Brand new to nitro cars

[Papadirty]

I read all the stickies, and when I get my car back in three days I'm going to take the time to tune it and break it in carefully. Soon as my got my truck (Red Cat Racing Vortex SS) the piston jammed up on me. I got the guy I bought it from to fix it and he almost has it done.

Whats a good site to get parts from? Is there a difference in brand names when it comes to this kinda stuff? Or can I just hop on and old site and buy what I need? I'm mostly after tires and raising the gear ratio. I live in a university dorm so I can only drive the truck in the court yard, I have no need for a high top speed. Mostly after a quick pick up.

Also, has anyone heard of this brand? I'm not going to get butt hurt if you tell me it sucks, I bought this truck to learn with. Once I get good at taking it apart and fixing it I'll buy something more pricey.

Here is some pictures of my new truck

PS: Where can I buy a nicer body for this truck?

Also, can you get lift kits and tire spacers for these? I know from my real truck (94 chev pick up 12'' lift, 3'' body lift, 44'' pro comp tires) that to off road you need to lift, but to lift you need to spread your tires out or you roll.

 

[RcWrencher]

I've never heard of it before, but I've also just returned from a three year or so break. As far as parts goes, I've always stuck to tower hobbies, ebay, and amainhobbies. There are plenty of ebayers who disassemble new kits and part them out, most of whom offer free shipping. they will save you money overall.

parts wise, you'll need to buy parts for your specific vehicle, everyone does things differently. Things like glow plugs, clutchbells, bearings, servos, radio systems, and wheels/tires (to an extent) are universal.

Oh, and engines of course

 

[hamz9561]

Unfortunately, Redcat is not known for having the toughest parts or aftermarket parts support. I would suggest having extra glowplugs and assorted fasteners and LocTite blue for any nitro rig.

 

[Papadirty]

Well thats not good haha. Any place for me to buy tires and rims that aren't plastic?

 

[RcWrencher]

plastic is just fine, i wouldnt go for anything other than plastic wheels unless you just had to have it.

 

[Papadirty]

Whats bashing? I know people race out here, never heard of bashing?

 

[RcWrencher]

bashing - pretty much anything outside of racing. Bashers generally care more about durability and not so much about the extra weight of the truck, or the extra resistance of things like reverse gears, and EZ Starts and stuff like that. Suspensions are set up for more ground clearence and the such.

Racers will remove all the weight they can and get rid of reverse gears, and the servo that goes with it. The suspensions are set up a lot different to lower the center of gravity, and theres more but you get the general idea

 

[Papadirty]

What are the main things people upgrade? My main goal here is to lift the truck a little, space the wheels out and add some more meaty tires. I figure I can build the wheel spacers myself and find longer shocks, ebay some tires.

But what is the "Normal" things to upgrade?

 

[olds97_lss]

You will be probably hard pressed to raise the ground clearance much past throwing on new tires. If you go wider, they will rub on the body a lot.

Most general upgrades consist of better tires, servos, exhaust, engine...

You will be probably hard pressed to raise the ground clearance much past throwing on new tires. If you go wider, they will rub on the body a lot.

Most general upgrades consist of better tires, servos, exhaust, engine...

 

[Papadirty]

I wouldn't use wider tires, I'd put a spacer between the rim and the axel making the tires further away from the truck.

 

[Metalhead Matt]

I would seriously consider just driving that rig as is, and upgrade to a better vehicle when funds allow. Aftermarket parts for that thing probably aren't much better than the stock parts. Adding spacers would only add stress to the carriers/bearings/suspension. I'd hate to see ya start investing in this truck, just to run into reliability issues. It's probably pretty darn fun just the way it is, too.

 

[Papadirty]

Yeah upon talking to the guy I bought it from again I'm just going to look for a nicer body for the truck (anyone know a place?) and leave it as is. It's got a 3cc motor and 2 speed tranny and is 4x4 so it should be fun

 

[Metalhead Matt]

Yeah, it should move pretty good. Measure your wheelbase, wheel nut to wheel nut, and go to proline's site. The list wheelbases. Not sure if your rig is the same length as a Slash, but if it is, you won't have a problem finding a body.

 

[RcWrencher]

Once you've gotton used to driving and have a feel for working on them and all, and you decide to go with a different brand, you can always hit the forum or go to ebay and score a used truck for a great deal ,and most times people have already upgraded a few parts. you can save a lot

 

[jhm83]

I was just going through redcat's site and they are advertising an aluminum upgrade kit for this truck. this is the description.

Kit includes: 4 aluminum threaded shock 06038, 2 universal shafts 166015, 1 fuel filter 02156b, front upper 06039b and lower aluminum arms06040b, rear upper 06048 and lower aluminum arms06042b, wheel nuts 02190b, tuned pipe 02124 and header 02031a.


Optional/Needed parts to complete the hop up kit:
02096 fine thread screw for shock into aluminum arms.
02094 new exhaust header screws
02299 new exhaust gasket
02027 new exhaust coupler w/zip ties
Just thought that you would like to know.

As far as bodies go I looked on their site also and it is just the stock two that they have.

 

[PaulC]

If it's anything like my Ansmann (another cheaper brand), upgrading the stuff to alloy will just move the point of failure to the next part.

My hub carriers broke when I looked sideways at a kurb, so I bought alloy ones for £30! Next time I caught a little rock with the back wheel and the lower suspension arm split, so I replaced them with metal ones.

Next time the buggy cart wheeled off a bad jump it ripped the suspension arm pivot bars out of their holders, bent them and cracked the diff case.

Same thing at the front end more or less but the metal hub carriers where £55! so I didn't bother with those, but the metal suspension arms caused the diff cases to get cracked and the sus arm pivot bars to get ripped out and bent.

So, look at the replacement plastic parts, find the cheapest link in the chain (front and rear) as close to the wheel as possible and LEAVE it plastic. In a crash it will fail and hopefully save more expensive/time consuming repairs.

BTW, fixing a cracked diff case is a long job! Compared to swapping a hub carrier or suspension arm.

Also, look after the radio and engine gear. You can get a some good "Race Roller" cars for nicer money than RTRs. I spent as much on my Losi race roller as I did on the Ansmann RTR, but I'm hoping it lives up to it's reputation as being a tank that can take the odd tumble.

Paul