Welcome to The RC Doctor, an area of CompetitionX dedicated to helping you diagnose and repair any RC car or truck problems. With over 20 years of RC experience, The RC Doctor provides expert advice on nearly all subjects related to RC cars and trucks. We can help you troubleshoot everything from faulty electronics to broken chassis/suspension parts and point you in the right direction on how to get it fixed. If you have an ailing RC, fill out the Ask The RC Doctor form on the right and let us help you diagnose your problem!

Recent Surgeries

RC Quick Setup Guide

After many years of having our RC Tuning Guide online, we’ve had many requests to put together a Quick Setup Guide with the most ideal tuning options to cure a problem with car handling. This …

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RC Suspension Tuning Guide – Wheelbase

RC Tuning - Wheelbase

What is a Wheelbase? The Wheelbase denotes the distance between the front and rear axles of your car and can be changed by moving spacers on the lower inner (or outer) hinge pin. Typically the …

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RC Suspension Tuning Guide – Body Position

What is Body Position? Your car’s Body Position affects the way it generates downforce. While this tuning option works with most cars, it is highly effective in full-bodied cars like touring cars. Like the body, …

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RC Suspension Tuning Guide – Arm Sweep

What is Arm Sweep? Arm Sweep describes the backwards angle (from the inner hinge pin) of the front suspension arms. Arm Sweep is adjusted by angling the lower inner hinge pins inward or outward slightly …

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RC Suspension Tuning Guide – Active Toe

What is Active Toe? Toe describes the angle of the rear tires, either Toe In or Toe Out, and is a fixed adjustment on all cars. Some cars have what is called Active Toe, a …

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RC Suspension Tuning Guide – Track Width

RC Tuning - Track Width

What is Track Width? Track Width is a measurement from the outside edge of the front or rear wheels, ie, front track width is from the outside edge of one front wheel to the outside …

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RC Suspension Tuning Guide – Toe In / Toe Out

RC Tuning - Toe In / Toe Out

What is Toe In / Toe Out? Toe In / Toe Out describes the angle of the front (or rear) tires when viewed from above. If the front tires angle in (or towards the chassis), …

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RC Suspension Tuning Guide – Steering Throw Symmetry

RC Tuning - Steering Throw Symmetry

What is Steering Throw Symmetry? When you build your RC car for the first time (or pull it out of the box if it’s an RTR), the steering turnbuckles are typically set to the correct …

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RC Suspension Tuning Guide – Slipper Clutch

RC Tuning -Slipper Clutch

What is a Slipper Clutch? The Slipper Clutch is tuning tool used only in offroad. It is illegal to race with a Slipper Clutch in onroad. The Slipper Clutch system uses a spring to apply …

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RC Suspension Tuning Guide – Shock Mounting Positions

RC Tuning - Shock Mounting Positions

What are Shock Mounting Positions? There are a couple different shock mounting configurations, but for the most part there is an upper and lower mount with each location changing the handling of the car. On …

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RC Suspension Tuning Guide – Ride Height

RC Tuning - Ride Height

What is Ride Height? Ride Height is the distance measured from the bottom of the chassis to the ground. This adjustment should always be made with the car in race ready condition, meaning all electronics …

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RC Suspension Tuning Guide – Kickup

RC Tuning - Kickup

What is Kickup? Kickup describes the angle of the front of a chassis. It can also be described as another form of Caster. Cars with a flat chassis have 0° of Kickup (inner hinge pins …

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RC Suspension Tuning Guide – Gear Ratio

RC Tuning - Gearing

What is Gear Ratio? Every RC Car has two major gears to drive the car – a Pinion Gear and a Spur Gear. On battery-powered cars, the Pinion is attached to the motor and connects …

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RC Suspension Tuning Guide – Droop

RC Tuning - Droop

What is Droop? Droop is the amount of down-travel a suspension arm has. Droop can be set independently from front to back, but should be the same (normally) from side to side. There are a …

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RC Suspension Tuning Guide – Chassis

RC Tuning - Chassis

What is the Chassis? The Chassis is the main component of any vehicle. This is the backbone, or base, that the rest of the parts will be bolted to (in some fashion). There are really …

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