I have started in this hobby about 3 years ago and will guess what i cant hear what my engines does so i lookat everything. I had did nothing but look at everything on line on how to drive to racing and setup and turning a nitro motor. The most important turning advice that i read is how to read you glow plug to tell if your to lean rich or just right. Will there is just to much for me type here but i will tell you guy that you should look it up and find the book cause last year before winter came i took an average of 5th place in truggy class oout of 11 to 15 people at my local track in illinois. i also took 1 place in the monster truck class which was the first car i got so that my be way i did better or it could be cause it was just five guy avreage in that class. Will it seem to me that i begone helping peopl turn there cars last year and they asked how i got mine so good and i told them. i have nmade a bible with all the the trick nd tips i have found online or in a rc magizine. This was my first yeary going to the races also i did have a rough start in most of them liek where to start the cars at in the main sometimes i was way off and then the track guy relized that i could not hear and remberd that i tols them also after half the season went by will they finally worte down where i had to start and stuff like that but it was a lttile late and im reaslly looking to next year when i get back to racing so i can show them my updated bible i can not get a pic up here cause i broke my camera at the last race and i keep spending my money on rc parts right now. i think the second thing is my maintece sechudle i riped it down everyrace and clened it all back up and wnet though the entire truck to make sure nothing was brok or in bad shape. also in the winter i riped my motor apart and replace the bearing and rod every season and clean my piston with some fine grade0000 steel wool till it like new aagain if it still got a pinch left if not i get a new piston and sleve. i open my servo nd make sure there are no striped gear in them. i most overhaul my t maxx for the last 3 years and this ruggy is my first year with and i have to say i impressed people a lot at the 3 track i went too out here with my setup and how i NEVER BROKE NOTHING MAJOR. third thing i did i masrhelld evertime i could when not goin over my truck or racing at the time so i can see what people were doing on the track and how they handled turn like pumping the trhottle on a turn i never new that untill i saw it happen in a turn while mashrilng i wrote the question down and aske a guy and he told me it helpd with the traction on some peolpe cars setup while turning i found it to help me all the time.Will this year i hope the 3 track that i go to rember me well and i can llearne to win a race as well as look foward to working with the guys on how to know when my race was starting cuase l;ast year i must have started my truck at least a thousnad time for no reason just cause another guy was firing his up to look at something bad. Some guy wonder way i dont have elctric and i say it no fun and there repliy was you cant hear them any way and i said it the mechanic involed of running in nitro for me that got it hooked cause it like real racing and since i cant run nascar this keep it alive for me as well as drag raing since im gear head im not sure how many people just go by hearing or vision will all i got i vision to go by and and being hearing imparied my whjole life i an tell you i can almost see when something is wrong every time before some tell me they have a problem even with 1/1 scale cars since i learned to go by vision and not heraing and to feel thing more also since i cant hear when they go bad but i can tell you at the slight time if i feel it or see it will some off the guy at the track dont have the paticne to right stuff down i have found a great many of people that did have the time and one guy is waiting for me to come back to racing in the 2012 year since he said i was really good and he looking foward to betting me some more he said. will i have made quite a few freinds and im teaching them sign language also so the can help me too. I hope this will help some esle out there too. and i hope to become the local fast guy at these 3 track i go too all the time.

Congratulations on your first race season!

thank it was fun but i have to say it was not easy at all

If you can not hear at all I am amazed you can tune an engine- I mean at least for me hearing is probably the most important part- connecting the sound to the way the car drives/accelerates. Glad you're having fun with nitro!

will the most important thing that helps me is looking at the glow plug all the time after i run and a pay attetion to my smoke and my take off with temp all the time but yea nitro the way for me since i love working on cars.

I'm amazed,

Congrats for not giving up on the nitro. I can only guess what it must be like to try and tune a nitro mill with out being able to hear. I have seen many people give up on nitro because they have a hard time tuning. Perhaps they should read this thread.

Keep on doing what you are doing, enjoy racing and the hobby.

Thats cool man...Thanks for sharing your story. Your really saying that if you put your mind to it, you can do anything.

i met this man last year at the Summer Slam held by Real IL R/C Racers and i can tell you first hand that he's a stand up man!!! once i learned he was hearing impaired my jaw almost hit the ground!!! the T-Maxx he had on the track was tuned PERFECT!!! (and thats saying ALOT concidering it still had a Traxxas motor in it...) Nice to see your gonna be around this up comming season my friend!!! hope to run into ya once or twice!!!!

I can hear and I can't tune an engine! I'm impressed sr.! Good luck next season man!

hey that summer slam was me i did a pretty good job then i guess and that motor in the maxx has got 5 gallons on it i riped it all apart for now to clean it since it cold but the drive shaft problem i had sucked since the were breaking left and right and hustler do you always come down to il to race cause i will be there again this will be my second season racing i hope to make it a full one since last year i did not start till that summer slam race.

it just so happens that i'm planning on being down there for at least the summer slam!!! (i hope the heat isn't as bad as last year...98 degrees with 85% humidity....didn't stop sweating from 8am till 730pm!!!)

im sure it will just be as bad as last year but im hopping they will have the h2 speedway going for next year so it might not be in roundlake just pay attention to the real racers page on here and we should know what going on with the other track by then since it much bigger