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How to Build Your Own Tiny RC Car

Remote controlled, or radio controlled (RC) cars and vehicles have long been a hobbyist favorite. Building your own tiny RC car begins with either a ready-to-race (RTR) kit or a sketched design you use to create your car from scratch. Both need a basic understanding of how tiny RC cars are assembled. Sketches should be drawn in 1/10 scale and from multiple angles, measured from the wheels of the car. If you use a kit, a diagram will be provided to assist.

Things You'll Need

Ready-to-Race kit, or:
4 wheels
Chassis
Motor
Shock towers
Remote case
Pivoting axle
Straight axle
Two resistors
Copper ring
Steering knob
Servomechanism motor
Two antennas
Battery pack or batteries
Screwdriver
Screws
Two wires
Wire cutters
Drill
Steel rod
Steel knob

Instructions

- 1
  Purchase a kit or salvage the parts. Be sure you have wheels suited for the surface on which the car will operate, and for car's chassis, or body (any flat metal plate will do). Select a motor capable of two-way radio communication and shock towers to go in the chassis. Collect the other needed parts: a casing with a trigger for the remote control; a pivoting and straight axle; two resistors; a copper ring; a steering knob; a servomechanism motor used for guidance; and two antennas -- one for the remote and one for the car. Make sure you have the proper battery pack or batteries needed for your type of RC car. A kit should include all of these parts.
- 2
  Align the pivoting and straight axle and attach them with screws. The pivoting axle goes in the front for steering and the straight axle in the back for the wheels. The motor goes inside the chassis near the front axle.
- 3
  Connect the wheels to the sides of the car, making sure they all face the same direction. Test to see that they can spin without interfering with or meeting resistance from the rest of the car components.
- 4
  Run the steering wire from the motor to the gear assembly on the front axle. Twist the wire around the copper ring. Take the secondary wire and connect it from the motor to the axle knob on the front knob. Position the servomechanism by the motor and coil the servomechanism leads.
- 5
  Fasten the tires to the axles of your car and screw on the washers to secure. Attach the antenna to the top of the motor and screw it until it is secure.
- 6
  Drill a hole at the center of your remote base and install the resistors on each side of it. Attach an electrode and a steel head to a steel rod and place the rod through the hole. Finish by adding a knob to each end of the steel rod.
- 7
  Take the trigger wire and attach it to the least cluttered, most accessable opening on the resistors.
- 8
  Connect the remote housing halves, which usually snap together. Screw the control's antenna on the available spot on the top center of the remote.
- 9
  Fire up your tiny RC car and give it a test run to be sure that it works.

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