Information Provided By HPI Racing

Serious R/C Racing

This section is for those racers who are very serious about their racing! So don't be surprised if you see a suggestion here and wonder, "Do people actually do this?", because they do! These suggestions are not for beginners or casual racers! These tips assume you have a good knowledge of your car and are comfortable with taking it apart and reassembling it. Some of these tips will cost some money, and we are NOT trying to bankrupt racers, just give them a reference to check before they go to a big race or event.

Plastic Bulkheads - Over time, these will loosen and get weaker. If you constantly tighten and loosen the screws going into these plastic parts, you will accelerate the wear. To help prevent chassis tweak during races (wrecking), these parts should be as new as possible. Replace them before major events and use new screws if possible.

Hingepins, Shock Shafts and Kingpins - When tearing apart the car, check these parts. If you roll them across a piece of flat glass or countertop and notice a wobble, replace the offending part! Otherwise it will be binding up the suspension movement. Before a big race or when tearing apart your whole car, it's a good idea to use put the hingepins in a rotary tool and polishing them with some polishing compound on a rag.

Ball Cups and Shock Ends - If you have any play (side-to-side, or lateral play; this doesn't refer to the 'looseness' of the ball cup) in these parts you need to replace the plastic part so you get a more responsive suspension setup. Some racers build up layers of CA glue inside the ball cups to get a tighter fit on the ball ends.

Ball Ends - If you have a scratch on a ball end, you'll need to replace it. That scratch will catch on the plastic ball end or shock end and cause it to bind.

Ball Bearings - Some racers getting ready for a big race will clean out the thick grease completely from the bearings (soaking overnight in grease solvent or Simple Green usually does the trick - follow it up with blasting the bearings with motor spray or brake parts cleaner). With all the manufacturing grease out of the bearing, apply a very light amount of miniature bearing oil to the bearing, and that's it. Some racers go so far as to remove the side shields from their bearings to remove the extra friction caused by them.

Shocks - You should rebuild the shocks more often than the casual racer. A very important point that is overlooked by most racers is to make sure the shock's overall length is the same from left to right. Some racers have different length shocks front and rear, so make sure that at least the left and right shocks at each end are the same.. This helps make sure the car is not tweaked to the left or right. Trim the shock ends properly so there is nothing sticking off the ends (a file or emery board works great on the rounded ends), and use a set of calipers to measure the total shock length. The length can be adjusted by turning the plastic shaft end, the 'eye' piece that snaps on the ball end.

Racer's tip: You can replace the ball ends that hold the ends of the shocks with HPI #A133 (Ball 3 x 5.8 x 6mm) or the similar Associated part (6471, 7217 or 7660) and use screws to hold the shocks in. From the #6817 Shock Parts Set, just use the eye pieces that are slightly larger than the ones called for in the instructions (you've always wondered what those were for, didn't you?) and substitute them for the stock eye pieces. Just be aware that by using these, you will extend the overall length of the shocks, and you will have to adjust the ride height accordingly.