DaveG55

I have noticed the last few days - mostly since Christmas - how many new folks and new car/truck owners are on the board.
First, Welcome.
Second, be VERY careful about using the advice you recieve on these boards.
There are alot of well meaning people that are very willing to help. Unfortunatly, I have seen a LOT of bad and misinformation, bad advice and statements that are just plain WRONG.
I have seen advice given by people that had asked the exact same question just hours before - and recieved conflicting advice.
If you have a problem, your first and BEST resource is the manual (and DVD if any) that comes with your new vehicle. Then try the online website for the vehicle/manufacturer, they often have very good information. Most manufacturers also offer toll free help numbers.
Now, I'm not saying don't ask questions here. There are lots of knowledgeable people that will help and you can get good advice. I'm just saying BE CAREFUL which advice you take because, right now, there is a good bit of bad advice on the fourms (all rc fourms really, right now).
Good luck with your new vehicle and welcome to the hobby.

guver

My Feedback: (325)

great advise, don't froget to use the search button lol

piccorevo

well said Dave just be careful chaps dont rush into anything that a single person says, wait for a couple of answers, do research of your own and always check what the manufacturer would do. EG; dvd, manual even a call to there helpline, and also near enough always do a search before you post.

the one thing i notice about these forums is the amount of reoccuring posts due to people not doing a search b4 they post, please use the search button its there for your help, and most likely you will find a post that has numerous answers in it, whereas if you were just to post a new thread no-one might answer because it has been answered so mant times.

thanks for reading and welcome to the forums.

revopqrs

boy you aint kiddin! ive seen some crazy advice lately everywhere. generally speaking before accepting any advise look at whos giving it. if they have a sweet truck you stand a better chance of getting sound advise. if its someone posting pics of a box stock truck tellin ya how to make your rc fast, look for more advise.
you can usually tell just by spelling errors and terrible wording.....

michelob78

Trick is if you see some bad advice point it out, otherwise newbs believe it and spreads around. It's just the way it is.

Haldir

Hey newbies welcome to the hobby, I would just like to say, if you run out of that 20% nitro fuel, don't go to the LHS and pay those rediculous prices, just go the the pump and get yerself some of that unleaded stuff for $2 a gallon, it will make your truck screeeeeeeam.

revopqrs

exactly!

michelob78

I sense the humor but in reality not funny at all, some kid who just got a $400 nitro rtr reads this doesn't understand the sarcasm goes to the garage dumps some of the old weedwacker gas in kills the engine.

Haulin bass

mabey you should just send Noobies here [link=http://www.nitrohouse.com/tech_tips.htm]ron paris tech tips[/link] cant really argue over what is legit advice comming from his mouth. Remeber driving practice will make you allot better/faster driver than $150 in hopups will.

Haldir

Good point.

ckangaroo70

My Feedback: (51)

You can get alot of good information from forums if you just use common sense. If you have no common sense, then it don't matter if you are a newb or a vet, you really ought to stay away from forums. One good tip is to only take first hand advice. If someone tells you that they had a friend who had a cousin who had this certain MT, and it stunk, then that is worthless info. When starting a post, please have a point! Starting a "which is better" post is only going to get you biased opinions. Its like asking which is better, brunettes or blondes? It is a pointless arguement, and will only lead to pointless babble. Ask questions that can be answered by facts and not opinions. For example" "Has anyone had any trouble with a Robinson Racing Steel Spur Gear?" Good Answer: "I have one, and have over 4 gallons on it with no troubles". Bad Answer: " Them things suck!" Saying something is "the bomb", or "it sucks" is not a good answer! Stating exactly why it is good or bad, and how you have come to this conclusion is much more usefull to the reader. There is also no harm in asking someone why you should follow there advice. If they say " Because I rock dude" that says nothing! If they say " I have been racing MT's for the last 6 years and I am very familiar with the problem you are having", then that says they more than likely know there way around a MT. As I said before, common sense will go a long ways!

DaveG55

If I've posted that article from Mr Paris once I've done ot a hundred times. I keep it bookmarked. It is, IMHO, the best help out there.
I agree about correcting wrong advice and that's what prompted me to start this thread. Unfortunayly, I don't have the time to correct everything I see. I'd be on all day and most of the night.
I swear though, if I see one more newbie post that you need to lean out an engine when it's cold out, I'm gonna slip over the edge............

michelob78

Yes because when it's cold out you lean it out so your temps come up..




Kidding of course.....

alvinl

Dave, seems it only took you less than 20 minutes to find that newbie post. Keep pointing out the bad advice, sometimes it's the only way people like myself know the truth. I have learned a lot from people on RCU and it did not take long to realize that a lot of the posts were by complete idiots with no working knowledge of a nitro truck.

DaveG55

Sorry alvinl, I don't understand the 20 min reference??????

I will keep offering what advice I can but I don't want anyone to think that I'm an expert. I sure don't consider myself to be one. But, I have been playing with nitro motors for close to 40 years so some stuff has stuck. Still, very seldom does a week go by that I don't learn something new about this hobby.

Maybe we should start a thread about the dumbest advice we come across......Nah, it'd just start a flame war.

alvinl

Sorry. I read your post here and little later I was in the Traxxas forum reading a post here http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_3703535/tm.htm where you pointed out exactly what was being discussed here. I think that was about 15 to 20 minutes later. Struck me as funny and a little de-ja-vu.

jefx

Hmmm. Really?..........So what was the first nitro engine you had experience with, and what year was it?.......Also, where'd you get nitro fuel back in the 1960's?

alvinl

When did the nitro fuel we use now come around? Not being ignorant, jefx just made me curious. I know methanol has been around in racing for years, but I don't know when it came around either. Just curious.

jefx

I'm also truely curious. In a thread about choosing what to believe on a forum, this comment has me skeptical.

How 'bout we get a "good" answer for this?

alvinl

I'm googling it right now...

bentgear

Now guys, yall best be careful. If folks started following all the truths in this thread it would put half the engine manufacturers out of business cause they would not be able to sell new engines each gallon of fuel burned and 9/10's of the bling-gotta have it-supper hop up parts guys would be out on their butts.

On second thought, that might not be too bad!

Ed M.

PillowPants

I think the best R/C advice is to stay mainstream...

alvinl

Gotta love Google... Here is a fairly good article on the history of RC. Dave could very well have been doing nitro RC for around 40 years...

http://www.rccartips.com/rc-history.htm

jefx

Good find! Looks like the numbers match up. I'd still like Dave to let us in on what his first engine/car was, and where he bought fuel.

DaveG55

Sure, be happy to.
First, I'm 50 yo. Born 1955.
I was 9 or 10, don't remember which and I got a Cox PT-19 line control trainer plane. It was powered by a Cox .049 nitro engine. You started it by hooking a spring that was mounted behind the prop on the drive shaft around the prop and winding the prop against the spring and then letting go. You learned to be quick because those props HURT if the nipped your finger. The plane was all plastic and held togeather with rubberbands so when you crashed it came apart. The carb only had one needle and why my brother and I did not blow it up I don't know. The fuel was Cox brand and came in 1/2 pint cans, sorry, I don't know what the mixture was (did not care at the time) and we bought it at the corner hardware store. A can would last us about a week. We used one of those square lantern batterys with a simple copper clip on the glow plug.
I actually have, and it still runs great, a Kyosho ZR-1 Corvette that has an OS.10 engine in it that I bought new in 1986.
Now, to streach your imaginations even more.....There are nitro rc planes hanging on the wall of my brothers garage that my father made the year I was born. They have not flown in at least 30 years but they are there.
Nitro rc's have been around a LONG time. Just go to the airplane section of this fourm and ask around. I think you'll be surprised.
Also, my brother has a very old nitro car (late 50's I think) that is made of cast metal and was a line control car. It's shaped like a very old Indy car. You drove a stake into the ground and attached a steel line to the stake and the car. Started the car and let it run in circles til it ran out of gas. That was the coolest thing for a kid back then.