How to Make a Radio Control Car

Radio-controlled cars are toy vehicles driven by a two-way radio frequency electric motor and a hand-held radio-control device. Radio-controlled cars provide entertainment for children and adults, and many people design and build their own radio-controlled cars for racing and recreation. Building your own radio-controlled cars allows you to customize your cars according to your own tastes and needs.

Difficulty:

Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Radio-controlled car kit
• Rectangular steel plate 1 foot long by 6 inches wide
• Four steel clamps
• Four Phillips-head screws
• Phillips-head screwdriver
• Powdered graphite
• Four washers
• Adjustable wrench
• Two-way radio frequency electric motor
• Four steel bolts
• Wire strippers
• Rubber cement
• Four electric resistors
• Electric drill
• Rotating steel head with electrode
• 4-inch steel rod

Building the Body of the RC Car

1. Unpack the radio-controlled car kit, which should contain two axles, four tires and the plastic housing for the hand-held radio-control device.

2. Clamp the rectangular steel plate to the two axles using the four steel clamps and Phillips-head screws. Make sure that the front axle is the one with the pivoting ends, which allow the car to steer, and the drive apparatus, which is a copper ring around the right side of the axle.

3. Cover the tips of the axles with powdered graphite, and then slide the tires onto the axles. Screw washers onto the ends of the axles to hold the tires in place.

4. Fasten the electric motor to the front right corner of the steel plate using the steel bolts and the adjustable wrench. Use the wire strippers to remove some covering on the lead wire running from the motor. Use your hands to crimp the ends of the lead wire around the copper ring on the front axle.

5. Strip some covering off of the steering wire (usually the yellow wire), and twist the ends of the steering wire around the knob on the bottom of the front axle.

6. Screw the antenna onto the top of the electric motor by hand.

Building the Radio Controller

1. Glue two pairs of electric resistors to the inside wall of the radio-control housing, using the rubber cement. Leave a 1-inch space between the pairs of resistors.

2. Drill a small hole (approximately ½-inch in diameter) in the middle of the 1-inch space, and slide the 4-inch steel rod through this hole. Push the rotating steel head onto the inner end of the steel rod, and push the plastic knob for the radio-control device onto the outer end of the steel rod. Both the steel head and the plastic knob should easily snap onto the ends of the steel rod.

3. Strip some covering off the trigger wire, and crimp the wire ends onto one of the pairs of resistors. The trigger wire should have two ends, so attach one end to each resistor in the pair.

4. Snap the radio control housing closed, and attach the antenna to the top of the device by screwing it into place.

Tips & Warnings

• You can purchase a radio-controlled car kit from a company such as RC Hobbies.

• Do not cut any of the wires with the wire strippers when removing the covering. Doing so will force you to replace the wires or possibly buy a new car kit.

References

• Guide to building radio-controlled cars

Resources

• RC Hobbies