Maintnance
 

Hey guys, I just got a Losi MRC this weekend, and its my first hobby grade RC vehicle. I was just wondering what I should get as far as maintnance goes? and is there a certain point where i need to take the axles apart and clean and regrease anything? If so, how often? Also, whats a good list of tools to have? I know the manual already mentions a soft brush for cleaning dust off, a #0 or #1 phillips screwdriver, and 5.5 nut driver for the wheels, and a .05" allen wrench. Looks like I'll need some kind of wrenches too for the upper shock mounts and I think for some of the suspension links.

The bulk of your maintenance will be to make sure all of your screws and bolts are tight. Ever 10 or so runs, or just after running in dust or water, clean your motor. Other than that the upkeeps is fairly simple. I normally brush off everything with a paint brush every couple of runs.

Agreed...every few runs do some basic maintenance. Remove loose dirt and dust with a soft brush, clean the tires (a little Simple Green will bring some "stickiness" back), pull the motor and blast it out with motor spray if it ever gets really nasty, or every few weeks with normal driving, and re-lube the bearings/bushings on the output shafts.

As far as tools go, that's as much fun as wheeling and wrenching. It's worth every penny to pick up a nice tool kit to start, and then buy what you need as you go...hex and nut drivers, body reamer, a good hobby knife, small dental type picks...it's all useful in RC.

there are a lot of companies offering tool sets such as losi. associated, dynamite, integy and racers edge. they offer nut driver sets and hex driver sets. most are around $40 or so. do any of your lhs have a used section? you can also attend other local rc events such as onroad of offroad races. always used stuff there!

we have a guy here at our offroad track that swears by endust. he sprays his truck before a race and it comes off the track fairly clean

Good tools make a world of difference when doing teardown/rebuild etc... its the difference between hating it (hands all cramping etc) to actually enjoying the wrenching. Get tools with a good handles, good weight in the hand, and tapered allens are the cats ass. After a bolt head has scraped around on the rocks a bit, its hard to sometimes get an allen in there of the correct size, a tapered allen gets in there and takes up the slack etc... nice to have. Also ball head allens are a godsend for those hard to reach not quite square to the head areas. I always keep a set of both in my tool sets.

For cleaning, I just always used a compressor to blow everything out, small car dash detail brush to get in the crannies, and would do a full teardown every so often to just kind of "refresh" everything.. make sure nothing is broken that you can't see, and things are doing what they should...

As far as the motor goes, I just pull it and blow it out good? and what do I use to lube the bushings in it? Must I completely disasseble the motor to do that? and the axles, what do they use to lube the ring and pinion gears? I imagine I should clean and regrease them everyonce in awhile.

If its a brushed motor, the shops should have a "com cleaner" spray... its pretty much just electronics contact cleaning spray. Helps carry away any dust and grime. On a basher, just spray out the motor quickly after the end of the day, then blow it back out. Check the brushes every few outings and change them as needed (when they are getting ground out small)

For a brushless motor, all you should need is a good blast of air to get grime out.. if its stubborn use a little contact cleaner.

oooo, forgot...
After you clean the motor (brushed), you'll want to put some com drops in the motor.

As far as wrenching goes, you are 100% correct sir, the right tools make a world of difference. I use a small cordless screwdriver to get the long-winded screws out (this goes double for beadlock screws). There is a trick to putting the screws in with the electric screwdriver, siimply put, don't be an idiot. I drive the screws in most of the way, then hand wrench them in until they are snug.

what are "com" drops?

Like this
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXWS68&P=0