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netsmithUK

Cleaning muddy cars....

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As much as I think my cars look 10 times better when covered in mud from a good drive, does anyone have any tips on cleaning them.

Just got a round to starting to clean my Terra Crusher, TXT1 and Top Force after the weekends meeting. There is mud packed into nook and cranny. I know I could completely dismantle and polish and rebuild but chances are I'll be getting them muddy again fairly soon.

Just how clean to you have to get them? Do things go rusty?

Cheers

Chris

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Stick them in the dishwasher

Don't!!!!! only joking

Toothbrush and mild soap is best bet.

Pressure washing should be avoided, this'll just force water into the bearings and gearboxes.

And yep, you're gonna get rust, all the lovely black screws, black dogbones and any other steel not plated. Best option is clean crud off, then wipe over any suspect parts with a rag soaked in WD40, and spray it onto any parts where accuracy isn't an issue[:)]

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clean your car, never considered that one. My emaxx sits in the shed with muddy wheels but the body keeps off all the mud inside. I only have one runner scorcher and thats not worth keeping clean in my opinion. If the parts do discolour or rust then hey, all part of it, 2 years of use and no rust noticed yet. I do just shake it a bit and brush off a majority of the dry mud but if its wet, it stays there. Never been one for cleaning![;)]

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A lot of the guys at the ttlocals track have small air compressors that they use to blow all the dirt off.

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I just take out the electronic stuff then take it to the shower, the non stainless steel stuff is then taken out and dried and put back after all is dry. Actually right now, it's standing in a friends shower since it's been out for a walk/run.

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I overhead a conversation at a hobbyshop once and one of the "experts" suggested the best method was to completely spray the car with WD40 before you take it out. After its covered in mud you should let the mud dry completely. When dry simply dropping the car on its wheels from about 6"s should release any remaining mud.

The only downside for this is having to live with a greased up car/truck that could be very difficult to work on.

By the way - I've not tried this!!!

Riz

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Well,

We cane our trucks on a pile of coal dust so as you would imagine cleaning is a bit of a chore. Clumber park was a pleasant change with only a bit of and to brush off and some Clod tyres to soak in buckets of water. I wouldn't spray your car with WD40 as this makes a horrible mess and can damage some plastic and rubber compounds. If you do spray it on wipe it off.

a>

We hired a car to come down to Clumber park and although there was plenty of room the interior was cream in colour. Now I imagine it is 'brown' in colour and am glad of the fact that we dropped off the car at night.

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Some time spent in the bathtub with warm water, a paintbrush, toothbrush and a bottle of dishdrops is usually the best way. To be safe, one could remove all the electronics before scrubbing, although my servos seem to survive the splashing (not submerged) so far, as long as you dry them before powering up again.

Receivers & Old style ESCs with trimpots don't like water though!!

Trick to avoid rust is to totally dry the car. Whilst at the tub, blow and shake off all water possible. An airline is handy, or a vacumm cleaner blow-output is good too.

The nitros with all their metal & nylon then sit for an hour or 2 near a 2400W fan heater, comes out all nice and toasty warm. Plastic laden Tamiyas probably won't tolerate the heat, so its a table fan trained on them overnight.

After each clean, all the exposed bearings could do with a squirt of WD40 anyway, so that's worth doing. Motor spray into the can, drivecups and misc electronics helps also.

We haven't seen any problems with rust on the Tammys, Kyoshos and HPIs even after all these bath years.

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evrybody has a different ways,ive had good luck so far....i love getting my rc s dirty,i usually run my car over the grass,before the battery ditches,it seems to do a pre-clean for me,specially the tires.

for cleaning i usually use soap and water with a toothbrush,lots of rags and a hairdryer,after i clean i oil the bearings and inspect for

small rocks and things.i found that if you use armour all on your tires before running, the dirt doesnt stick to the tire,therefore you have better traction and less mess to clean later.

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quote:
Originally posted by TWO STAR

...i found that if you use armour all on your tires before running, the dirt doesnt stick to the tire,therefore you have better traction and less mess to clean later.

id="quote">id="quote">

Some guys also use (1) no-touch tyre shiner foam or (2) talcum powder. Can't say if it works.

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Cleaning is very important, especially the driveline and the suspension (the 'moving' parts). If you don't clean up your car properly you will get lots more wear. I found out the hard way with the dogbones on my King Blackfoot... [:o]

What I use for cleaning the cars up is an air compressor which is in the garage. It always comes in handy to have a dad with good tools... [|)] I clean out every piece of dirt I see. I start with blowing the chassis and tires of, and then (when the presure builds up) I clean out the dogbones, suspension, and hard-to-reach areas. Sometimes a brush can help the dirt fly away. The air also blows away the water a little.

The bodies look a MESS after driving on sandy pavement with little puddles. (And i love to run though the puddles... [:P] ) I usually close the mounting holes with my fingers and fill the inside with water. Just flush around the water a bit so all the dirt in it it, then quickly flip the body and the dirt goes away with the water. It is recommed to walk outside FIRST and not to throw the water over your pants... [;)] The outside mostly doesn't really get dirty (?), I can put it in the sink without too much trouble. Make sure you don't flush all the sand away because you might want to call a plumber afterwards! [:o] To dry the body, you can go back to the trusty air compressor again. Be carefull with 959 bodies; these are probably too fragile for this!

I hope this helps... [:)]

Sjoerd

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