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Feb. 26, 2014, 5:23 a.m.
2/27/2014
By Mike Garrison
LiveRC.com
Whether it's wheel nuts, wings, tools, tracks, trinkets and/or anything in between, the LiveRC staff gives their testimonial and mini-review of each every Thursday morning!
ProTek R/C "Tru" Cleaners
$9.99 each
Whether you race onroad, offroad, or title yourself a "backyard basher," your R/C cars are going to get dirty and gross at some point. Getting them dirty isn't hard, but cleaning them back up is the difficult part. Oil, grease, fuel, dirt, dust, and mud seem to magically attract themselves to R/C cars. Furthermore, they attract themselves, latch on for dear life, and often find the tightest nook and cranny to hide out in.
I consider myself a clean guy, I take a shower once every two weeks whether I need or not, and I like my R/C cars just as clean. The problem is giving your R/C car a shower tends to be a LOT of work and effort. I think the A Main Hobbies crew could smell the crusty debris hanging from my car, despite being hundreds of miles away, and hooked us up with the all-new ProTek R/C cleaners.
The cleaner lineup is made up of three spray cleaners: TruClean (degreaser), TruWash (cleaner/wash), TruGuard (protectant). It has been awhile since the 2wd buggy has received a good cleaning, so we put the Tru Cleaners to the test!
Note: Before starting, we disassembled our car free of electronics, and bearings to ensure we did not ruin anything that might not be water/liquid/cleaner proof. We recommend ANYTIME you clean your car, you do the same.
First up we used the TruClean degreaser spray. We put the degreaser to the test by soaking down our greasy grimy shock bodies, greasy outdrives, and even an old 1:8 gear diff we had lying around. The TruClean degreaser needs a little time to sit and begin working, but with time and a little help from an old tooth brush we had parts that looked almost as good as new. When spraying out the old 1:8 differential, TruClean degreaser does not instantly zap away the grease and grime like some heavy duty industrial degreasers, but then again you also don't need a breathing mask and heavy duty ventilation system to use it either.
After cleaning the greasy parts off with TruClean, it was time to clean the rest of the car and plastics free of dirt and debris using the TruWash. Let us start off by saying that TruWash looks INTENSE. It's neon green appearance scared some of the dirt off the car just looking at it. Ok, maybe it's not THAT intense, but it does look cool. We soaked down all of our plastics and chassis parts that were plenty dirty with a good amount of TruWash, let sit for 5-7 minutes, brushed off some of the big chunks, and rinsed in warm water. We washed half of our parts with TruWash, and the other half with ordinary dish soap. TruWash truly did help to loosen up and remove the unwanted dirt faster and easier than an ordinary soap, AND it did not leave our car smelling like "Sunflower Breeze and Cocoa Butter".
The car is now clean, and it was time for the final step, TruGuard. TruGuard is a unique formula that is designed to be used after your car is all cleaned up and dried off. You simply spray it on, let it sit briefly, and wipe it off. ProTek has developed a formula in TruGuard that adds a little bit of that "new car look" back to your plastic yet creates a "guard" on your plastic which works to repel dirt and mud, unlike using tradition WD-40 or Lemon Pledge which leaves an dirt attracting oily film. Does this "guard" really work? Yes. It's not magic, and we aren't saying that dirt will run away from your car, BUT it does help major mud and dust from sticking. More importantly, when the mud and dust does stick, by using TruGuard it makes cleaning it up much easier.
Pros:
- All three Tru Cleaners are non-toxic, non-corrosive, and biodegrable.
- Very little odor for such good cleaning abilities.
- Only takes a small amount of each to completely clean a car.
- Adjustable spray bottle for the perfect mist or power washing stream your looking for.
- Can be used in household sink (or shower) without the risk of harmful fumes, and damage.
- Brings back some of the "new car look" to your plastics.
- Removes and prevents even heavy dirt stains.
Cons:
- Your car is now clean, which eliminates your excuse of "I haven't touched my car in months," when you lose.
Conclusion:
Each of these cleaners are sold individually, however, we highly recommend you purchase all three. The trio works very well together, and when used in the proper steps and applications provide a very clean and protected car. Is there a downfall to using ProTek R/C's Tru Cleaners? Not unless your afraid of good looking equipment.
Beacon Rating: 5/5
THURSDAY TESTIMONIALS - RANDOM ITEM OF THE WEEK:
Each week outside of the R/C world we test out and use a variety of items in our daily routines that have absolutely nothing to do with R/C, and THIS is what we think of them!
Mad Skills Motocross 2 for iOS (also available on Android devices)
FREE
Your "normal" everyday person finds interest in games that fly birds through tubes, slingshot bombs at a green pigs, or build a fantasy farm and tend to the pigs. Racers, however, are not "normal" people. We like adrenaline, intensity, nail biting competition, and speed. Not one time feeding the cows on Farmville have I screamed out loud in excitement, however, I can tell you a game that I have screamed out loud for...Mad Skills Motocross 2 for iOS.
Mad Skills Motocross 2 is the sequel to the ever so popular Mad Skills Motocross game released last year. The object of the game is similar to that of the legendary ExciteBike from the 1980's. Some will go as far as saying the RedBull Straight Line Supercross was inspired by this very game! You are racing motocross in a straight line over an ongoing lineup of obstacles and jumps. You can control your rider's motion forward and back to grab extra speed in a wheelie or reach to clear the big doubles. It requires a good amount of judgement, memory, and living on the edge to successful complete each track and opponent.
(Yeah that's me there...my name is Mike, but the ladies call me "Big Air Bobby")
If the intense "Career Mode" racing isn't enough, the game is never ending with new tracks being released on a regular basis, as well as a unique "Jam Mode" in which you can race anyone from your best friend, worst enemy, or complete stranger on the other side of the world to show off our speed and skills. You start off racing a bike that looks something like a 1974 Suzuki TM250, and work your way through the years eventually finding yourself on a modern day 450cc bike. These new bikes and options are available throughout the game as you accomplish more goals, and of course race wins!
Pros:
- Brings the adrenaline rush of racing right to your mobile device.
- Let's you feel like a supercross star, even though you never will be.
- Customizable bikes, riders, and numbers.
- Ability to race friends, families, famous people, and complete strangers.
- New track releases weekly eliminate the thought of getting bored.
Cons:
- When in the zone you WILL begin making dirt bike noises out loud in public in an effort to go faster.
- Every word out of your significant other's mouth means nothing, as all you can think about is setting a faster time on Mad Skills.
- Blood pressure may temporarily rise to unhealthy levels when you crash meters before the finish line on your best run.
Conclusion:
If you are sick and tired of boring old games, and want to get your race on...THIS is the game. With thousands upon thousands of players worldwide, the game never ends! We DARE you to play and say you don't like it.
Beacon Rating: 5/5
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