rebel8764

Hello, I am new to the entire R/C thing, and I have a bunch of questions. Most of these questions will be Nitro-related also.

Question 1 & 2: What tools will be need to maintain my R/C? And will any tool be more important than others? (Ex.) "You really need tool X, but you 'can wait to get/not need' tool A"

Question 3: Are there any parts/supplies that I need to get extras of or replace on a regular basis? I stay about 30 miles from the nearest Hobby Store, and it would be a pain to have to make multiple trips, especially if I could just buy extras when I'm there, or when ordering online.

Question 4 & 5 & 6: Related to question 3, what is the lifespan of the different parts of the R/C?, I know that things like tires and fuel would need to be replaced; but, how long do parts last? If under light use(no really hard crashes or bashes) do other parts of the R/C break easily?

Whew, I think thats all of the questions I have for tonight, maybe after a night's sleep I will think of some more questions.

Actually I haven't decided on what R/C to get,but I am leaning toward 1/8 scale buggies. I would just like to get some 'behind-the-scenes' information so to speak. When I saw my first R/C(Bi-Plane) I was like "man that's sweet!" but then I started to think about all the things they had to do to get it working. So I went to the bookstore and bought a couple of R/c magazines. Then I started researching R/C's online and discovered that the R/C world is bigger than I thought. Hopefully with all of you guys help, I will be able to start on the right foot and enjoy my R/C experience.

Nick2618

Well alot of those questions would be eaiser to answer if you already had a truck/car in mind. So maybe figure out what you want and then poeple who own it will be able to tell you what parts break most often.

SpikeX

Question 1 & 2: You'll need a glow plug wrench, fuel bottle, glow plug ignitor, set of screwdrivers, turnbuckle wrench, hex wrenches are pretty nice to have...That's all I can think of right now.

Question 3: You should get some spare glow plugs, as they will be the first things to replace. A spur gear or two should be handy as well.

Question 4, 5 & 6: Those questions are very hard to answer if you don't know what car you are getting. Once you do know, we can help you more.

DaveG55

Really, every single question you've asked will depend on what vehicle you end up with.
Tools, Most rc vehicles come with the rudimentary tools you need. They are very cheap (and I mean that in the worst sense) tools but are servicable for getting started. If you are an adult male with, or access to, a reasonable set of mechanics tools you will already have 95% of what you need. If not then you will need; a small set of allen (hex) wrenches in both metric and standard, a small phillips and slotted screwdriver, a small set of needle nose plyers and wire cutters and an 8mm nut driver (a set is nice but 8mm is most used). Besides that you'll need a hobby style battery charger, and pit supplies which your hobby shop would be better equiped to help you with.
Parts, Parts are extremely vehicle centered. About the only interchangable, general part is the glow plug but even that really depends on the engine you will be running.
Lifespan, That depends on too many factors to even guess at. You say light use. Well my light use may be someone elses serious bashing and my heavy bashing may be someone elses light use. Yes parts will break but what breaks often on vehicle "A" may not be what always breaks on vehicle "B". For example tires. Tires on a high powered on road vehicle get used up pretty quickly but on a MT they tend to last a long, long time. Even among the genre's things break differently. For example, the original LST was very prone to breaking A-arms but thhe Savage almost never breaks an A-arm. Even then it does not really pay to stock up on a lot of parts because "Murphy's Law" states that "no matter what part you have on hand, something else will break".
Like everyone has said, aside from the basic hand tools, what you will end up needing is very dependant on what you buy.

I will tell you that the very most improtant thing that you can have when getting started i nitro rc is patience. The nitro aspect of the hobby has a pretty steep learning curve that can be very frustrtaing if you let it. Patience will go a long, long way to getting you in the hobby and keeping it fun.

Good Luck and post back once you decide on a vehicle.

rchotrod

Parts most often broke.

Cars in general,

Suspension arms, suspension arm mounts, drive shafts, shock towers, ball links, ball cups, spur gears, servo gears, extra screws and hardware for the car would be nice. Maybe shock towers, shock shafts. Tire glue.

All depends on the car you choose.

See ya,
Rod