radio questions

[ratsrail]

i am new to this big rig part of the rc world and i have a few questions . I bought a used king hauler with no radio or speed control . so my questions are as follows
1) can you use any four channel 2.4 radio or does it have to be surface type ?
2) what speed control works best ?
3) can i go brushless or is brushed the way it hast to be ?
4) when using styrene for body work what glue do you use and where do you get it ?
5) what kind of body filler is it that you guys are using ?
6) what kind of paint do i use on a prepped body ?
7) when making stacks how to you smooth out the elbows ?
this truck is my winter protect with the possibility of doing a second one brand new global liner which i would like to make longer but that is another time thing. also where is the best place to get upgrades to my truck ? thank you and keep up the great build i love to see them and one day hope to have one or two of mine up on this page

[1985 kenworth]

I am not sure because i use mfu in my trucks and i use both spektrum and futaba radios in my truck. I seeyou are new here.welcome to the forum, if you scroll down the main page you will come to a section here on technical questions on building,electronics,..pretty much anything you might want to know about building the trucks and equipment

[IDontKnow]

Wow, that was a lot of questions!

I have a few answers for you:

Yes, you can use any 4 channel radio. I have even seen someone using a 4 channel stick radio ( the type with a steering wheel ) to control their truck.

Speed controllers are a matter of choice, I have used with success the standard Tamiya TEU-101BK on several of my trucks. They are budget priced units, there are better out there but it just depends on how much you want to spend.

Brushed or Brushless ..... This one has been a debate for a long time.
From personal experience if you are looking for speed and power brushless is the answer but this opens its own can of worms. They require their own special type of speed controller. So if you wish to go brushless and have a sound and light kit you will need some Y-cables for the receiver plug-in leads so you can split the throttle signals from the receiver to the sound unit and to the brushless controller. I had done this with my Globeliner / Red Bull racing truck as below, but was not using the sound kit but the Tamiya Electrical Kit (now discontinued):

This was successful combination but removed it as it was not good for the shows and displays that our club puts on as it did take a bit of time and space to get speed up.

Hope my ramblings have helped!