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Nerobro posted:Here's the plan: Take one of the cheap lap timing apps. A baseball diamond. A box of finish nails, string, and a few cones. Layout a 30 second-ish course on the clay, and do time trials. Like.. real rally cars. One car at a time, means we don't need timing gear. There's lots of cars that are suited to running on loose clay. Loose surface means treaded tires are the rule, and tires will matter less. It also should be fine to run the typical belted touring cars on it, if you don't mind cleaning up. quote:For the first couple decades, transponders were all borrowed. Now the people making the transponders won't sell you rental transponders. I never really raced, more just bashed around breaking stuff, but some of the most fun had at the local track was when they had a class that was 100% stock out of the box rustlers. Guy sold them at cheap one weekend then you had a week to "prep" and the following weekend was racing. Even as a broke kid in high school I was able to compete and for a couple months it was the best turn out the track ever had.
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Nov 6, 2023 13:42
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It's the same company so I assume it's only a matter of time until there's a subscription required. I'm amazed nobody seems to have come up with a proper replacement that uses far cheaper components.
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Nov 6, 2023 17:57
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What's wrong with https://lapmonitor.com/store/en/ ?
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Nov 6, 2023 21:13
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I’ve never seen that system in person but I’ve read that it works well. Might be an option for a time attack event where a small number of transponders would suffice as a “club” system.
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Nov 7, 2023 10:04
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I’ve done the “guy with a stopwatch app” style rally racing and it’s really quite fun. Good camaraderie because there’s lots of downtime between the drivers. Everyone gets to spectate everyone else’s race. I think the class divisions you’ve suggested are exactly what we ran. I ran an XV-01 with a long damper kit. Fun, but the front motor ends up being a bit challenging for some kinds of terrain. Most successful car in our group was a 4tec with longer suspension. I don’t want to blame my car tho, the 4tec guy was also a very good driver. Many in our group preferred to chase after their car and so it was mostly self-marshaled. Reverse allowed since there isn’t any other traffic on the track. And if you have folks that want a driver’s stand, a pickup bed suffices for the typical kinds of tracks we made. If you get the process working well for you, you can run two cars at once by staging them half a lap apart. Just like real rally!
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Nov 8, 2023 07:53
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Since pulling all the r/c cars out of storage this summer has resulted in dozens of cars laying around everywhere, we needed a solution to get them off horizontal surfaces. So I drew up a little angled hanger bracket in fusion (I can get about 15 of them out of a spool of PLA) and have been printing and hanging. Every day a new car or two will go up on this unused basement wall; the Tamiya fleet goes first: 
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Nov 10, 2023 03:36
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Anybody got much experience with Mini Z scale cars and tracks? Upthread I posted about getting a WL Toys 284010 (upgraded k989) 1:28 AWD Fiesta. They’re the same scale as Mini Z but much faster, although they’re less customizable. They’re also less than 1/3 the price, which is why I got it. Anyway, the car rocks and it’s incredibly fast for the size, but i have stupid friends and a big open basement, so I started looking into tracks and courses. The gold standard seems to be RCP but they charge $1140 for a track the size of what I’m after. Add in the fact that they’re just fuckin EVA foam anti-fatigue mats and I started doing the Harbor Freight math in my head. To pull off the same size course I could spend $250 instead of $1140… This is a well tread topic, of course, because anyone that sees one of those courses immediately recognizes the insane markup. I’ve got a textured linoleum tile basement and that made me consider an additional idea: do I even need a track surface? The tiles seem to give me enough traction. All I’m really missing is walls. I’ve got a bunch of different unimplemented ideas for that, and I will eventually go spend $30 at harbor freight and see if the EVA is the superior surface, but I’m wondering if anyone else has crawled down this rabbit hole and what they’ve learned. Dr. Lunchables fucked around with this message at 02:09 on Nov 11, 2023 |
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Nov 11, 2023 02:05
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I just went with RCP track. hobbyshop247.com has decent prices on the tracks. I do think the track surface is a lot better than linoleum or concrete, and if I ever find myself at a proper track at a hobby shop, I know my tires and suspension setups will carry over.
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Nov 12, 2023 02:23
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GOD IS BED posted:I just went with RCP track. hobbyshop247.com has decent prices on the tracks. I do think the track surface is a lot better than linoleum or concrete, and if I ever find myself at a proper track at a hobby shop, I know my tires and suspension setups will carry over. Which track did you go with? Also, how many drivers are you working with? I ask the second mostly because the same layouts are available in 30 and 50 cm, but it sure seems like 3x wide 50 cm tracks are set up for four or more cars. I’m wondering if a 30 cm track can accommodate up to four cars. e: clarity Dr. Lunchables fucked around with this message at 15:11 on Nov 12, 2023 |
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Nov 12, 2023 05:51
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I got the 50cm "Large 96" layout. It can easily handle 4 cars, probably up to 6 cars. I've got 3 friends who race with me, so it's working great so far. I would think 4 cars would be absolute maximum on the 30cm tracks, but I don't know for sure. If you get a timing system, don't bother with the recommended software, just use Next Level Timing. It's free and works fantastic.
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Nov 12, 2023 15:32
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Awesome, exactly the answers I was looking for. Did you keep the stock layout or did you change it up at all?
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Nov 12, 2023 16:20
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I try to change it up once a month or so. The base layout is too big for my garage, so I'm always trying out new setups. I picked up the wide inside turn pieces and a few more normal turn pieces to make even more layouts. I'm saving up for some 45 degree turn pieces too. You can check out the Mini 96 Challenge for additional layout ideas https://www.rctech.net/forum/micro-mini-scales/1041360-mini-96-world-challenge.html that all use the base pieces. There's also a facebook group.
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Nov 12, 2023 18:01
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I bought one of those Walmart Hart tool 1/10 RC trucks because I wanted a better-than-toy RC car, but DIDN'T want a new hobby.  It didn't work (bad motherboard) so they sent me another whole car and I kept the broke one for parts. The kids and I were having a good time driving it around our little cul-de-sac with their little toy cars ramping the pot hole and whatnot. Then I got the brilliant idea to take it to the local skate park this weekend. We had the absolute greatest time ever and it was taking a beating in stride... for 10 minutes. It cartwheeled on a bad landing and broke the knuckle where the wheel attached to the arm. That night I swapped the motherboard out of the broken car into the good car that had a bad motherboard. Turned it on and BAM! The wheels spun. We took it to the baseball field last night and I should have checked the steering... Because it has none. So when we got home I took the steering servo out of the other one and plugged it in to see if it was a power issue or a servo issue. It worked so I swapped them(I thought) what I actually did was take the bad servo out, get distracted, and put the bad servo back in. I finally got that all set.  I realized I was doing exactly what I didn't want to do with an RC car. After extensive YouTube research, I ordered a 1/16 SuChiYu 16102(it's sold under a bunch of different names, sometimes with different shells).  I got the brushless because of the metal drive train and whatnot. There's nowhere around here if be able to go much faster than that Hart, and the skatepark is tiny, like 3 ramps. It'll be here in a week. I don't know how this thread feels about ultra cheap little bashers, but I'm really excited. I've already ordered some oil filled shocks and different tires for it. I figure after I take it out a couple times it'll give me a better idea of what I'm looking for in an RC, and since I have 2 kids to hand them down to, I have 2 more chances to get it right.
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Nov 15, 2023 15:15
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I got into RC last year with a cheap Chinese RC. Welcome to the hobby!
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Nov 15, 2023 16:08
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RodShaft posted:I don't know how this thread feels about ultra cheap little bashers, but I'm really excited. I've already ordered some oil filled shocks and different tires for it. I figure after I take it out a couple times it'll give me a better idea of what I'm looking for in an RC, and since I have 2 kids to hand them down to, I have 2 more chances to get it right. The Cheap Chinese stuff... is a great gateway. When hobby grade bites you, you're gonna really change how you see r/c. And you're not far from it. Amusingly, some of the cheap and cheerful chinese stuff is just direct clones of the good stuff. However with much lower grade materials. That first car that's made entirely of plastic that's got ~design intent~. Fasteners that are all high quality. Parts that have little or no flash on them. Thoughtful inclusions of adjustments. Getting a car with your first ~truely high speed~ steering servo coupled a nice stiff servo saver. There's genuine magic when you get that first car setup really well. Endpoints setup so the servo doesn't strain at the locks, a servo that moves as fast as your fingers do, exponential setup so the steering feels linear, a sensored motor that always responds exactly how you expect, and suspension setup so the thing feels like it's on rails.... (It sounds like a lot, but it really isn't..) Cheap Chinese is still the only way to really get some weird stuff. 1/10 scale motorcycles? 1/76th scale r/c cars? (Now that Tomy stopped with the bit char-g) For the record, the turbo racing 1/76th scale cars? Do it. You absolutely won't regret driving around your breakfast in the morning. Nerobro fucked around with this message at 16:19 on Nov 15, 2023 |
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Nov 15, 2023 16:11
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Nerobro posted:The Cheap Chinese stuff... is a great gateway. When hobby grade bites you, you're gonna really change how you see r/c. And you're not far from it. Amusingly, some of the cheap and cheerful chinese stuff is just direct clones of the good stuff. However with much lower grade materials. That first car that's made entirely of plastic that's got ~design intent~. Fasteners that are all high quality. Parts that have little or no flash on them. Thoughtful inclusions of adjustments. Getting a car with your first ~truely high speed~ steering servo coupled a nice stiff servo saver. I don't have anywhere I can really let an RC rip, I have my cul-de-sac I can drive it in a circle and a 2 acre barely mowed lot behind my house. I can go to the skatepark or a park but the parks aren't any better than the lot behind my house. So I'll probably stick with big tires and ramps. Fine tuning for speed would tap into my min-maxing arpg lizard brain, but it's not really feasible.
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Nov 15, 2023 21:34
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RodShaft posted:I don't have anywhere I can really let an RC rip, I have my cul-de-sac I can drive it in a circle and a 2 acre barely mowed lot behind my house. I can go to the skatepark or a park but the parks aren't any better than the lot behind my house. So I'll probably stick with big tires and ramps. Fine tuning for speed would tap into my min-maxing arpg lizard brain, but it's not really feasible. Oh, I'm not talking about ~velocity~, i'm talking about precision and translating your desires to movement of the car. "real race cars" tend to be slower than big number toys. It's really common to see people put a whole lot of money into "upgraded steering" parts on their cars. Metal steering bellcranks, knuckles, etc... chasing a car that wanders, or doesn't go straight. When the real issue is a better steering servo and a stiffer servo saver. Or even JUST a good servo. Nerobro fucked around with this message at 22:09 on Nov 15, 2023 |
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Nov 15, 2023 22:04
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Is there a dirt cheap RC tool kit anyone would recommend? I have real tools, but my tiny sockets aren't deep enough to get the tires off. I figure if there's a cheep set I can just keep it with the car for emergency repairs and whatnot.
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Nov 16, 2023 21:22
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RodShaft posted:Is there a dirt cheap RC tool kit anyone would recommend? I have real tools, but my tiny sockets aren't deep enough to get the tires off. I figure if there's a cheep set I can just keep it with the car for emergency repairs and whatnot. I like Tamiya's set a lot. JIS drivers, common hex wrenches and a couple common size nut drivers - one of which is perfect for wheel nuts. https://www.tamiyausa.com/shop/tools/rc-tool-set-2/ Shop around a bit and you can probably find it for 20-30 bucks.
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Nov 16, 2023 21:38
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I've run a large solid axle monster truck racing club for 9 years. Next year will be our 10 year anniversary of doing it. While the niche is different, a lot of the usual stuff from other forms of r/c (and any kind of racing, really) is present. Lots of drama over the years has come and gone when certain racers get involved. We've had a lot of 1:1 monster truck guys get involved, so you've got the added nonsense from a bunch of full scale guys where everyone thinks they know best. I've almost stepped down a few times over the years, but ultimately the fun and friends have outweighed the bullshit spikes that show up.
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Nov 17, 2023 16:36
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Well I did a thing even though my car hasn't arrived yet. It was supposed to be a proof of concept, but they turned out pretty good. Considering it was all warped scrap. (The sides are used fence boards). It was pretty bad but as I finished up all the little pieces pulled them into shape. I'll make flippy legs for them so they store better, my son wants a table between them and I think the curved one needs a more extreme angle while the other one should be less extreme. So that'll be version 2. Edit: yep. 45 degrees was too much on the flat ramp. The other's perfect. Just got to make version 2 wider. RodShaft fucked around with this message at 23:18 on Nov 18, 2023 |
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Nov 18, 2023 20:34
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Every ramp needs to be 2X wider than you think it does. Every ramp.
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Nov 19, 2023 03:14
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Nerobro posted:For the record, the turbo racing 1/76th scale cars? Do it. You absolutely won't regret driving around your breakfast in the morning. Thanks for this recommendation, I watched a couple youtubes on them and there will be a couple drift cars under the xmas tree this year for my kids.
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Nov 20, 2023 15:24
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RC car came today. Is there anything I need to look for in batteries other than the right shape plug and fits in the battery slot? Anything off Amazon is fine? Do I need snow tires for this to run it in the snow, or should I just put giant oversized tires(I have an extra set of threse with zip ties on them? it's a four-wheel drive and goes in grass that my two wheel drive doesn't.
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Dec 2, 2023 23:55
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You need to match the plugs and max number of cells your esc can handle so check your manual. Zeee lipos are really good and are all over amazon.
JudgeJoeBrown fucked around with this message at 03:04 on Dec 3, 2023 |
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Dec 3, 2023 03:01
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Ok. I replaced the shocks with oil filled shocks. I followed the instructions in some random YouTube video. (fill the shocks with oil, get air out, put back together) and they were just solid, no give at all, so I let out a little oil(by just closing it back up with the plunger halfway in) and now it seems super loose then just like stops. Ifi drop it from a foot the body bounces a little, but the tires stay on the ground, 2-3 ft it bounces maybe half an inch/an inch. Higher than that the body hits the ground. How wrong did I do everything, and how do I do it right?
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Dec 8, 2023 00:28
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RodShaft posted:Ok. I replaced the shocks with oil filled shocks. I followed the instructions in some random YouTube video. (fill the shocks with oil, get air out, put back together) and they were just solid, no give at all, so I let out a little oil(by just closing it back up with the plunger halfway in) and now it seems super loose then just like stops. Ifi drop it from a foot the body bounces a little, but the tires stay on the ground, 2-3 ft it bounces maybe half an inch/an inch. Higher than that the body hits the ground. get me a link to the shocks. If they are airation shocks, they need some air in them to function. Otherwise there should be bladders to provide the room for the shafts to ride in. Regardless, show me the shocks. Also.. what oil did you use?
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Dec 8, 2023 00:50
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Nerobro posted:get me a link to the shocks. If they are airation shocks, they need some air in them to function. Otherwise there should be bladders to provide the room for the shafts to ride in. Regardless, show me the shocks. These shocks from AliExpress  This oil from Amazon  Also I got some longer ones for my Hart RC because why not. I haven't done those yet, but they are these ones from AliExpress  Also thanks to everyone for the prior suggestions for things I got some zee 2200 batteries that are the same physical size as the battery this came with(there's 3000 on AliExpress for like half as much but I don't know if I trust their numbers) and some knockoff of that tool set(well two tool sets because one came with a ton of bits and bobs that have already come in handy). Edit 2: I'll be mainly driving this off ramps at the skate park for what that matters. RodShaft fucked around with this message at 13:36 on Dec 8, 2023 |
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Dec 8, 2023 01:23
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Looks like none of what you bought has any volume compensation built in. The best method for filling these is likely going to be a syringe, and doing a fixed fill of each shock. 50w oil might be a bit heavy. But if you're doing just jumps? it might work. I say best. But I will point out, that these are ~all~ trash. Spending $20 on Yeah Racing, or 3 Racing is a massive step up from these. They come with pistons of different hole counts, hey come with some sort of volume compensation, they come with oil, they come with spare parts.
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Dec 8, 2023 16:48
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Nerobro posted:Looks like none of what you bought has any volume compensation built in. The best method for filling these is likely going to be a syringe, and doing a fixed fill of each shock. 50w oil might be a bit heavy. But if you're doing just jumps? it might work. Yeah they are the dirt cheapest ones you can get to go with my dirt cheapest RC car. If I and my son stick with this long enough that a second car happens I'll make a note of those brands. (I'M MAKING A LIST!) So since the ones I have don't have any compensation, they need some air left in them? Like what percentage air are we talking? Do I put it back together with the piston extended or not? (I'm content with "good enough" for cheap rear end shocks. I just want to make sure I'm doing it right) I got 50 because that was in the range of what some random YouTuber said to get for bashing. RodShaft fucked around with this message at 19:42 on Dec 8, 2023 |
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Dec 8, 2023 19:40
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Welcome to the world of damper rod shock tuning, where everything relates to everything else and there are no good answers...... If it were me.... I'd pull the seals out of the shock. I''d assemble it full of oil. Then carefully disassemble it, and measure how much oil was left in the shock. That's your maximum oil level. I'd measure the volume of the shock shaft.. and remove that much oil too. Consistency is key.
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Dec 8, 2023 21:00
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IIRC you can just fill them at full compression, that gives you the scenario with the least volume. But do extend them before you screw the cap on afterward else they'll spring back into the shock under vacuum.
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Dec 8, 2023 21:23
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Kafouille posted:IIRC you can just fill them at full compression, that gives you the scenario with the least volume. But do extend them before you screw the cap on afterward else they'll spring back into the shock under vacuum. Gas law means this gets ugly fast. If you have ~exactly~ the volume of space that the shaft takes up, when you go to full compression, your pressure in the shock is gonna be VERY high. This is bad for seals, bad for the shock body, and because the gas acts as a spring.. you end up going from zero shock spring, to say... lets be nice.. 100psi in the shock at full compression. If you leave "some" space, you can get that pressure rise to be much more reasonable. It's important that each shock behaves the same, and with massive changes in gas volume in the shock, smaller differences in the amount of oil matter MUCH more. TL;DR: Leave some air space.
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Dec 8, 2023 22:24
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Especially with cheap shocks. They’re gonna leak or blow out.
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Dec 8, 2023 22:37
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Yeah I mostly meant that you don't have to calculate the volume of the shaft. You can add some reliable volume of air space by dipping something of a known volume in the shock too.
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Dec 8, 2023 23:30
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Ok. So more/less/exactly the amount of air storage that the plunger takes up? Then I close it up with the plunger extended, right?
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Dec 9, 2023 00:15
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You need more free space than just the displacement of the internals, to avoid the aforementioned issues with internal air pressure blowing the seals up in short order. But it needs to be exactly the same in every shock.
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Dec 9, 2023 02:41
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The shaft is pushed in when the cap is tightened. My method: Fill the shock with oil. Let the bubbles rise up. Install the cap with the shaft out. Loosen the cap 2 or 3 turns. Push the shaft in. Oil is displaced and comes out of the cap. If no oil comes out loosen the cap 1 more turn. Once the shaft bottoms out; hold the shaft pushed in; tighten the cap. Wipe off the oily mess. Cycle the shock to make sure there is no binding at full compression. https://youtu.be/5H90Az4m37s?si=PKF1tVqd8JTwlp7- A video I made for one of my cars. A bladder style shock but the principles are the same.
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Dec 9, 2023 04:48
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As said earlier get some lighter shock oil because the oil your running is around the max weight oil I run in the rear shocks of my 8th scale buggy.
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Dec 9, 2023 07:20
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Here's what the inside of these terrible shocks look like if anyone cared. The chamber is one solid piece so you can only fill it by taking it apart like this. I'm going to get a baby medicine syringe and fill each one up a different amount, then whenever one actually works in going to fill the others up to. I also grabbed some hub extenders to throw on some bigger tires I have laying around for when it snows.  Probably not too big at all.
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Dec 9, 2023 22:15
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