RC cars have been around for more than 50 years now and there have been many manufacturers that came and went during these 5 decades. One, true to its core manufacturer was RC4WD which came late to the party but has made a firm stance on what it offers. Founded in 2001, this Silicon Valley-based brand started as a small online shop for monster trucks.
The quick success of RC4WD was thanks to a forum called RCMT.net which was the place for monster trucks back then. This led to the production of close to 800 different parts in 2005. Rock crawling products were also introduced in 2006 which later on helped RC4WD control every aspect of production as well as sales and marketing.
Parts of an RC Car
Transmitter
The transmitter is not exactly a part found in an RC car. Instead, it’s a component on its own that helps send out information to the car. You may know it as the remote. This is essentially the only external component that communicates with the receiver in your RC 4WD vehicle.
Receiver
Unlike the transmitter, the receiver isn’t a component working on its own. It’s part of the RC car as it needs to send out the information it receives from the transmitter to all the necessary components. The signals are usually sent to two different components, the controller and the servo.
Speed Controller
The speed controller is an electronic control unit that allows you to adjust the speed at which your RC car is moving. What you send out from the transmitter is translated into RPM (revolutions per minute) by the speed controller.
Steering Servo
Steering servos are what help direct the car. They do this thanks to a set of reduction gears which are driven by an RC4WD motor inside the servos. These gears then amplify the torque needed to move the steering system and thus point the car in the right direction.
Throttle Servo
If you have a nitro RC 4WD car you will definitely have a throttle servo in it. This type of servo is what helps open and close the carburettor which is a component that controls the engine’s RPM.
Engine
An engine is something that you will find in nitro cars too and it works much like the one in your actual car. While the combustion process isn’t entirely the same, the engine does burn fuel which in this case is known as nitro. This is a mix of methanol, oil and nitromethane.
Tuned Pipe
A tuned pipe is usually found on a performance-oriented engine. The shape of this pipe or rather an exhaust is made that way so that it improves engine power. Calling it “tuned” makes it sound more like a complex upgrade rather than something that involves a change to its shape.
Motor
If you go for an electric RC4WD car then you will have a motor instead of an engine. This motor can be either brushed or brushless. Meaning it can operate on magnets alone or metal brushes in order to generate power. The former is much superior since it’s able to last longer and provide a more efficient power output. The latter may be more affordable but it isn’t as good of a choice in the long run.
Battery
Electric RC cars also have a battery. The component where all the power is stored is usually based either on NiMH or LiPo technology. But not all electric RC cars come with a battery as some require you to make a separate purchase.
Fuel Tank
The battery of a nitro-powered RC car is the fuel tank.
Pinion & Spur Gears
The pinion and spur gears of an RC car represent the main gear reduction. This component can easily be upgraded by replacing its existing gears with different-sized ones. This allows you to change how quickly the car accelerates as well as its top speed. In order to be able to benefit from this you need to know the right number of teeth, teeth size, and the spacing of the teeth which is known as the pitch.
RTR vs Kit
There are different variations that RC4WD cars can come in. RC 4WD RTR or ready-to-run models are those that only need to be topped up with fuel or have the battery put in. While these type of models make it easy to get in on the fun straight away, they’re not as interesting as kits. Kits are made so that you’re able to build your model car. With a kit, you get every part and hardware needed to build the model car and even some instructions on how to do it.
Of course, the level of assembly required from you is going to depend on the skill level of the RC 4WD kit. The higher the level is the more you’ll need to assemble and thus the more difficult it’s going to be to figure stuff out on your own. While kits are time-consuming they’re able to let you in on how RC cars actually work. You also get the option to customise a model RC 4WD kit however you want.
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