mike31

My Feedback: (67)

I don't do land vehicles but know some that do. My opinion is if some of the vehicles were any good in the beginning they wouldn't need to be upgraded. If you were to build your own like scratch building an airplane you could make it like you wanted it to be. Money is always a factor no matter what we do. Run what you can afford.

rc awesome

Rc parts are cheap, thats why i buy new. No, i am not made of money

DaveG55

The first statement is not really a fair one. Many vehicles are perfectly fine in their stock condition for their intended use. Upgrading is for when you want a vehicle to go above and beyond what a base model is intended for. Since you do planes I'll try to use a plane as an example. Say you have a plane, in its stock configuration, and want it to be faster or do more difficult stunts. Would you not upgrade the engine mounting to handle a larger engine or upgrade the internal struts/framing/supports to handle the increased stress? Would making those upgrades mean it wasn't any good in the begining?

Not sure what level of "building from scratch" you are refering to... As a kid my father used to order a set of plans and buy materials in bulk form and cut everything to the plans and build from that. One time he also built one w/o plans . It was pretty basic but still flys to this day - it was built in the early 60's. Or do you mean buying a kit with everything you need inside and all the parts die-cut? In any case, it's MUCH harder to find land vehicles in a kit of any kind and I know of no "plans only" cars. Sure, you could build one completely from scratch but not a bunch of people have access to the metal working tools or injection molding equipment required to make some sembalance of a modern RC car or truck. Failing that, the best you can hope for is to buy parts from different vehicles and fab them togeather into a vehicle, which I have seen done.

DaveG55

oops, double post, sorry

The_Shark

no, im not made of money, i buy dreck or rollers and put generic or used parts in them, buy the cheapest tires, cheapest radio's, dont buy bodies unless its cracked in three parts. i repair carbs instead of replacing them. use aldi batteries. $1 bearings

but each and every one of my cars are in great shape mechanicly and maintained, i can make a really nice car for next to no money as i rebuild parts and shop the deals.

heck my jammin engine i got just broken in for $80 these guys are $250 new!

The_Shark

no your not, but mommy and daddy are

i kid i kid

everythinghobby

My Feedback: (10)

A hobby is just that, a hobby. Anyone involved in a hobby should have a little disposable income to really enjoy it. I have yet to really have the desire to fix a part rather than just jump online and order it. Besides, we have to keep the companies who make our machines we love so much , in business. Also, if we always fixed the parts, the price of the kits would be a lot more expensive to make up for the lack of parts sales.

hairy46

My Feedback: (1)

YES! Next question please!

SMOKEFAN

Nope not made of money but I do have a good budget monthly for my hobby. I race ALOT, bash alot and frankly go through about a gallon of fuel a week. Again not made of money but i enjoy my hobby, working on them and in some cases such as my MT i love hopup parts and i'm very anal about maintance on my racers. I dont like to do a Job twice so for me new parts is the way to go and the race vehicles never get skimped on.

Now everyone has a different budget and that understandable especially in this economy. Look at the chop shops on ebay for new parts. The prices are incredable, shipping is fast and even new carbs and engine parts are very cheap. Dont be affraid to ask fellow bashers if they have what you need laying around and not using it. I have parts for so many vehicles I dont even own anymore and many were supplied by old sponsors so i just give them away and most of the time i even cover shipping.

This is a hobby, rememebr your in it for fun. most cases you dont need the best of everything and most of the big name vehicles are fine in stock trim. Be happy with what you have, shop smart and have fun.

Haddi Taha

we crash our cars hundred of times and you can easily wreck a plane in one crash.

WangoTangoTX

I assure you, I am NOT made of money on any part of my hobby! In the event there is anybody out there made of money and they would like to donate to my hobby fund, dial BR549 right away...... Operators are standing by. LOL!
WT

hairy46

My Feedback: (1)

Well I was going to donate a mill but the phone number you gave aint working!

The_Shark

where is lunch box? i need his left foot so i can buy me a truggy.

Shenanigans

My Feedback: (12)

As with any online community, if you spend enough time reading posts you will learn which members to listen to.  You always have to sift through some level of garbage to find an appropriate answer.  This is true of any free registration online discussion forum.

studysession

So true....

Fuel Crazy

My Feedback: (1)

so true.. my real passion for the RC hobby is gas boats.. and with each one costing near, to a bit over $2000 each to build (the RTR caliber of boats is nothing like how the cars/trucks are)... it gets a little sickening to think i have 6 of them, with 2 more waiting to be built.


But.. you only live once, and you cant take money with you when you die... so spend it on what you enjoy doing.. after you pay your bills

john01374

I'm not made of money and I do try to fix parts if I can. What I have learned in 25 yrs in this hobby is that it is often times much cheaper to replace the parts than try to fix them. The gas tank was a great example. There is no good fix for a gas tank. Try glue, soldering iron whatever. It won't work for long. As for the wheels and tires. If they where glued properly they are not coming off without a fight. By the time you do get them off you would have spend as much as a new pair of wheels cost plus all the frustration and colorful language. Odds are the used wheels will not be in very good shape when you done with them either. Trust me. Throw them away as long as replacements are available.

Overall RC is not an expensive hobby. just look at Bowlers. $300 for balls, bag and shoes, $75 a week for the league, pot games and drinks. Golfers. $1000's for clubs, $25 for cheap courses, $100's for big name courses, $50 for drinks etc. I won't even get into real cars. I can spend $100 a weekend on gas driving back and forth to car shows not including dinner, drinks etc while where out those nights. Then there's build costs, maintenance, insurance etc etc. RC is cheap by comparison.

p51Dpony

quote "Why is it that when someone asks a question about how to fix a problem or if a part that they already have will work on their car (tires, bodies, engines, etc.) the only answer some folks can come up with is to buy a new part?"  Well my suggestion is to throw that question out and start with a new fresh one

jrwizbang

I love it.

SyCo_VeNoM

Easy
Ever try to un-glue tires?
If you have ts not pretty. Depending on the tire size its usually better just to replace the rim and tire itself. I've removed the glue off of 3 sets of tires in different fashions and find there is no easy full proof way.
Easiest way is either destroy the rim or destroy the tire and cut it off with a dremel. Boiling I find extremely painful, messy, and sometimes destroys the tire (damaged 2 tires boiling em). Baking I haven't tried cause everyone says it stinks un the house bad, and I have animals in the house that are sensitive to that stuff. So my sugestion is buy new ones usually (But I tell them the alternatives and my feelings)

Bodies... Ok what can be said duct tape em? If the persons not smart enough to figure out how to repair a body on their own how in the hell will they be smart enough to figure out how to use tape(or open a RTR box).

Engines. Lets face it half the descriptions people give suck. They are newbies who bought a used engine alot of the time OR didn't follow RTFM on a new one, and follow breakin procedure than come here after they run it WOT on the 1st tank, and it no longer starts.
So what are we supposed to say OK now take the engine head off pull out the piston inspect it look for scoring etc then reassemble it? If they couldn't be bothered to RTFM or bother learning about the engine prior how would they be able to follow any instructions we give.

I'll be honest my 1st nitro engine I got was used I asked on here for help, they said buy a new engine, and guess what the ones who said that WERE RIGHT the engine I had was completely shot, and not worth repairing. I will tell the people the instructions to determine the issues (same way I was told), and if they don't want to bother trying it, or can't figure it out I'm not paid to hold their hand, and be their guide.


Now as for the people who suggest a $250 Spectrum radio when someone asks for a low cost radio or if the flyskys are good I got no comment on mainly because anything I would say about them would be moderated or my post would get deleted

HoundDog

My Feedback: (49)

Ya know what they say "If Ya Can't afford the Hobby ... Steal It."

ntrain42

For those not made of money...........2 words: EASY PAY.

HerrSavage

Saw a good documentary yesterday and recently read an article about planned obsolescence.... Light-bulbs, Iphones, clothes, real cars, you name it - all designed to fail early so you have to buy new ones. Been that way for more than most of our lifetimes.. Fascinating, actually..., reading about engineers with torn consciences in the '60's devising ways to have their products die early deaths...

Anyway, it's a toss-up IMO. If it can be fixed, fix it. If it crosses your own personal threshhold of time, hassle, etc.., and you can afford the new thing, buy it.. I actually should probably try to fix more instead of just buying new things all the time. If I did that I'd run my old engines and wouldn't have the three new ones I have sitting there and would have $500 more bucks in the bank... (other factors there though - curiosity, sucker for a deal, etc...)

Fix it if you can, buy it if you can't....

jrwizbang

my sentiments exactly. I am a horrible impulse buyer and have more new parts than cars to put them on. I just feel for those who can't afford a shiny new part and just want some help fixing what they have. I give away alot of stuff for that very reason.

Lilredmachine

I love this response, it shows a complete lack of understanding of the difficulties of designing and building a high performance land based RC. My Savage weighs 6kgs, can do 55mph, which is as fast as some planes, it can drop from 30ft high at close to that speed and impact the floor without sustaining damage. I'd like to see anyone build a plane that can be flown into the floor at 50mph, restarted and then flown straight away again. It is also immensely fast in a straight line, can jump higher and further than most, handles well, do standing backflips, run on any surface other than water and has almost infinitely adjustable power, suspension and steering settings. Ever seen a Pylon racer do 3d aerobatics? Nope, you haven't. Because they can't. Planes are built to do one thing and it is dictated by their design. Sport models are the exception, but generally they are bad at everything rather than good at one thing.

Generally the skills involved in building a plane either from scratch or from a plan are complex, but nothing compared to the huge amount of machinery, knowledge and computer based design and stress simulation programs that would be required to design and build a modern day RC car from scratch. Not to mention that building a plane from scratch would realistically take you 1-2 months of fairly intensive build time depending on complexity whereas the car would likely take 6 months+. More moving parts, tighter tolerances, modular design to be torn down... When a plane is built, it is built. Generally the only time it would fit back in the box is after it has been crashed. It doesn't (and can't be) stripped back to replace parts, reglue joints etc. without compromising the structure and appearence of the plane.

Anyway, to answer the original question, if you can't afford the hobby then don't get into it. We have a word in the full size car world for what you are describing, and that word is 'bodge'. It's not big and it's not clever. You are in control of an extremely quick, reasonably heavy vehicle which relies on you to maintain it and control it properly. Loss of control is dangerous to those around you, and yourself, and loss of control is caused by poor maintenance. Glueing steering components, bodging diffs, knowingly using dodgy radio gear... None of it is clever.