How do you clean your RC?

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WD40 is a cleaner, and will remove the oils. If it seeps into the bearings, it will cut the life of your bearings in half, if not worse.

Of course! But have you seen what water does to your rc after wd40 has been applied and dried to plastics and metals? Cleaning your bearings is a completely different application.
 
some people use wd 40 on the plastics on purpose to soften the plastic which isnt a bad thing when it comes to a arms except for the threaded points allows for a slight flex to help absorb shock better instead of cracking.
 
Can I use motor oil on bearings, Marlin grease, or shocks oil?
 
I like 3n1 oil or Bones Speed Cream. The Speed cream is what I have used in my Skates and Skate Boards for ever. 3n1 oil has always worked well. However, I have not ever cleaned the bearings in my Kraton. I figure if you have to tear down the whole car to replace all the bearings, you may as well put new bearings in. Fast Eddies are $25, so for the extra time saved by not having to clean the bearings I figure I save money by just replacing them every so often.
 
I like 3n1 oil or Bones Speed Cream. The Speed cream is what I have used in my Skates and Skate Boards for ever. 3n1 oil has always worked well. However, I have not ever cleaned the bearings in my Kraton. I figure if you have to tear down the whole car to replace all the bearings, you may as well put new bearings in. Fast Eddies are $25, so for the extra time saved by not having to clean the bearings I figure I save money by just replacing them every so often.

This works for wheel bearings. The diff outdrive bearings, though, you don't want to run to failure. If they fail, they will destroy your diff very quickly - normally faster than you will realize there is a problem.
 
This works for wheel bearings. The diff outdrive bearings, though, you don't want to run to failure. If they fail, they will destroy your diff very quickly - normally faster than you will realize there is a problem.
I sadly found this out the hard way, when replacing my bearings, when I opened up my rear diff case it was full of a concoction of lithium grease and metal shavings, my rear diff output gear is basically a stub all because the stock outer bearing failed, the inners were still in excellent condition though.
I do believe my bearing failure to be caused by the dirt at the homemade rc track I recently started running my cars there when I got my RC10B2 over the summer. Every single car since I have started running there has started to eat bearings. I ran my Summit there once and it sounded like a S10 Blazer with bad body mounts afterwards.
 
Spray degreaser.
Hose it down
Air hose it after
Make sure everyone dry

Then
Spray with wd40
Then air hose the residue out
 

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I use to detail cars so I have a lot left over from that so you guys may not know what some of this stuff but here it goes.
  1. Remove wheels and tires and hit with air compressor
  2. Spray down with Optimum Power Clean 50/50 allow to dwell.
  3. Rinse with steamer
  4. Small bucket with car wash and Swiss Wax paint brush style detail brush. Grab suds off top and go to town on entire truck.
  5. Rinse with steamer (avoid bearings directly)
  6. Dry with 5hp shop vac
  7. Final dry with microfiber towel
  8. Same process with wheels and tires.
  9. Spray entire truck with Moo-Slick and let dry for about 20 minutes
  10. Even out Moo-Slick and work into corners and tight areas with paint brush
  11. Final wipedown with microfiber towel
  12. same process on wheels and tires
  13. put wheels and tires back on.
It looks brand new.

Eventually going to soak pivot balls with molykote.
 
Be sure to lube all bearings with proper bearing oil after cleaning... A bit of water with cleaner will screw up the old oil, and then the bearing dies quickly. See also, WD40 warnings Post #11.
 
Off hand, I don't remember if the seal is crimped or held in with a retaining clip. If it has the ring clip, you can use a needle or xacto tip to pop it out - find the gap in the ring, it is cut on an angle, so one side is impossible, the other will pop out easy with the needle. Gotta play with it and examine carefully. Once the ring is out, the shield will come out easy. If the shield is crimped in place, then you are SOL, just blast it with carb cleaner best you can, spin it, blast, repeat till either it spins good or is hopeless.

It is very nice to have a good set of bearings on hand. When you do the car cleaning, just swap in the good ones. Then clean & lube the old ones later. The ones that clean up good go back into the good pile for next cleaning / rebuild, the bad ones get trashed. Avid-RC are my favorite, but Fast Eddies are great too.
 
IMG_1345.JPG

Just wanted to throw this out there in case anyone wondered about these.

After I clean my trucks I spray silicone over the entire truck. Spread it and work it in the right areas with a brush and then wipe it down with a microfiber towel. It makes it look like new, makes cleanup easier after the next run and protects the metal.

I love Moo-Slick by thought I would give WD-40 Silicone spray a shot since it's easier to get thinking they would be the same. I was wrong, the WD Silicone doesn't spray isn't a mist like the Moo-Slick (this is probably due to the type of sprayer) and it's thicker and doesn't spread as easily...plus it stinks. I much prefer the Moo-Slick...just seems better suited for this application.

Also, Pledge Multi Surface is perfect for cleaning the body. Spray it on and buff it off. It's awesome and leaves a little bit of protection behind because it feels like the body has been waxed.
 
Off hand, I don't remember if the seal is crimped or held in with a retaining clip. If it has the ring clip, you can use a needle or xacto tip to pop it out - find the gap in the ring, it is cut on an angle, so one side is impossible, the other will pop out easy with the needle. Gotta play with it and examine carefully. Once the ring is out, the shield will come out easy. If the shield is crimped in place, then you are SOL, just blast it with carb cleaner best you can, spin it, blast, repeat till either it spins good or is hopeless.

It is very nice to have a good set of bearings on hand. When you do the car cleaning, just swap in the good ones. Then clean & lube the old ones later. The ones that clean up good go back into the good pile for next cleaning / rebuild, the bad ones get trashed. Avid-RC are my favorite, but Fast Eddies are great too.

Great explanation.
Thank you so much
 
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