Cepted

iTrader: (3)

I’m pretty new to touring car and don’t have the most in depth maintenance records.

I’d love to hear tips / to-dos.
or even full blown maintenance routines and how often!

Hopefully we all can get inspiration and learn a few things.

Noobi_Kenubi

Testing

gigaplex

iTrader: (2)

I mostly just replace bearings or worn out parts occasionally, I'm too lazy to do much more than that. I can't remember the last time I checked my shock or diff oil.

Noobi_Kenubi

Since I have nothing much to do during these lockdowns heres my 2 cents:



After a day of trackday

1. Air dust the whole car to remove grimes and dust
2. Check battery for any cracks, if it does, replace battery, remove battery for charge/discharge into storage volt
3. Check leaks on shocks and differentials, if it does, rebuild
4. Check on tire sidewalls for any tearing, if it does, apply glues
5. Check bodyshells, if it tears, maybe change it,
6. Check your suspension arms for any cracks or tears, if it distort the geometry of the arm, replace it
7. Check your screws, replace the missing ones and tighten the lose ones
8. Check your chassis for any tweaks, if it does, rescrew the top decks while on flat surface, with straight pole pressing on front and rear suspension holder/bulkheads while retightening the top deck screws
9. Check your electronics, wiring connections, resolder the detached ones
10. Check wheel hub bearings, clean and reoil them
11. Store your cars without tire attached to them to prevent tire surface distortion due to prolonged weight force during the storage, it also help reducing spring compressions during storage
12. DO NOT STORE YOUR CAR WITH BATTERIES ATTACHED, STORE YOUR BATTERIES IN A PROPER LIPO CASE

Major Servicing (only during race day prep)

1. Rebuild the whole chassis
2. Replace shock oil (all rubber seals as well)
3. Replace Diff oil (all gasket and rubber seals as well)
4. Replace tires (usually use the race spec/reg ones)
5. Replace batteries (Perfect time to buy new batteries when u already used old ones for bashing/weekend trackdays)
6. Retune chassis, follow setups used by the local guys or download setups from petit rc
7. Check your setups on parking lots/track, for alignments, and handling checks
8. Replace to new bodyshells (as per race reg)
9. Replace any plastic parts that have too many cracks/ scratch that may snap/break during race
10. Clean all ball bearings (I usually remove the bearing sheilds and clean all the balls and bearing case using WD-10 solution, not recommended if you not familiar to reassemble the bearings)
11. Re solder everything
12. Clean motor, rebuild, clean the bearings, motor casing, if you have motor anayzer, check for any performance reduction due to weakening rotor magnet
13. Check servos for any issues, some cheap servo may have broken internal gears or "browning" that may cause stuttering or glitches

Thats all I can think of right now, hope it helps

glennhl

iTrader: (16)

I'm lazy so I just check bolt tightness and clean the car up each week after a race. I then put it on the corner scales and setup station. I'll go 6 months without checking the diff or shock oil and sometimes that is too long when I see how little is left. And for some reason the car handles so much better right after I refill the shocks. Given my experience I'd say you should check the diff and shock oil every 3 months if you are running every weekend.

Billy Kelly

iTrader: (9)

I race with some that will completely tear a car down during week. I’m still trying to get a routine down. I try to check shock fluid. I look for diff leaks. But don’t regularly pull it to check level.

belewis01

iTrader: (5)

Check your suspension pills - I was surprised at how sloppy they were after 6 months of racing - I replaced them 100% recently.

DaSilva3525

My routine evolved as I got use to doing more work / aligning everything at a easier pace. After a good race day or practice weekend this is my typical practice...


-Remove front bumper support

-Remove front hubs / casters / Double jointed shafts as one. Remove bearings, clean bearings, re oil. Clean, double jointed shafts tighten grubs / lock tight & small dabs of 1 up oil on the shaft joints. Re assemble & leave on bench for re assembly later.

-Remove rear hubs / Shafts as one. Remove bearings, clean bearings, re oil. Clean, shafts tighten grubs / lock tight & small dabs of 1 up oil on the shaft joints. Re assemble & leave on bench.

-Remove front shock tower / shocks, remove rear shock tower / shocks, put on bench for later.

-Remove FF & FR Hinge pin holders / pins / arms (Check play before removal for your own knowledge, checking during race days is also key) Clean Hinge pin's & set every thing aside for re assembly later.

-Remove RR & RF Hinge pin holders / pins / arms (Check play before removal for your own knowledge, checking during race days is also key) Clean Hinge pin's & set every thing aside for re assembly later.

- Remove bulkhead caps front & Rear. Remove spool & rear diff. Clean dirt & small crap in the teeth of the spool, put spool & diff aside for later. Clean out bearings & Re oil.

- Remove sway bars Front & rear. Leave on bench for re assembly

-loosen bulkheads front and rear with top deck still on not tight but slightly snug. Use a bulkhead alignment tool of preference and align both bulkheads in perfect order.

-Unbolt the motor & proceed to remove center pulley / belts. I like to clean these bearings as well, re oil & re install. Check for anything un usual at the same time.

-Remove shocks from towers & rebuild shocks or check depending on your ways.

-Re install center pulley, belts, & bolt motor back in.

-Re install the spool, rear diff & bulkhead caps.

-Re install Front & rear sway bars (Set exact to the tee later once everything is done and droop is checked first with shocks on, then remove shocks and set sway bars)

-Re install hinge pin holders / arms Front and rear (Tight front to back super free up and down. This just comes with experience / knowing what shims to use with what toe / pill inserts)

-Install complete front hubs / casters that were already built on bench, install complete rear hubs. Snug the ball studs down when installing but make sure car is flat on board when actually tightening them. Don't forget to re tighten the small grub screws that hold the outer pins from coming out.

-Install shock towers, tighten on flat surface.

-Install Shocks.

Once complete I like to set on flat surface for final chassis tweak checks (Flat shock towers, Un tweaked top deck, tighten ball studs proper etc) Check droop with the shocks on, remove the shocks and then set the sway bars. I like to set my bars with the hubs on but some people do it while the hubs are off. Then I will check ride height & spring tweak. Once I get to the track I will put it on the set up station before running make sure it's all 100% and continue to use the set up station after every pack to make sure things have not moved from where set. Another thing Is taking the motor apart, cleaning and re assembling. I race on carpet so I don't do this every time but check often so nothing un expected happens on race day. Hope this is something you were after & I didn't ramble too much.

DaSilva3525

While typing a story Noobi got the just of it

TurnNBurn

Between events, at a minimum you should check for slop and wear of parts. Checking shock condition/leakage is also highly recommended. At an event, top drivers resort to near complete tear downs in-between - but at a minimum, you should check to make sure that everything is tightened down (particularly screws going into metal bulkheads or components, and also make sure that the chassis is not tweaked and can sit completely flat on a smooth surface, such as a setup board. Even the slightest mishaps on track could be enough to tweak the chassis.

Nerobro

iTrader: (2)

Sounds like you should ream your arms.

Xrayray

So, do the guys that do teardowns regularly... Do the screw holes get worn out?

I just stripped a top deck screw on the bulkhead. Those screws were not installed too tight. They also get loosened and tightened every run that had a crash.

It's rare that I break things on the car but I've worn out the frp chassis already and it hasn't even been a year.

Billy Kelly

iTrader: (9)

What tools? I have seen lower quality tool wear and lead to screw stripping.

I have noticed that with some plastic parts, over time screws will wear out the plastic. Leading to loose screws

gigaplex

iTrader: (2)

Did you strip the head of the screw, or the thread? If it's the head, worn tools can do that. If it's an aluminium screw, they're quite soft so they can strip pretty easily.

If you're screwing into plastic, be careful about how you reinsert the screw. If you just start screwing it in without finding the original thread, it'll cut a new thread and will strip the threads pretty easily. I always gently turn in the reverse direction until I feel it drop into the existing thread, then start screwing it back in normally.

If you've worn out a chassis due to scraping within a year, your ride height might be too low.

Xrayray

Yup I agree with all the above