How To Clean Your RC Car Properly

RC car Cleaning tips

In RC hobby the weather conditions aren’t always the cleanest possible, so knowing how to clean the car is important. Therefore, it is good to make a habit of cleaning the car quickly after changing the battery and more thoroughly before storing the equipment. This way, you will prolong the durability of the mechanical parts of the car simply by keeping them clean. Dirt binds moisture, which will increase the rate of rusting of the metallic parts and it works as an abrasive specially between the plastic parts wearing away the parts significantly more than normally.

When cleaning the car, it is important to make sure that the chemicals don’t end up in the electric components of the car or the bearings. Generally, a brush is the only thing you need to get the loose dirt off the car. After driving in a dusty environment, compressed air is a quick and easy way to clean the car.

It’s good to clean the car right after driving, when the dirt is fresh and comes off easily. Damp clay/mud is especially difficult to get off the plastic parts. After driving, the first thing you always do is switch off the power and take off the battery. After this, you use a brush to get rid of all the loose dirt. If the dirt is stuck fast, you can use cloth damped with a cleansing agent to rub it off. Using a cloth, the dirt is absorbed into the cloth, which keeps the cleaning area clean.

Pro Tip: To make the cleaning easier with off-road cars, it’s good to take the tires and the rear wing off, which will make the cleaning of the suspensions significantly easier.

After cleaning it is good to check the condition of the bearings and if you’ve been driving in humid weather you should oil the bearings with an appropriate type of oil to protect the bearings against humidity in the future. If you drive on tracks where salt is used to control the dust, you should treat the metal parts with an oiled (e.g. WD40) cloth.

When the driving season is over, it’s good to clean the car thoroughly before any major overhaul. First you take off the electric components of the car after which you can freely do the cleaning. When the electric components aren’t in the way you can use cleaning agents directly on the car which you can let act for a bit before wiping. A toothbrush, a brush and a cloth are enough.

After cleaning it is important to remember to dry and when necessary, oil the hinge pins and the bare metal surfaces with WD40 oil for example. It’s good to take off the hinge pins after the cleaning and clean them separately before putting them back. The joints of the driving shafts can be greased with graphite grease or a lubricant that is meant for joints. When greasing the bearings, it’s good to use oil that’s meant for bearings.

A well cleaned and serviced car is much nicer to use when a new season starts or when moving indoors. It’s important to remember that the durability of a serviced and cleaned car is much better than a car that hasn’t been serviced and cleaned. The functioning of the suspension and drivetrain of a car that’s kept clean and serviced is much smoother and thus the cleaning affects the overall performance of the car.