Derby Talk

I would try for a COM of 5/8" to 3/4" with the weight as close to the rear axle as possible (leave a nice amount for a solid rear axle of course) and likely evenly placed between front and back of axle. You will have to measure with the car and wheels. On a new build I make two cars and sa...

Just go with graphite...

it will last for years (in a marginal state) and is simple...

Beautiful cars and a wonderful story.

Best Wishes to you and yours!

WoW!!!! Beautiful builds!!!

The stock axles have a bend so small I couldn't see it. I twisted them to get wheels to the heads forward and back. Goes dead straight both directions. I closed up the rear wheel gap and I'm now running .57 oz on DFW and 3" of steer. No wobbles and pretty quiet down my homemade track. I increa...

The rear wheels need to be aligned. You have that nailed. I would mark the axles and perhaps use a bit of elmers glue if it will not get in the bore. For the front the axle bend and steer are the most important. if you have a timer you can try different amounts of steer and see which has the best t...

Good point Stan. I think all of the input is coming from the rears. The reason I think this is because I can twist the straight, DFW axle to any position and the car steers the same. Here's one of the strategies I use to test the rear alignment. The goal with this technique is to completely elimina...

The rear wheels need to be aligned. You have that nailed. I would mark the axles and perhaps use a bit of elmers glue if it will not get in the bore. For the front the axle bend and steer are the most important. if you have a timer you can try different amounts of steer and see which has the best ti...

For top speed the rear wheel must be as far back as the rules allow. This is key to a fast car.

1) Rear axle as far back as possible. >>>Required<<< 2) COM in the 5/8 - 3/4 realm. First time builders can move to 1" 3) Graphite / lubrication 4) 3.6 ounces of added weight (or more) 5) Drilled axle holes. Rear holes drilled at an angle (perhaps 2.5 degrees) 6) Rail ride 7) Lift one front whe...

So, they handed out the rule for my kids' Awana Grand Prix, which happens next month. Extremely sparse ruleset. But there's one big one: No added weights allowed. I think that this is an attempt to put kids on equal footing, and to prevent having to weigh cars due to time constraints. However, I do...

The car only weighed 3.5 ounces, but was apparently so well tuned (we figured the lower weight would place it well into the back of the Pack). However, he ended up winning 2nd Place in the Webelos Rank for speed. He had originally won in the Design category for his Hot Dog design(which he was ultim...

Once you get it right mark the axles with a permanent marker...

If it is not too late I would drill a new block and see if the issue resolves. It seems you might have not had the car level when you drilled the holes..

I also go for 3.6 ounces or more of tungsten. Sometimes up to 4.2 ounces. The more added weight the better...

Place COM at 5/8"