Search found 26 matches

by soccerdad
Fri Mar 25, 2016 5:51 am
Forum: General Car/Truck Racer Topics
Topic: Our Pack Race Re-cap. The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly....
Replies: 8
Views: 15021

Re: Our Pack Race Re-cap. The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly....

Thinking about it a little more, I think the only thing that might have helped is if you would have stopped the racing earlier and called the kid out when he was throwing the stuff on the track. Then I would have likely shut down the open racing as soon as they would not stay in line. Sounds like yo...
by soccerdad
Fri Mar 25, 2016 5:26 am
Forum: General Car/Truck Racer Topics
Topic: Our Pack Race Re-cap. The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly....
Replies: 8
Views: 15021

Re: Our Pack Race Re-cap. The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly....

WOW. I am speechless. Sorry for the horrible night. I hate it when people who do not know the entire story jump into something and make the mess even bigger. I am sure my wife would have done the same thing. So would I.

Again, just sorry for your son... WOW
by soccerdad
Thu Mar 24, 2016 10:44 am
Forum: Car & Semi-Truck Construction
Topic: Confirmation of Rail Riding setup
Replies: 15
Views: 21198

Re: Confirmation of Rail Riding setup

Any observations/ideas in regards to the tuning of bent rear axles? Thanks! I could not do the above listed alignment techniques because the photos are not there anymore and I didn't understand the working. So I just used a board without my front wheels on and put a small skid under the center of t...
by soccerdad
Wed Mar 23, 2016 7:22 pm
Forum: Car & Semi-Truck Construction
Topic: Confirmation of Rail Riding setup
Replies: 15
Views: 21198

Re: Confirmation of Rail Riding setup

So the derby was tonight. AND WE WON! We had 44 cars there. We had about 1/2 of the top 10 fast times. We ended up running the car with the bent axles. It was slower than the straight axle car by a touch during testing. But we re-aligned the rear a tiny bit and it came alive. Both cars trouble with ...
by soccerdad
Sun Mar 20, 2016 3:12 pm
Forum: Car & Semi-Truck Construction
Topic: Confirmation of Rail Riding setup
Replies: 15
Views: 21198

Re: Confirmation of Rail Riding setup

As an update- We tested on my track and both are fast without any adjustments. And they seem to coast pretty freely . Close to the fastest times run on this track and both seem stable. They are a faster than last year's car today. So I glued the axles, and am adding the bottom skins. This will incre...
by soccerdad
Sun Mar 20, 2016 7:03 am
Forum: Car & Semi-Truck Construction
Topic: Confirmation of Rail Riding setup
Replies: 15
Views: 21198

Re: Confirmation of Rail Riding setup

Thanks Guys! We are doing one car with bent axles since I am used to doing it that way. And one with straight. So today we will set up our test track and see what we got. Should be fun. We already did the initial drift testing. Seems like we need to have a fair amount of toe in on the DFW to get a 3...
by soccerdad
Wed Mar 16, 2016 7:28 am
Forum: Car & Semi-Truck Construction
Topic: Confirmation of Rail Riding setup
Replies: 15
Views: 21198

Re: Confirmation of Rail Riding setup

Thanks, Great information. Glad to know about the drift. I am now not sure on the bent nails... I already drilled the holes straight and cut the cars. But I may be able to fill and redrill without too much pain. Question- if you use straight axles on the DFW, then how to you adjust the drift?
by soccerdad
Tue Mar 15, 2016 7:19 pm
Forum: Car & Semi-Truck Construction
Topic: Confirmation of Rail Riding setup
Replies: 15
Views: 21198

Confirmation of Rail Riding setup

I know there are volumes here on this, but I have read several conflicting things. So I would appreciate it if you would offer your thoughts on our planned setup. Basics: Stock wheelbase, lead powered car. CG ~5/8" in front of rear axle. (discussion and prototype photo on this thread http://www...
by soccerdad
Mon Mar 14, 2016 6:22 pm
Forum: Car & Semi-Truck Construction
Topic: Quick (hopefully) weight question
Replies: 13
Views: 13715

Re: Quick (hopefully) weight question

OK, here is the prototype. Very rough... The CG is right at 5/8" with about 1.75 oz behind and the rest forward. The blank is 1.145 oz. On the real cars we will add a little styling and tweaking for rail riding, but this is a decent template. The rear of the car is 0.460" with the skins on...
by soccerdad
Mon Mar 14, 2016 11:11 am
Forum: Car & Semi-Truck Construction
Topic: Quick (hopefully) weight question
Replies: 13
Views: 13715

Re: Quick (hopefully) weight question

So I saw this on a ladder build thread. http://i68.tinypic.com/j81icm.jpg Since ours is lead filled, I know that it will be a little different, but with a top and bottom skin AND the lead potted in with epoxy to add density to those nasty air spaces, I think we can have something nice. We would skin...
by soccerdad
Mon Mar 14, 2016 10:55 am
Forum: Car & Semi-Truck Construction
Topic: Quick (hopefully) weight question
Replies: 13
Views: 13715

Re: Quick (hopefully) weight question

You guys crack me up! Thanks for the tips. I will work on a prototype and then cut my daughter loose on it!
by soccerdad
Sun Mar 13, 2016 7:11 pm
Forum: Car & Semi-Truck Construction
Topic: Quick (hopefully) weight question
Replies: 13
Views: 13715

Re: Quick (hopefully) weight question

Thanks Stan
We will look at your calculators. That will be a big help. Which is more important: to have the weight as low as possible or packed as close to the axle as possible?
by soccerdad
Sun Mar 13, 2016 10:35 am
Forum: Car & Semi-Truck Construction
Topic: Quick (hopefully) weight question
Replies: 13
Views: 13715

Quick (hopefully) weight question

Hi, We have to use standard wheelbase and slot position cars. Real basic rules. We run a pretty standard low tech setup, 3 wheel rail rider. We have always used lead (I handle that part). I don't really want to go to tungsten unless really needed. COM is typically 7/8" in front of rear axle. We...
by soccerdad
Thu Jan 20, 2011 7:22 pm
Forum: Car & Semi-Truck Construction
Topic: Building It vs. Letting Your Child Build It
Replies: 44
Views: 26574

Re: Building It vs. Letting Your Child Build It

I was just put into a tough position. Because of our good winning record with my son's cars, I now have a reputation as a "good builder that knows how to make fast cars". My son is now out of the program, but the neighbors ask for help. One scouts dad travels a bunch and can't spend time t...
by soccerdad
Sun Mar 21, 2010 12:21 pm
Forum: Car & Semi-Truck Construction
Topic: Rail Rider tool question
Replies: 10
Views: 10891

Re: Rail Rider tool question

We have to use the slots, but are allowed to glue in the axles. So we use wood filler to fill the slots before we do any work. Then. we drill into the filler and it acts like solid wood without grain, turning the drill press at full speed. The nails push in nice and snug. The filler holds like glue ...