Electric RC drift cars are the easiest to maintain of all RC drift cars.
Apart from cleaning with a soft cloth and warm water after each drifting session, your maintenance duties boil down to keeping the batteries recharged (and replacing old ones at least once a year), and changing the tires.
The tires are, in fact, the ones that will give you the most trouble because they usually need to be changed at least every few weeks if your car is to drift smoothly.
Tires Electric RC drift cars don't use foam tires like other RC cars but ABS plastic piping tires.
These tires can be bought from a wide range of RC cars and parts makers for $35 to $40.
There's also the possibility of making your own ABS tires, which can help you save money that you can invest in other car parts.
You'll find ABS piping in almost any hardware store, for prices like $5 or $6 for up to 10 feet of piping.
Take the rim of your RC car to your local hardware store and see if the ABS piping available fits on it.
You can use 51 mm ABS piping with 1/10 scale RC drift cars.
Alternatively, you can use PVC piping; though most RC drift car drivers prefer ABS piping (PVC is white).
Ready-made drift tires are made of ABS, rubber, and plastic.
They are available in a variety of models according to their traction and tread, and can be made for a specific surface such as asphalt.
Ready-made drift tires are quite durable and can be used for many sessions of drifting.
ABS or PVC tires that you make yourself don't last so long, but you can still get a few hours of drifting with ABS ones and up to a few weeks with PVC ones, which are physically harder.
Ready-made tires can make your car more controllable, so you may want to invest in them whenever competing in a serious race.
Balancing Wheels Besides good tires, electric RC drift cars also need balanced wheels, which prevent the vibration caused during driving to transfer throughout the chassis and make the car harder to handle.
Start with the front wheels.
After placing your car on a stand, spin a front tire.
When it stops rotating notice the heavy spot on the bottom and mark it down - balanced wheels always stop spinning in different position.
Apply modeling clay inside the wheel across from the heavy spot until the heavy spot is counterbalanced and the tire stops in a different position after each spin.
Repeat the process with the rear wheels.
Note that you may have to remove the drive-shaft from the axles to make the rear wheels spin freely.
Batteries Depending on the RC drift car you own, you may have to replace the vehicle's rechargeable batteries as often as every six months; otherwise your car will only run for shorter periods of time.
How often you do it depends on the quality of the battery, as well as on how much you use it.
At any rate, replacing the battery will be eventually necessary.
Apart from cleaning with a soft cloth and warm water after each drifting session, your maintenance duties boil down to keeping the batteries recharged (and replacing old ones at least once a year), and changing the tires.
The tires are, in fact, the ones that will give you the most trouble because they usually need to be changed at least every few weeks if your car is to drift smoothly.
Tires Electric RC drift cars don't use foam tires like other RC cars but ABS plastic piping tires.
These tires can be bought from a wide range of RC cars and parts makers for $35 to $40.
There's also the possibility of making your own ABS tires, which can help you save money that you can invest in other car parts.
You'll find ABS piping in almost any hardware store, for prices like $5 or $6 for up to 10 feet of piping.
Take the rim of your RC car to your local hardware store and see if the ABS piping available fits on it.
You can use 51 mm ABS piping with 1/10 scale RC drift cars.
Alternatively, you can use PVC piping; though most RC drift car drivers prefer ABS piping (PVC is white).
Ready-made drift tires are made of ABS, rubber, and plastic.
They are available in a variety of models according to their traction and tread, and can be made for a specific surface such as asphalt.
Ready-made drift tires are quite durable and can be used for many sessions of drifting.
ABS or PVC tires that you make yourself don't last so long, but you can still get a few hours of drifting with ABS ones and up to a few weeks with PVC ones, which are physically harder.
Ready-made tires can make your car more controllable, so you may want to invest in them whenever competing in a serious race.
Balancing Wheels Besides good tires, electric RC drift cars also need balanced wheels, which prevent the vibration caused during driving to transfer throughout the chassis and make the car harder to handle.
Start with the front wheels.
After placing your car on a stand, spin a front tire.
When it stops rotating notice the heavy spot on the bottom and mark it down - balanced wheels always stop spinning in different position.
Apply modeling clay inside the wheel across from the heavy spot until the heavy spot is counterbalanced and the tire stops in a different position after each spin.
Repeat the process with the rear wheels.
Note that you may have to remove the drive-shaft from the axles to make the rear wheels spin freely.
Batteries Depending on the RC drift car you own, you may have to replace the vehicle's rechargeable batteries as often as every six months; otherwise your car will only run for shorter periods of time.
How often you do it depends on the quality of the battery, as well as on how much you use it.
At any rate, replacing the battery will be eventually necessary.