Build ‘Em Up: How to Build a RC Car from Scratch
Did you know that painting and drawing are the leading hobbies people invest in today?
After all, people spend around $7.4 billion on these hobbies in the United States alone. Kids’ crafts follow at a close second with $7.31 billion spending each year.
Hobbies are important to ensure that life becomes an enjoyable experience. Some people like expressing themselves with paintings. Others like delving into the history of origami paper folding.
But if you’re an RC car enthusiast, you might want to tackle a more complicated project. One of the ultimate challenges out there is how to build a RC car from scratch. Read on if you want to learn the steps to building an RC car from scratch.
1. Drill the Holes
As a starter project, you can experiment with an index card box. Drill two small holes on the opposite sides. Make sure to do this across from each other, not through the box’s lid.
Ensure that the holes aren’t bigger than the shafts of the motors you’ll use. The reason behind it is to minimize the vibrations that happen during its use. That means your drill bit should be around the 1/8″ or 1/4″ size.
2. Mount the Wheels
There are a lot of places that offer various spare parts for RC cars. There are hobby stores and electronic shops that sell these parts. But if you’re resourceful enough, you can salvage the wheels of other toy cars you might have.
Remove the rubber wheels and thread the shafts of the motor through the holes you drilled. Make sure that you do this from the inside of the index card box. The motor bodies should stay inside the box with the shafts poking out through the holes.
3. Mount the Motors
To mount the motors in their respective positions, use a double-sided sticky tape. Put it under each of them and press it down. Make sure to stay firm so that the connection stays in place.
If you want to know what motors to get, you can check here for more info. They offer a lot of options that can fit your needs. It’s also a good resource to know what to look for in case you have parts lying around.
4. Wire the Batteries
This is easy if you have experience with electronic devices. You need a soldering iron to finish this task since you need to solder the power wires. You need to connect the battery pack with the power inputs in this fashion.
Make sure that the input is that of a 2-channel remote receiver. This part needs a lot of attention since it determines if the RC car runs. You need to connect it in such a way that the positive and the negative parts of each component match together.
5. Wire the Motors
You need to use your trusty soldering iron to connect the motor wires to the radio receiver. You can solder the former’s wires to the latter’s outputs. Make sure that the connection is positive to positive and negative to negative.
6. Pack the Batteries and Electronics
Once you’re done soldering the parts together, put the battery pack and radio receiver inside the box. Do this with utmost care, making sure they’re secured in place. The double-sided tape should do the trick.
7. Final Assembly and Test
You’ll see the protruding shafts from the box where you need to attach the rubber wheels. Once you’re finished with that, you need to test your electronics with the use of your chosen remote control.
If you did the connections right, your RC car should have the ability to run around. Its two wheels should allow it to move forward and backward. It should turn left and right without problems.
You can always check for the connections if the car doesn’t run, especially the integrity of the cables and connections. If possible, you can turn to other online tutorials to troubleshoot electronic problems.
Otherwise, you’re done! You succeeded in building an RC car from scratch!
How to Choose the Right RC Car
This starter DIY RC car uses a battery for its operation. But there are some things you need to consider if you want to undertake a more complicated project in the future. The most important aspect you need to consider is the power source since it changes how you build a RC car.
1. Gas or Nitro
If you use this to power your self-made RC car, it has more power and can run faster. It’s easy to get from any RC hobby stores or on the internet. Its main drawback is the fact that it’s heavier and can break easier during a crash.
Another drawback is that it becomes messy. Remember, this is liquid fuel so it’s possible for leaks and spills to happen, and while you can do some tune-ups to make it last longer, you need to replace it when it breaks.
2. Electricity
This power source is great for beginners, but it isn’t inferior in any way. Compared to its gas-powered counterparts, RCs powered by electricity get instant torque, helping them start up much faster and run without a short delay.
If you power your RC car with batteries, they’re always ready to go, meaning you don’t need to get gas or oil to keep it going. Its only main drawback is that it’s less powerful than gas, thus making your RC car slower.
Learn How to Build a RC Car Today!
It’s always important to remember that you need a bit of technical and hardware expertise to know how to build a RC car. You should always keep safety in mind since the soldering iron can burn your skin, so always wear gloves and other protective gear while working.
This is the simplest self-made RC car you can make, but once you’re ready, you can move on to 3D-printing parts and using AutoCAD to make your own RC car.
Do you want to start collecting something? You can read this post if you want to make a great challenge coin collection.