Derby Talk

Hi -

Does anyone have a view they are willing to share on appropriate gaps between wheel and body? Set up follows:

Thin (5/16) rail runner with 3 wheels touching.
Rear wheels drilled for 3 degree cant
DFW drilled straight, bent axle for adjusting drift
wheel base 4 1/2''. (I know that's odd, but it's the maximum wheel base allowed in pack rules)

Track is a 42 foot Best track in good condition.

The gap can be set anywhere from .005'' to .02''. Does anyone find it advantageous to set different gaps between the rears and DFW? My son asked for advice tonight and I realized I didn't have an informed view one way or the other.

Thanks for any and all info y'all are willing to share!

I'm curious to see what answers you get. I played around with that and got all kinds of answers. I hate to say it, beacuse it doesn't sound helpful, but I just do it by feel. It will become obvious as you work with the car when it is too tight or too loose.

The steel gauge on the Pro-Axle guide measures 0.028. One of the credit cards I have measures 0.029. I bend 3 axles 1 1/2 degrees setting the rears with Negative cant and the DFW with Positive cant. I use two notched credit cards that measure 0.053. The reason I do this is because I don't want the bend area to interfere with where the wheel will ride. I don't use the steel gauge because I push the axles in with the drill press and the wheel hub can be easily damaged.

I suspect everyone on Derbytalk is racing in scouts or one of the other children groups. Please take a minute and think for awhile on what I'm going to say next.
Forget about the Pros. I think anyone who drills holes for the axles is doing more harm then good. I don't care if you have the best drill press made, the best drill bit made, and whatever else you can buy to help you drill a hole. Once you drill that hole and install the axle, You Are Done. Is that cheap little nail straight? Are the rear wheels truly parallel to the body of the car? With a 3 degree cant on the rear wheels I suspect all that friction holding the wheels to the axle head will hide any misalignment. Compare that to a bent axle where you can turn that nail the slightest amount to get the alignment. If the rear wheels do not migrate to the axle heads both when the car is rolled forward and to the rear then it is not in alignment. Is a 3 degree angle hiding what you are trying to accomplish?
Best wishes to you.

Well my thoughts about setting wheel gaps are..
the tighter they are the better .. and the loser the gaps are the worse.

But maybe this link will help DCDAD.
https://www.maximum-velocity.com/pinewo ... imes-v7i9/