new racer question

[Dirt-Basher03]

I have never raced before and I am kinda new to this hobby. I am going to race my evader st in the stock truck class, and i'm using a monster horsepower stock motor. Will an am radio be fine to start out with. I am 15 and i don't have a lot of money to spend. Also, is it necessary to have extra radio crystals. The truck is bone stock and i have two 2400 nicds. Thanks for your input:)

[SteveK]

That radio will be very good to start with: The only adjustments I think you really need are the centering adjustments for the throttle and steering (All radios have this) and dual-rate adjustment so you can reduce the amount of steering throw (The cheapest radios don't have this, and it can often make a big difference in a poor-handling car).

The radio itself is made by Futaba, and they make excellent radios. Upgrading the servo or ESC will be no problem, and you could even keep that radio and move it to a new car or truck if you buy another one.

Extra radio crystals might not be a bad idea if your local track is really crowded, but since you will be using a 27mhz radio, unless there is another guy using an RTR in your class, you won't likely run into a frequency conflict. And if you do, chances are the shop or another racer will be able to loan you some crystals: I've both borrowed and loaned crystals to other racers, and when I was a race director I found pretty much everybody is will to help out in a frquency conflict.

[FSU427P]

First off, your AM radio should be fine starting out. Most serious racers have FM systems, so your AM system might be the only one out there. Just in case, bring an extra set of crystals with you.

As for your truck, your motor and batteries should be fine for stock racing. For the Evader ST, do what you can to get the CG (center of gravity) down. Lower the suspension, front and rear, until the rear drive shafts are parallel with the ground. This will improve the trucks handling characteristics overall and will make the truck more predictable around the track. make sure the shocks/springs aren't too stiff. the Evader comes out of the box pretty stiff, so turn the threads on the shocks to the left and free up the suspension to move more freely. that will help you on jumps and rhythm (sp?) sections. I know you don't have much in the way of $$$, but at leat for the future you will want to consider these upgrades for racing your evader.

1) Tires. Racing is very tough on tires, especially stock-not-meant-for-racing-duratrax-tires. You going to want at least two good sets of tires with different compounds. Ask your LHS for different compounds depending on what type of track you race at (blue groove, dirty, muddy). In case you were wondering. Losi rims will fit your evader, and pro-line rims made for losi trucs will fit your evader. Any 2.2 tire will fit those rims.

2) Steering servo. Again, the stock equipment will eventually not hold up to the gruels of racing. get a nice metal gear high-torque servo. I recomment the JR z590m or the Hitec 625mg. They are both great steering servo's for of road racing and they are both under $40.

Final message. Have fun! The Evader is a very capable truck, and given the right driver (hopfully you) and the right upgrades, it can beat T3's and XXX-T's hands down. I don't know if you have jerks at your track, but there is bound to be at least one guy who will criticize you for having a less popular truck. Don't sweat it, just do your best and have fun, and heck, beat the crap out of his truck while your at it. I may own a Factory Team T3 myself, but I always welcome new racers to the scene, no matter what they drive. Good luck!

[Dirt-Basher03]

Thanks for the info! It really helps me a lot:D