns for: Date, Hot Lap, Hot Qual, Hot Main, Hot Consistency, Notes

In my notes I will record every rebuild where I like to go no more than 3 race days between rebuilds, I also note when I replace tires, break a part, or any tuning changes that improve my lap times/consistency.

I color highlight my track records for a given layout, this allows me to "race myself" so if I don't make the podium but beat a PR, then it's still a rewarding experience. I will reset my PR's every time there is a new layout.

A typical rebuild consists of a complete tear down by removing every single bearing, prying the rubber seals with a hobby knife and soaking the bearings in Berrymans Chem Dip while rebuilding the rest of the car. I apply fresh grease on all rubber seals in the diffs and shocks as well as apply fresh fluid. Check mesh and replace any pins that are starting to form flat spots. After the bearings have soaked for at least an hour, I will use an air compressor to blow out the dirty grease and then re-pack with fresh grease and snap the seals back after wiping them clean with a terry cloth. Then I resume the re-build by double checking all my setup settings on a setup board.

• Tools for the Pit Table
• Pin Replacement Tools
• How to setup steering
• Steps to diagnose electrical problems
• Shock Oil and Temperature Relationship
• Tire Prep
• Green Grease to prevent leaky shocks
• Which Soldering Iron is the best?

Hi Bill,
What type of containers do you use to soak the bearings? I’ve been looking for some sort of chemist jar with a drip basket inside but failed to find one.
It is one of those instances where I know exactly what I want but fail at finding the right keywords on Amazon... ?

 

[Billl DeLong]

Hi Bill,
What type of containers do you use to soak the bearings? I’ve been looking for some sort of chemist jar with a drip basket inside but failed to find one.
It is one of those instances where I know exactly what I want but fail at finding the right keywords on Amazon... ?

I've updated the following link in the post above as well as my link to the tools page, this product comes with its own basket, I have been using the same can to clean my parts for 5 years, not sure how long before I need to replace it, but it continues to perform its function just as good as the day I bought it

https://www.amazon.com/Berryman-Pro...words=berryman+chem+dip&qid=1597068007&sr=8-2