beetlebz

woo, i thought it might be a great idea if we as a forum put our heads together and talked about what kinds of tools people keep in their tool box. i mean, everyone has a few screw drivers, some spare screws and parts, and a set of hex drivers, but i seriously doubt that most of us dont have quirky addons to the tool collection that have proven invaluable time and time again.

so, lets share our tool tips and tool box must haves!

this comes to me because i just went out tonight and bought myself some rediculous fishing tackle box thats PERFECT for a track box. its a plano 777, and while a bit pricey carries everything i need minus the car and radio. it even has a compartment for a spare set of mounted tires! a total of 5 pull out adjustable small parts trays, so you can get away with only having one small box at your bench at a time. and the best part is, when i go to the BMX track i have EVERYTHING i need with me to fix pretty much anything that comes up.

i think the #1 thing i have in my toolbox right now is a set of integy hex drivers. bullet proof, not horribly expensive, and replaceable tips! the 6pc set was only 30 bucks, which is great for the quality of them.

aside from that, i dont have any real indispensible gizmos as of yet

Aaron Waldron

Wait for the next issue of XRC..there's a whole article about this (by yours truly!)

beetlebz

i dont get XRC (id imagine its Xtreme RC?) but ill certainly subscribe. even if they dont have good writers. LOL

just kidding. ill call em up tomorrow

beetlebz

i think i was actually aiming more towards the home rigs, and the tools you wouldnt normally associate with an RC car, rather than just chatting about the new and exciting tools we bought from integy or hudy. my hex set was just a bad example to get the ball rolling.

a good example would be someone who uses toothpicks, a hammer, and a cotton swap dipped in cherry diet coke to tune his mill. things like that. ok maybe thats a little extreme, but you guys get the idea.

oh! i got a good for-instance. i now keep a dremmel in my tool box, with a thin flat round nylon brush (http://www.dremel.com/html/home_fr.html), and an empty paint can full of really watered down simple green (like 1 table spoon to a half cup of water) and use it on my diff gears when they start feeling stiff. the dremmel with a bit of the simple green solution makes VERY short work of the nasty old grease. just run the brush on a rag and it comes clean right away. dry throughly and relube. runs like it was brand new every time!

stuff like that

Mr. Shims

My favorite tool for cleaning is an oral-b rotator brush the rechargeable one with a cradle included. just spray denatured alcohol and rip it with the brush, just make sure if using with nitro on road to be careful not to touch the belts.

beetlebz

now THATs what im talking about!!! thats not a half bad idea either! i have an old junk electric toothbrush that i havnt gotten around to throwing out yet

Nick111

i keep a pair of "u" clip poppers handy, reversed they make ball stud popping easier than turning on a light!, if you dont know what they are ill try and find a pic, they work well for removing eclips too, althought they destroy the eclip it removes it like a hot knife through butter.. gotta love analogies....

Nick111

i found a pic, this is basically what mine look like, only mine are old and a diff style. if you reverse it to make it more like a regular plier instead of normal revwerse plier it slips under and pops out ballstuds with the turn of a wrist, i highly recomend picking up atleast 1 set just being the idiot i am i cant post aan image so ill give you a website http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/pro_d...re&dir=catalog hope this works

AE Racer

I have the same tool box, except mine has two tackle moxes in it instead of drawers. I could have gotten the one with drawers but its nice to be able to take the tackle box right to where you're working. I have one of the tackle boxes for tools and the other for parts. Im out of space in the parts box and I could only squeeze a few more tools into the tool box. I also keep my power supply, my best set of tires and a bunch of other stuff in it.

I dont think a dremel was mentioned, it's a good thing to have, especially if you strip alot of screws like I do.

Mr. Shims

you know those plastic cupholders which they advertise at the mall, it holds your can in the middle and a tray at the side to hold your sandwich during a game... get one so that while in the pits the holder will hold the fuel bottle and the tray will hold all the essentials while in a rush, igniter tuning screw and the body clips it retails for less than 2$.

beetlebz

AE racer, i have the tackle boxes in the bottom left too, i just call em drawers cuz they slide out lol

mine came with 3 smaller plano 3500's (i think thats the number). the big clear box in the lower right i threw in a junk pile on the workbench. the small 3500 boxes are PERFECT for ball studs and other small parts, and seem custom made for screw assortments. 3 of those fit PERFECTLY in where the big clear box was in the bottom right.

and oh yes, the dremmel is quite indispensible. im considering getting a cordless jobber to take with me to the track so i can strip down a tranny and clean it out really well when it starts feeling gunky. its also great with a nylon brush for hitting the springs really quick to shake the dirt out of em

NICK! i think those are also called "snap ring" pliers, and come to think of it i have a set! im going to go try em out now actually hehe

good call guys, exactly what i was hoping this thread would produce for everyone!

jbrow1

iTrader: (28)

Hehe, dental picks, shoe goo, and tooth picks. Beetlebz, i used to keep parts to work on the tranny if need too. Now I just keep a spare idler gear, and an already assembled diff. I also bring a whole truck to dissect if need be also.

beetlebz

aye, i keep a spare idler gear, and body mounts. especially at the BMX track lol i also keep a few ball cups handy incase i break one on the pipes or on a jump. tuesday im getting my new servo, and once thats done im going order the $7 set of gears for my old one so ill have a spare servo incase i strip one out. i might just get a spare set of gears for the JR too. the pipes at the track arent very forgiving lol

oh and probably the most important thing i bring is a whole extra air filter, all ready to go. if its dry the clay gets EVERYWHERE and plugs up that sucker in a heartbeat. with a spare air filter i can swap on the fly in 2 seconds.

as of this week im bringing extra lock nuts for the wheels too. aparently one of mine was stripped and got ejected on the track lol made it all the way around the track before i noticed it was missing though!

jbrow1

iTrader: (28)

I prefer the old style quadrajet fuel filter with a prefilter air cleaner. Nothing pentrates the paper filter. And if it starts getting dirty, just change the prefilter. And the carb is never exposed for dirt/dust to get in.

Stevietd14

iTrader: (1)

beetlebz- where did u get your integy hex drivers for 30 bucks??

ive been lookin all over and cant find a decent set for under 50!!
a link would be swee too, and if anyone else knows where to get them or a set like them it would be greatly appreciated