I have an AE SC10B and an Exo. I plan on moving up to 4wd 1/8 scale buggies. I also want to go onroad at some point. All electric for now. I like Serpent, and parts support is great here in China.

I know I need some good hex drivers and a soldering iron, but what else? I'm ordering online, so I would like to buy the basics in one whack.

I plan to paint a lot of bodies, so an airbrush is already on my wish list. Should I invest in a reamer tool?

Do I need a drill?

How about consumables. Sandpaper, heat shrink, double sided tape.

How about tuning tools. I plan to dabble in racing.

Thanks a million in advance.

I like the Team Associated hex/nut drivers
Yes to a body reamer
Dont know why you'd need a drill
Yes to your consumables
Tuning tools...long handle flat head and temp gun....do not tune by the temp gun

My favorite tool by far is my Milwaukee screw diver. Traxxas techs use the Milwaukee 2401-22 screwdriver. It allows you to set the clutch very low so you won't strip your plastic threads. The trigger / variable speed control is really good too, so you won't melt the plastic threads. Plus it has plenty of torque when you need it. The screwdriver is not the cheapest, but it is elegant and a perfect fit for people doing repairs and upgrades on RC vehicles. My Home Depot has this drill and others on demo at times. You may want to take a look. I even bought some small sockets and adapters for removing the big wheel nuts.

LED flash lights.
Magnetic dishes for holding loose screws.
I am far sighted, so I use an OptiVISOR for close up work.

Plano parts containers - typically found in the fishing section at WalMart.

Body work: Xacto knife, reamer tool, body scissor, Shoe Goo and Duratrax DTXR1210 repair tape are a must. Get extra and use it early.

It doesn't hurt to have a couple small tweakers - small flat head and phillips head screwdrivers. You will run into a non hex screw from time to time.

volt meter, IR temp sensor from Duratrax. Lipo balancer, Team Integy makes a Lipo Voltage Checker / Alarm.

A couple different needle nose pliers, Xuron Nippers

Soldering iron, flux, solder >50watt if you plan to work with motors and battery connectors

Here are a few little thing that often get overlooked. Get some good Velcro. I use Velcor brand Magnum Force 2 RC car contact cleaner, Epic blue oil for bearings, Lithium grease for rebuilding servos, Black grease for metal gears, Dynamite DYN5405 tire glue, Losi shock O-ring grease. Blue Loc-Tite - liquid and stick.

We have used Loctite two part epoxy a couple times.

I have used the RPM bearing blaster a few times with the contact cleaner. Seems to work ok. The jury is still out on this vs. replacing bearings. There is a good YouTube video showing this tool.

My disclaimer - I have only been at the RC thing for a year now, so I am sure there are better ideas out there. I would like to see some feedback on this as well.

one tool that hasn't been mentioned yet is get a good set up of dental picks for getting crud out of screw heads and stuff like that. also i bought a Wiha ball end hex driver set that consists of a handle that basically has a chuck on it and allows you to swap in different drivers of different sizes its not a cheap set up but its the nicest thing i have ever used, it has a free spinning knob at the end of the handle so you can hold it in a screw head with enough pressure with your palm and turn it with your fingers.

Awesome. its like going to Home Depot, and finding tools that you didnt know existed, and then realizing you have to have them. hahahahaa

Why is the Losi 8 in 1 Tool, cheaper than the Losi 17 in 1 kit?

Lots of good advice here. Most onroad and 1/8 scale buggies will use metric wrenches. It sounds like you are getting pretty serious, and in that case, I would recommend going with quality. I have used many different brands including Dynamite, AE, Integy, RD Logics, Protek, Serpent and Hudy. The Hudy are hands down the best. I round off less bolts and they just fit better then anything else. The Serpent tools are right there as well, but they are not as readily available.

Airbrush is good, reamer is pretty much a necessity. Good lexan body scissors a must, and for onroad, a circle cutter is very handy.

Drill no, dremel is handy though. Screwdriver is also handy with 1/8th scale.

Consumables will vary but there are some staples. Double sided tape (I personally perfer the clear silicone as it leaves no residue), solder, battery tape (strapping tape, you will need this if you go onroad), heatshrink, 12ga wire (deans wet noodle is my preference, 12ga will work on most 10th and 1/8th scale), connectors of choice (deans and bullets are what I use). You will also need fluids for whatever you are working with. Shock/diff oils, bearing grease, CV grease, etc. Locktite will be a must with the 1/8th scale, red and blue. You will probably need tire traction compound of some sort for onroad.

Tuning tools will vary based on what you are running and I would tend to hold off as you will need different tools depending upon onroad or offroad. For what you have now, picking up a cheap offroad ride height gauge and camber gauge would be useful. Tuning in offroad and the exactness of it is much less then onroad. While eye-balling is not quite good enough, a full setup station may not be required either. In onroad, being off half a degree of camber or toe can make a car nearly undriveable.

Good luck!

you can save alot of cash by going to a dollar store and buying 2 sets of sockets.. 1 metric one SAE.. along with a 1/4 driver.. thats 3$ compaired to 60$+.. solder iron something over 25watts will work..
shoegoo NOPE I use silaprene way better and sets up in 30 minutes
also some 100mph tape.. when u have body cracks breaks so on..
and a good set of allens metric and sae..
body scissors
why spend $1000 when theres no need to..save that money for a good esc battery and charger..

http://www.rctech.net/forum/11503907-post16.html

This should answer your questions.

Hahaahaa Cool.

I like the EDS hexes, the set similar to the Losi 8 in 1 Tool looks perfect. I plan to buy an extra handle, and I could always buy more bits as needed, right?

Can I get away with cheap turnbuckle wrenches, or do you think I'll end up buying twice?

Do good 1/8 buggies, onroad cars come with decent tools? Turnbuckle wrenches at least? I've got my eye on some Serpent kits.

The only car I'm aware of that came with an entire set of decent tools was the limited edition orange version of the Serpent S411.

Most don't come with tools or just include a cheapo cross wrench and maybe some allen keys (which you never want to use)

Hawk,
Firstly, a good turenbuckle wrench is hard to beat and there's no substitute. Once rounded, it's over and I've made the mistake of using a Exhaust hook to turn the ons with holes in them, and broke TWO of them. a Cut down 1mm allen key for ones with holes in them, or a EDS / Hudy / TM mutli are great.

It's the hidden truth to RC that the tools, lubricants and accessories are where the real $$ are spent.

For me, after several years, if it's got HUDY on it, there a good chance you've spent wisely.

Having said that, our small Tamiya cross socket that came with our very first model (Gravel hound) and the beloved Glow plug/wheel nut cross socket that came with our Kyosho inferno were the BEST multipurpose tools in our kit, they bought us the time to get on with building the whole kit and caboodle.

So in conclusion, if you havent got deep pockets, dont go for the cheap imitations, try to get a simple multipurpose tool to get you through the kit development and stay in the hobby. After a while you find that there's too many tools and you start buying smaller lighter tools to help you travel with and keep a compact modular kit.

We have a F10 Team magic bag, we just bought a FRESH new F8 version (after 4 years of F10 and good service ) we also use a Capricorrn large bag for Truers, Starters and various other items. We have a separate HARD kit just for engine maintenance, a Hudy tool bag for all the HEX and Nut drivers and the rest in the F10 now.

I'm always aware of being fearful of being a gear junky but for the most part everything we own we use and it removes the "borrowing" at races and people losing tools.

Hope you love your tools as much as we do and use them well.

I have definitely fallen into that category and have some of those crazy tools with very limited usage, including the tool to pop out the pivot balls on a 12th scale and the LED kit for locating body post holes in painted bodies. I have a lot of the bulky stuff too including tire truers, tire sanders, tire warmers, etc. Honestly though, the right tool for the right job makes things sooo much easier. It is a slippery slope though.

Buying quality at the start always matters though. Saves you a ton of headaches down the road when wrenched break or screws strip out.

I even carry a 3mm helicoil kit with me for spot repairs for myself and track buddies when needed. Nothing like salvaging that bulkhead or steering knuckle when the hobby shop is out and you still have a race left.

Great info from everybody! Thank you.

I bought some EDS hexes, and a Serpent 1.5 to 3.0 hex set. I sprung for the Hudy body scissors, but bought a no name reamer. I bought a super cheapo 40w soldering gun and some Hudy solder. I bought Deans and Bullet connectors, and all of the consumables mentioned above...

Except shock and diff fluids. I haven't done enough reading on that topic yet.
I plan to experiment, so I'm gonna get some shock pliers.

Soon I'll have the basics for building em n fixing em.

Offroad Tuning wise: I guess fluids and a ride height tool are first on my list.

I know wheels and tires are probably the most important, but that's all I know.

Again thanks everybody.

My Hudy Ultimate Body Scissors dont have the brand name on them anywhere. I ordered a bunch of stuff from China (I live in China.), and everything looks top notch except the Hudy Scissors. Also, three of the four staples had been removed from the package. hmmm

The hobby shop guy said Hudy didnt always put their name on everything...

bwaaahhahahaaaaaa... Hudy doesn tahhah haahahahaaaa always put their name on everything. no way!

Im sending them back. I'll add a pic tonight.

Ride height is a big one for offroad. Picking up a cheap camber gauge would not hurt either unless you go a full setup station route. Tire choice is key, but that is something you learn from others at your track and not so much the internet.

The Hudy body scissors do not look like any other brand that I have seen. Should be pretty easy to spot a fake.

Sounds like you are well on your way!