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 is a generic list, meaning it should work with most cars, both onroad and offroad, but please take into account that all cars are different and making one change can affect another (see our Tuning Guide Set-Up Order for more info on that).

Reduce Understeer:

• Increase Ackermann
• Thinner front Anti-Roll Bar, thicker rear Anti-Roll Bar
• Increase Caster
• Lower front Roll Center, higher rear Roll Center
• Harder Shock Springs, heavier Shock Oil, smaller (or less) holes in Shock Pistons
• Increase angle on the Shock Mount Locations
• Increase front Weight Bias

Reduce Oversteer:

• Decrease Ackermann
• Thicker front Anti-Roll Bar, thinner rear Anti-Roll Bar
• Decrease Caster
• Higher front Roll Center, lower rear Roll Center
• Decrease angle on the Shock Mount Locations
• Increase rear Weight Bias

Increase On-Power Steering:

• Thicker rear Anti-Roll Bar
• Decrease Anti-Squat
• Increase Caster
• Thicker fluid in front and center diff, lighter fluid in rear diff (4WD cars)
• Use laydown transmission layout
• Lower front Roll Center
• Decrease front Toe-In
• Longer rear Wheelbase

Increase Off-Power Steering:

• Increase Ackermann
• Thicker front Anti-Roll Bar
• Decrease rear Droop
• Lighter fluid in front and center diff, thicker fluid in rear diff (4WD cars)
• Decrease front Toe-Out
• Shorter rear Wheelbase

Increase Chassis Roll:

• Thicker front/rear Anti-Roll Bar
• Lower inboard Camber Link Location
• Raise outboard Camber Link Location
• Increase Ride Height
• Lower Roll Center

Decrease Chassis Roll:

• Thicker front/rear Anti-Roll Bar
• Raise inboard Camber Link Location
• Lower outboard Camber Link Location
• Decrease Ride Height
• Raise Roll Center

Improve Straight-Line Stability:

• Decrease front Camber, increase rear Camber
• Increase Caster
• Heavier front Shock Oil, lighter rear Shock Oil
• Decrease front Toe (set closer to 0°)

Improve Corner Stability:

• Thicker front/rear Anti-Roll Bar
• Decrease Anti-Squat
• Increase negative Camber

Prevent Traction Roll:

• Thicker front Anti-Roll Bar, thinner rear Anti-Roll Bar
• Decrease Caster
• Decrease Ride Height
• Higher front Roll Center, lower rear Roll Center
• Stiffer front Shock Springs for on-throttle traction roll, lighter for off-throttle
• Lighter rear Shock Springs

Quicker Steering Response:

• Increase Caster
• Decrease rear Droop
• Increase Ride Height
• Raise Roll Center
• Heavier front Shock Oil, stiffer front Shock Springs
• Heavier rear Shock Oil, stiffer rear Shock Springs

Increase Forward Traction:

• Increase Anti-Squat
• Decrease negative Camber
• Lighter Clutch Springs (Nitro)
• Lower Roll Center
• Loosen Slipper Clutch
• Increase rear Toe-In
• Use standup transmission layout
• Increase rear Weight Bias

Improve Handling Over Bumps:

• Increase Caster, Kickup
• More flexible Chassis (fewer braces)
• Increase Ride Height
• Lighter Shock Springs, lighter Shock Oil, larger (or more) holes in Shock Pistons
• Increase angle on the Shock Mount Locations
• Longer Wheelbase

Prevent Bottoming Out on Landings:

• Increase Droop
• Increase Ride Height
• Heavier Shock Oil, smaller (or less) holes in shock pistons