Normally, games like to brag that the cars that they provide players have a lot of customizable features. Well, Rust, a multiplayer survival game, probably has some of the most complex and customizable cars we have seen in a video game before.
All cars you find in Rust are 100% customizable, to the point where you can take down each part of the machine and just leave the chassis and nothing else.
Recommended Read: How to Get Blood in Rust
There are a lot of things that you will need to learn to start using cars properly in Rust. The first thing will be to learn how to actually build a car. Once you know that, you will also have to figure out how to drive that metal beast.
In this guide, we will go through all the details you need to learn about how to build, drive, and lock a car in Rust, and make you into one of the best drivers on this radioactive island.
Table of Contents
How to Build a Car in Rust
There is no way to build a car from scratch in Rust. You can’t just find random parts and put them together to get a car.
The way cars work in Rust is that there are around 60 cars that spawn on the map after a server wipe, and the game will keep spawning new cars each time one is destroyed. You can find these random cars in the wilderness, but you will need parts to make them work.
Once you manage to get all the necessary parts to make the car move, you can then bring it to your Rust base to start customizing and building it to become better. To do this, you will need to craft a Modular Car Lift.
This deployable item will allow you to make changes to the car and add or remove its modules. You can also use this lift to quickly repair the car without having to hit every module with the hammer.
Players will just have to connect it to a source of power for it to work. It only needs 5 power, so it shouldn’t be a problem.
Usually, to build a car in Rust, all you need is a chassis (the frame of the car). It doesn’t matter what modules are also attached to it. You can craft all of the other parts using a level 2 Workbench, where you can also learn how to craft the Modular Car Lift.
While using the Modular Car Lift, it can be confusing to figure out which slots represent the front of the car and which ones represent the back. Starting from the left, the squares are the front of the car, while the ones on the right represent the back.
Chassis and Car Modules
There are three types of car chassis’ that you can find in Rust:
- Small
- Medium
- Large
The small ones can only have 2 modules, the medium one 3, and the large one 4. You can usually tell how small the chassis of a car in the wilderness is just by looking at its length. The longer it is, the larger the chassis.
There are only a couple of types of modules that you can craft and place on a frame to build a car in Rust:
- Cockpit Module
- Passenger Module
- Flatbed Module
- Fuel Tank Module
- Engine Vehicle Module
The ones that will usually be the most important if you want what you are creating to be a functioning car are the Cockpit and the Engine. Without these two, the car won’t work.
There is a special type of Cockpit module that combines those two, allowing more space for other modules, if needed.
The Passenger modules are very useful if you want more than two people inside the car, as the Cockpit only has space for the driver and someone next to them.
The Flatbed modules are relatively useless, as they allow players to stand on the car and shoot, but there is almost no protection.
The Fuel Tank can only transport Water, which is relatively useless. Unless you want to use a car to constantly transport 200,000 ml of Water to your base for farming, this module isn’t needed.
The Engine Vehicle Module is the second most important module for cars, as they won’t work without it. You can place more than one Engine on a car, making it faster. The maximum amount of Engines you can use is 3, which would result in the fastest possible speed with a car in Rust.
How to Make a Car Work and Drive it in Rust
The car in Rust needs two things to work:
- Low Grade Fuel
- All the Engine parts
The place where you input Low Grade Fuel is always at the back of the car. There is a small, red canister where you can interact and place the fuel.
However, to actually start burning fuel, you will need to make the Engine work. To start the Engine, you will need to place 5 types of parts inside of it:
- Carburetor
- Crankshaft
- Pistons
- Spark Plugs
- Valves
All of these parts have different levels of quality, which will influence the speed, acceleration, and fuel economy of the car you are building. To make the Engine work, you will need to place 1 Carburetor, 1 Crankshaft, 2 Pistons, 2 Spark Plugs, and 2 Valves inside of it.
You can remember which Engine parts need a partner by just looking at their image. The Pistons, Spark Plugs, and Valves have an image of two items, while the Carburetor and Crankshaft only have one.
Where to Get Engine Parts
Though you might think that you have to find Engine parts in crates and boxes, since you can find the car in the wild, you actually have to craft all of the Engine parts.
You can craft the Low Quality variants of all of the Engine parts using a level 1 Workbench. All of them cost Metal Fragments to make. The amount you need to make all of them and make a car work is 215 Metal Frags.
To actually learn the Blueprints for these parts, you will need to find them inside Vehicle Part crates and then research them at the Research Table. Luckily, you craft the Medium and High Quality counterparts without having to find them.
The Medium Parts can be researched after learning how to craft the Modular Car Lift from the Tech Tree in the level 2 Workbench.
To learn how to craft High Quality Engine parts, you will need a level 3 Workbench.
Once you have all of the Engine parts in place and enough Low Grade Fuel inside the tank, you can start driving at any time by mounting the Cockpit module on the driver’s side.
How to Drive
The general driving controls are the same ones you use to walk (WASD), so this shouldn’t be hard to learn. “W” is to accelerate, and “S” is to go in reverse. “A” and “D” will be used to steer the car to the left or right.
If you are using the Armored Cockpit, it might be very hard to see through the windows. Make sure to open them before starting to drive, as you won’t see anything otherwise.
How to Lock a Car in Rust – Stop Players From Stealing It
One of the most important things that you will need to do in Rust is to lock your car. Doing this will stop players from stealing it, as it will be impossible to get inside without your permission.
To lock a car in Rust, you will need to place it on the Modular Car Lift. Once the car is in position, go to the Work On Vehicle button and look in the bottom right corner of the menu.
You will see an option to Add Code Lock for 75 Metal Fragments, as long as there is a Cockpit on the car. Press that button, choose the code, and now the car will be locked.
From this menu, you can also change the lock code at any time, no matter if you are the person that placed the code or not. If the car is on a Modular Car Lift, you can change anything about it.
Players can disable or enable the lock on the Cockpit of the car at any time by mounting the car and pressing the red Use button next to the wheel. You will also get a notification in the bottom left corner of the screen telling you that the central locking system is on or off.
That’s everything you need to know about how to build, drive, and lock a Car in Rust!
Have any input or suggestions for this guide? Let us know in the comment section below.
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