We've all read the articles that remind you what to bring to the track. "Bring a charger, bring your car..." blah, blah. The pits are just that in most places...the pits. If they weren't they'd be called a lounge or something cooler. But just because you're in the pits doesn't mean you can't "church it up" with a few items you might not have thought about. We gathered a list of 15 things that will make your life in the pits less of a pit.

Click here to read the rest of this article from Xtreme R/C.

I have to be honest with all of you here, I don't always do my droop and over the years I have realised how stupid of me. Droop, like most other settings you can do on your RC racer is a very important part of controlling weight transfer.

So why am I lazy with droop then? I suppose it has more to do with confusion than anything else and to add to that here is another method of measuring and setting your droop - by David Jun of Tamiya USA.

Xray recommends that you frequently check the NT1's 2-speed shaft ( #335510) for excessive wear. When the 2-speed shaft is worn, the one-way bearing can stack and this can cause teeth to break on the spur gear. When the 2-speed shaft is excessively worn, you should exchange it for a new one. The same advice applies to other car makes too!

If you are having to pay for your engine AND you are not one of the best tuners around, you will want to do all it takes to prepare an engine before using it. It is normally recommended that you open a brand new engine and check that there are no debris inside the engine that could have been left there from the manufacturing process.

While you have it opened, you may as well prepare to seal it. This video by the guys at R/C Car Magazine shows you how to do that. It is actually an entertaining video as well and even includes an outtake of bloopers!