Well nivlacf1 you have certainly opted for a potentially difficult way to start the boys racing, TC's are now one of the most complicated cars along with 4wd off-roaders.
Most of our local youngsters start with something from the Tamiya stable and play outside initially to grasp a degree of driving experience and control, that is usually buggies but some opt for minis or rally cars.
Now you have made your decision though the the advice given here is sound but some of the catalogue of problems you have listed may well be down to the mechanic!
TC's do require careful setup to ensure there is no 'tweak' in the suspension which will force the care to pull to one side under acceleration and braking and it can be different directions for each depending on how each axle is setup. Toe in and toe out should also be balanced to ensure the car moves in a straight line and does not want to crab, all of this are basic setup requirements before you need to worry about camber and caster angles all off which let you fine tune for ultimate performance.
I don't know what experience you have on setup but each rear wheel should apply the same load to the track and so for the fronts to, the front and rear loads will obviously be different due to the front to rear weight distribution. This is done by ensuring the shocks are built to the right length as mentioned elsewhere and the spring adjusters set to remove any 'tweak'.
As for screws falling out well careful use of threadlock for metal parts and not over tightening into plastic parts are the main solutions, breaking belts is usually way to slack but normally over tightening, or hard crashes on full throttle!
I hope I am not preaching here on car building but the boys need to be able to practice there driving, not in a completely open space but around something marked out in an open space, they will soon learn if they have the right encouragement and aptitude.
The message is don't give up but look very closely at what you are doing, ask advice from the better drivers in the club and be patient!
Regards, John and old racer since the early 70's!
|