diff --git a/p2p/trust/config.go b/p2p/trust/config.go
index 6fb0e681b..b20a8b2cb 100644
--- a/p2p/trust/config.go
+++ b/p2p/trust/config.go
@@ -51,6 +51,5 @@ func customConfig(tmc TrustMetricConfig) TrustMetricConfig {
 		tmc.TrackingWindow >= config.IntervalLength {
 		config.TrackingWindow = tmc.TrackingWindow
 	}
-
 	return config
 }
diff --git a/p2p/trust/metric.go b/p2p/trust/metric.go
index 3a0bf4809..d40ffa54f 100644
--- a/p2p/trust/metric.go
+++ b/p2p/trust/metric.go
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ import (
 	"math"
 	"sync"
 	"time"
+
+	cmn "github.com/tendermint/tmlibs/common"
 )
 
 //---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -31,6 +33,8 @@ type MetricHistoryJSON struct {
 // TrustMetric - keeps track of peer reliability
 // See tendermint/docs/architecture/adr-006-trust-metric.md for details
 type TrustMetric struct {
+	cmn.BaseService
+
 	// Mutex that protects the metric from concurrent access
 	mtx sync.Mutex
 
@@ -73,25 +77,24 @@ type TrustMetric struct {
 	// While true, history data is not modified
 	paused bool
 
-	// Set to true once the metric has been stopped
-	stopped bool
-
 	// Signal channel for stopping the trust metric go-routine
 	stop chan struct{}
 
-	// Slice of signal channels fired when the metric is stopped
-	waitForStop []chan struct{}
+	// Signal channel fired when the metric go-routine has stopped
+	done chan struct{}
 
-	// Slice of signal channels fired when the metric time interval ticker is fired
-	waitForTimeInterval []chan struct{}
+	// Used during testing in order to control the passing of time intervals
+	testTicker MetricTicker
 }
 
-// NewMetric returns a trust metric with the default configuration
+// NewMetric returns a trust metric with the default configuration.
+// Use Start to begin tracking the quality of peer behavior over time
 func NewMetric() *TrustMetric {
 	return NewMetricWithConfig(DefaultConfig())
 }
 
-// NewMetricWithConfig returns a trust metric with a custom configuration
+// NewMetricWithConfig returns a trust metric with a custom configuration.
+// Use Start to begin tracking the quality of peer behavior over time
 func NewMetricWithConfig(tmc TrustMetricConfig) *TrustMetric {
 	tm := new(TrustMetric)
 	config := customConfig(tmc)
@@ -106,13 +109,34 @@ func NewMetricWithConfig(tmc TrustMetricConfig) *TrustMetric {
 	tm.historyMaxSize = intervalToHistoryOffset(tm.maxIntervals) + 1
 	// This metric has a perfect history so far
 	tm.historyValue = 1.0
-	// Setup the stop channel
-	tm.stop = make(chan struct{})
+	// Setup the go-routine stop channel
+	tm.stop = make(chan struct{}, 1)
+	// Setup the go-routine done channel
+	tm.done = make(chan struct{}, 1)
 
-	go tm.processRequests()
+	tm.BaseService = *cmn.NewBaseService(nil, "TrustMetric", tm)
 	return tm
 }
 
+// OnStart implements Service
+func (tm *TrustMetric) OnStart() error {
+	if err := tm.BaseService.OnStart(); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	go tm.processRequests()
+	return nil
+}
+
+// OnStop implements Service
+// Stop tells the metric to stop recording data over time intervals
+// This method also blocks until the metric has completely stopped
+func (tm *TrustMetric) OnStop() {
+	tm.BaseService.OnStop()
+
+	tm.stop <- struct{}{}
+	<-tm.done
+}
+
 // Returns a snapshot of the trust metric history data
 func (tm *TrustMetric) HistoryJSON() MetricHistoryJSON {
 	tm.mtx.Lock()
@@ -164,18 +188,6 @@ func (tm *TrustMetric) Pause() {
 	tm.paused = true
 }
 
-// Stop tells the metric to stop recording data over time intervals
-// This method also blocks until the metric has completely stopped
-func (tm *TrustMetric) Stop() {
-	tm.stop <- struct{}{}
-
-	wait := make(chan struct{})
-
-	if tm.AddStopWaitChannel(wait) {
-		<-wait
-	}
-}
-
 // BadEvents indicates that an undesirable event(s) took place
 func (tm *TrustMetric) BadEvents(num int) {
 	tm.mtx.Lock()
@@ -248,6 +260,16 @@ func (tm *TrustMetric) NextTimeInterval() {
 	tm.bad = 0
 }
 
+// SetTicker allows a TestTicker to be provided that will manually control
+// the passing of time from the perspective of the TrustMetric.
+// The ticker must be set before Start is called on the metric
+func (tm *TrustMetric) SetTicker(ticker MetricTicker) {
+	tm.mtx.Lock()
+	defer tm.mtx.Unlock()
+
+	tm.testTicker = ticker
+}
+
 // Copy returns a new trust metric with members containing the same values
 func (tm *TrustMetric) Copy() *TrustMetric {
 	tm.mtx.Lock()
@@ -271,98 +293,35 @@ func (tm *TrustMetric) Copy() *TrustMetric {
 		good:               tm.good,
 		bad:                tm.bad,
 		paused:             tm.paused,
-		stop:               make(chan struct{}),
-	}
-}
-
-// WaitForTimeIntervalToPass blocks until the metric
-// go-routine ticker fire again
-func (tm *TrustMetric) WaitForTimeIntervalToPass() {
-	interval := make(chan struct{})
-
-	if tm.AddTimeIntervalWaitChannel(interval) {
-		<-interval
+		stop:               make(chan struct{}, 1),
+		done:               make(chan struct{}, 1),
 	}
 }
 
-// SignalTimeIntervalPassed fires all the maintained signal channels
-// and clears the group of signal channels
-func (tm *TrustMetric) SignalTimeIntervalPassed() {
-	tm.mtx.Lock()
-	defer tm.mtx.Unlock()
-
-	for _, interval := range tm.waitForTimeInterval {
-		interval <- struct{}{}
-	}
-
-	tm.waitForTimeInterval = []chan struct{}{}
-}
-
-// AddTimeIntervalWaitChannel adds a signal channel to a group of
-// waiters for this metric. This method returns true if the channel
-// was added to the group before the metric was stopped
-func (tm *TrustMetric) AddTimeIntervalWaitChannel(interval chan struct{}) bool {
-	tm.mtx.Lock()
-	defer tm.mtx.Unlock()
-
-	var added bool
-
-	if !tm.stopped {
-		tm.waitForTimeInterval = append(tm.waitForTimeInterval, interval)
-		added = true
-	}
-	return added
-}
-
-// SignalStopped fires all the maintained signal channels and sets
-// metric stopped status to true
-func (tm *TrustMetric) SignalStopped() {
-	tm.mtx.Lock()
-	defer tm.mtx.Unlock()
-
-	for _, stop := range tm.waitForStop {
-		stop <- struct{}{}
-	}
-
-	tm.stopped = true
-}
-
-// AddStopWaitChannel adds a signal channel to a group of waiters
-// for this metric. This method returns true if the channel was
-// added to the group before the metric was stopped
-func (tm *TrustMetric) AddStopWaitChannel(stop chan struct{}) bool {
-	tm.mtx.Lock()
-	defer tm.mtx.Unlock()
-
-	var added bool
-
-	if !tm.stopped {
-		tm.waitForStop = append(tm.waitForStop, stop)
-		added = true
-	}
-	return added
-}
-
 /* Private methods */
 
 // This method is for a goroutine that handles all requests on the metric
 func (tm *TrustMetric) processRequests() {
-	t := time.NewTicker(tm.intervalLen)
+	t := tm.testTicker
+	if t == nil {
+		// No test ticker was provided, so we create a normal ticker
+		t = NewTicker(tm.intervalLen)
+	}
 	defer t.Stop()
+	// Obtain the raw channel
+	tick := t.GetChannel()
 loop:
 	for {
 		select {
-		case <-t.C:
+		case <-tick:
 			tm.NextTimeInterval()
-			tm.SignalTimeIntervalPassed()
 		case <-tm.stop:
 			// Stop all further tracking for this metric
 			break loop
 		}
 	}
-
-	// Change the status to stopped and signal the waiters
-	tm.SignalStopped()
+	// Send the done signal
+	tm.done <- struct{}{}
 }
 
 // Wakes the trust metric up if it is currently paused
diff --git a/p2p/trust/metric_test.go b/p2p/trust/metric_test.go
index a83848ced..1fae7917f 100644
--- a/p2p/trust/metric_test.go
+++ b/p2p/trust/metric_test.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import (
 
 func TestTrustMetricScores(t *testing.T) {
 	tm := NewMetric()
+	tm.Start()
 
 	// Perfect score
 	tm.GoodEvents(1)
@@ -31,6 +32,7 @@ func TestTrustMetricConfig(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	tm := NewMetricWithConfig(config)
+	tm.Start()
 
 	// The max time intervals should be the TrackingWindow / IntervalLen
 	assert.Equal(t, int(config.TrackingWindow/config.IntervalLength), tm.maxIntervals)
@@ -44,6 +46,7 @@ func TestTrustMetricConfig(t *testing.T) {
 	config.ProportionalWeight = 0.3
 	config.IntegralWeight = 0.7
 	tm = NewMetricWithConfig(config)
+	tm.Start()
 
 	// These weights should be equal to our custom values
 	assert.Equal(t, config.ProportionalWeight, tm.proportionalWeight)
@@ -52,14 +55,12 @@ func TestTrustMetricConfig(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestTrustMetricStopPause(t *testing.T) {
-	// Cause time intervals to pass quickly
-	config := TrustMetricConfig{
-		TrackingWindow: 5 * time.Minute,
-		IntervalLength: 10 * time.Millisecond,
-	}
-
-	tm := NewMetricWithConfig(config)
-
+	// The TestTicker will provide manual control over
+	// the passing of time within the metric
+	tt := NewTestTicker()
+	tm := NewMetric()
+	tm.SetTicker(tt)
+	tm.Start()
 	// Allow some time intervals to pass and pause
 	tm.NextTimeInterval()
 	tm.NextTimeInterval()
@@ -67,8 +68,8 @@ func TestTrustMetricStopPause(t *testing.T) {
 
 	first := tm.Copy().numIntervals
 	// Allow more time to pass and check the intervals are unchanged
-	tm.WaitForTimeIntervalToPass()
-	tm.WaitForTimeIntervalToPass()
+	tt.NextTick()
+	tt.NextTick()
 	assert.Equal(t, first, tm.Copy().numIntervals)
 
 	// Get the trust metric activated again
diff --git a/p2p/trust/store.go b/p2p/trust/store.go
index e86aecd2c..c070f33d9 100644
--- a/p2p/trust/store.go
+++ b/p2p/trust/store.go
@@ -34,7 +34,8 @@ type TrustMetricStore struct {
 }
 
 // NewTrustMetricStore returns a store that saves data to the DB
-// and uses the config when creating new trust metrics
+// and uses the config when creating new trust metrics.
+// Use Start to to initialize the trust metric store
 func NewTrustMetricStore(db dbm.DB, tmc TrustMetricConfig) *TrustMetricStore {
 	tms := &TrustMetricStore{
 		peerMetrics: make(map[string]*TrustMetric),
@@ -84,6 +85,18 @@ func (tms *TrustMetricStore) Size() int {
 	return tms.size()
 }
 
+// AddPeerTrustMetric takes an existing trust metric and associates it with a peer key.
+// The caller is expected to call Start on the TrustMetric being added
+func (tms *TrustMetricStore) AddPeerTrustMetric(key string, tm *TrustMetric) {
+	tms.mtx.Lock()
+	defer tms.mtx.Unlock()
+
+	if key == "" || tm == nil {
+		return
+	}
+	tms.peerMetrics[key] = tm
+}
+
 // GetPeerTrustMetric returns a trust metric by peer key
 func (tms *TrustMetricStore) GetPeerTrustMetric(key string) *TrustMetric {
 	tms.mtx.Lock()
@@ -93,6 +106,7 @@ func (tms *TrustMetricStore) GetPeerTrustMetric(key string) *TrustMetric {
 	if !ok {
 		// If the metric is not available, we will create it
 		tm = NewMetricWithConfig(tms.config)
+		tm.Start()
 		// The metric needs to be in the map
 		tms.peerMetrics[key] = tm
 	}
@@ -149,6 +163,7 @@ func (tms *TrustMetricStore) loadFromDB() bool {
 	for key, p := range peers {
 		tm := NewMetricWithConfig(tms.config)
 
+		tm.Start()
 		tm.Init(p)
 		// Load the peer trust metric into the store
 		tms.peerMetrics[key] = tm
diff --git a/p2p/trust/store_test.go b/p2p/trust/store_test.go
index c0306bba8..4e5553961 100644
--- a/p2p/trust/store_test.go
+++ b/p2p/trust/store_test.go
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ import (
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"os"
 	"testing"
-	"time"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	dbm "github.com/tendermint/tmlibs/db"
@@ -24,46 +23,50 @@ func TestTrustMetricStoreSaveLoad(t *testing.T) {
 
 	historyDB := dbm.NewDB("trusthistory", "goleveldb", dir)
 
-	config := TrustMetricConfig{
-		TrackingWindow: 5 * time.Minute,
-		IntervalLength: 50 * time.Millisecond,
-	}
-
 	// 0 peers saved
-	store := NewTrustMetricStore(historyDB, config)
+	store := NewTrustMetricStore(historyDB, DefaultConfig())
 	store.SetLogger(log.TestingLogger())
 	store.saveToDB()
 	// Load the data from the file
-	store = NewTrustMetricStore(historyDB, config)
+	store = NewTrustMetricStore(historyDB, DefaultConfig())
 	store.SetLogger(log.TestingLogger())
-	store.loadFromDB()
+	store.Start()
 	// Make sure we still have 0 entries
 	assert.Zero(t, store.Size())
 
+	// 100 TestTickers
+	var tt []*TestTicker
+	for i := 0; i < 100; i++ {
+		// The TestTicker will provide manual control over
+		// the passing of time within the metric
+		tt = append(tt, NewTestTicker())
+	}
 	// 100 peers
 	for i := 0; i < 100; i++ {
 		key := fmt.Sprintf("peer_%d", i)
-		tm := store.GetPeerTrustMetric(key)
+		tm := NewMetric()
+
+		tm.SetTicker(tt[i])
+		tm.Start()
+		store.AddPeerTrustMetric(key, tm)
 
 		tm.BadEvents(10)
 		tm.GoodEvents(1)
 	}
-
 	// Check that we have 100 entries and save
 	assert.Equal(t, 100, store.Size())
-	// Give the metrics time to process the history data
-	time.Sleep(1 * time.Second)
-
-	// Stop all the trust metrics and save
-	for _, tm := range store.peerMetrics {
-		tm.Stop()
+	// Give the 100 metrics time to process the history data
+	for i := 0; i < 100; i++ {
+		tt[i].NextTick()
+		tt[i].NextTick()
 	}
-	store.saveToDB()
+	// Stop all the trust metrics and save
+	store.Stop()
 
 	// Load the data from the DB
-	store = NewTrustMetricStore(historyDB, config)
+	store = NewTrustMetricStore(historyDB, DefaultConfig())
 	store.SetLogger(log.TestingLogger())
-	store.loadFromDB()
+	store.Start()
 
 	// Check that we still have 100 peers with imperfect trust values
 	assert.Equal(t, 100, store.Size())
@@ -71,10 +74,7 @@ func TestTrustMetricStoreSaveLoad(t *testing.T) {
 		assert.NotEqual(t, 1.0, tm.TrustValue())
 	}
 
-	// Stop all the trust metrics
-	for _, tm := range store.peerMetrics {
-		tm.Stop()
-	}
+	store.Stop()
 }
 
 func TestTrustMetricStoreConfig(t *testing.T) {
@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@ func TestTrustMetricStoreConfig(t *testing.T) {
 	// Create a store with custom config
 	store := NewTrustMetricStore(historyDB, config)
 	store.SetLogger(log.TestingLogger())
+	store.Start()
 
 	// Have the store make us a metric with the config
 	tm := store.GetPeerTrustMetric("TestKey")
@@ -95,7 +96,7 @@ func TestTrustMetricStoreConfig(t *testing.T) {
 	// Check that the options made it to the metric
 	assert.Equal(t, 0.5, tm.proportionalWeight)
 	assert.Equal(t, 0.5, tm.integralWeight)
-	tm.Stop()
+	store.Stop()
 }
 
 func TestTrustMetricStoreLookup(t *testing.T) {
@@ -103,6 +104,7 @@ func TestTrustMetricStoreLookup(t *testing.T) {
 
 	store := NewTrustMetricStore(historyDB, DefaultConfig())
 	store.SetLogger(log.TestingLogger())
+	store.Start()
 
 	// Create 100 peers in the trust metric store
 	for i := 0; i < 100; i++ {
@@ -114,10 +116,7 @@ func TestTrustMetricStoreLookup(t *testing.T) {
 		assert.NotNil(t, ktm, "Expected to find TrustMetric %s but wasn't there.", key)
 	}
 
-	// Stop all the trust metrics
-	for _, tm := range store.peerMetrics {
-		tm.Stop()
-	}
+	store.Stop()
 }
 
 func TestTrustMetricStorePeerScore(t *testing.T) {
@@ -125,6 +124,7 @@ func TestTrustMetricStorePeerScore(t *testing.T) {
 
 	store := NewTrustMetricStore(historyDB, DefaultConfig())
 	store.SetLogger(log.TestingLogger())
+	store.Start()
 
 	key := "TestKey"
 	tm := store.GetPeerTrustMetric(key)
@@ -148,5 +148,5 @@ func TestTrustMetricStorePeerScore(t *testing.T) {
 	// We will remember our experiences with this peer
 	tm = store.GetPeerTrustMetric(key)
 	assert.NotEqual(t, 100, tm.TrustScore())
-	tm.Stop()
+	store.Stop()
 }
diff --git a/p2p/trust/ticker.go b/p2p/trust/ticker.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bce9fcc24
--- /dev/null
+++ b/p2p/trust/ticker.go
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+// Copyright 2017 Tendermint. All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by Apache 2 LICENSE that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+package trust
+
+import (
+	"time"
+)
+
+// MetricTicker provides a single ticker interface for the trust metric
+type MetricTicker interface {
+	// GetChannel returns the receive only channel that fires at each time interval
+	GetChannel() <-chan time.Time
+
+	// Stop will halt further activity on the ticker channel
+	Stop()
+}
+
+// The ticker used during testing that provides manual control over time intervals
+type TestTicker struct {
+	C       chan time.Time
+	stopped bool
+}
+
+// NewTestTicker returns our ticker used within test routines
+func NewTestTicker() *TestTicker {
+	c := make(chan time.Time, 1)
+	return &TestTicker{
+		C: c,
+	}
+}
+
+func (t *TestTicker) GetChannel() <-chan time.Time {
+	return t.C
+}
+
+func (t *TestTicker) Stop() {
+	t.stopped = true
+}
+
+// NextInterval manually sends Time on the ticker channel
+func (t *TestTicker) NextTick() {
+	if t.stopped {
+		return
+	}
+	t.C <- time.Now()
+}
+
+// Ticker is just a wrap around time.Ticker that allows it
+// to meet the requirements of our interface
+type Ticker struct {
+	*time.Ticker
+}
+
+// NewTicker returns a normal time.Ticker wrapped to meet our interface
+func NewTicker(d time.Duration) *Ticker {
+	return &Ticker{time.NewTicker(d)}
+}
+
+func (t *Ticker) GetChannel() <-chan time.Time {
+	return t.C
+}