Large foam for stop secton.

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Maxxsacrifice
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Large foam for stop secton.

Post by Maxxsacrifice »

I am in charge of helping modify our packs stop section.I have purchased some stop foam for the brake section from Steve at BestTrack(Thanks Steve)but what I am now looking for is some large type of foam to add to end of stop section as a final stop gap measure.The existing stop section is raised ramps and only had small high density foam at end of inclined ramp,some of the cars hit this final bumper and shot backwards almost to the end of the track.

Would like to find something say in the 3" to 6" thick range that I could cut out and install over the raised ramps.Any ideas on where I might be able to find something suitable would be greatly appreciated :D

Thanks,
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doct1010
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Re: Large foam for stop secton.

Post by doct1010 »

Been there, done that! :D My solution after several "foam" replacement attempts and one ruined car (mine) was to modify the stop section completely. I rebuilt it to the exact specs of the new Piantedosi model. Very effective. Basically the track falls away under the car, the car rides the guide strip (covered in mild abrasive foam padding). The strip takes a beating from under belly mounted weight, however is very effective in stopping even the fastest cars.

We left the stop box and foam in place just in case. Few cars made it to box. Once guide strip foam wears cars will make it to box, however with very low velocity and effectively halted without rebound or damage by stop box foam.
DERBYMAN
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Re: Large foam for stop secton.

Post by DERBYMAN »

If you know anyone who works for a printing co. ask them for an old used printing blanket from one of there presses. They are made of rubber and will stop cars fast and will take a beating . 8 years and our stopping gate looks perfect and never wrecked a car or hit foam at the end.
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PWD
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Re: Large foam for stop secton.

Post by PWD »

From our experience the Pianadosi stop section is too short. We actually like the one from BestTrack better. It does not go up hill but it is a lot longer. I would buid one to the BestTrack spec but make it even longer. Say 1.5x longer.
Teeeman
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Re: Large foam for stop secton.

Post by Teeeman »

We used a piece of foam pool toy "noodle" they sell at Wal-mart, still wasn't enough...

addded a Sponge Bob blanket rolled up...

finally we could arrest the cars w/out damage.

(geez!)


Track is a home built with a fairly standard raise-ramp stopper... it is simply not effective at stopping hot cars.

-Terry
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Re: Large foam for stop secton.

Post by doct1010 »

PWD wrote:From our experience the Pianadosi stop section is too short. We actually like the one from BestTrack better. It does not go up hill but it is a lot longer. I would buid one to the BestTrack spec but make it even longer. Say 1.5x longer.
Agree it could be 18" or so longer. However, I like the design in general and slows the cars sufficeintly to avoid serious damage in stop box. With the wheels raised off the track the car is sliding on its belly with much less velocity. This year I changed the foam to a rubberized anti skid/slip pad (similar to wet-suit material). Worked very well, except the self adhesive back was not intended to be pummeled by pinewood cars. Required several staples at front edge ( double sided tape didn't work).
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Stan Pope
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Re: Large foam for stop secton.

Post by Stan Pope »

The gentlest scheme I've seen involves a thin sheet of egg-crate foam about 24" long and as wide as the track. Double it over, flat side out, and tack the two joined ends along the end of the track. The looped end stays round and coaxes the cars to run under the foam and be trapped gently. I think that it may be even gentler on the car than a raised track section.
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Teeeman
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Re: Large foam for stop secton.

Post by Teeeman »

Stan Pope wrote:The gentlest scheme I've seen involves a thin sheet of egg-crate foam about 24" long and as wide as the track. Double it over, flat side out, and tack the two joined ends along the end of the track. The looped end stays round and coaxes the cars to run under the foam and be trapped gently. I think that it may be even gentler on the car than a raised track section.

More or less how we used the blanket... it was rolled up such that the cars either compressed it or tried to run under it gently...

The raised track section marks the bellies of cars, and didn't get the job done.

I think a nice steep (i.e. 10deg or more) stopper would work of the same length, or the shallow angle (5deg or so) and 30" or more... but I think the egg crate is the best as it doesn't mark the cars in any fashion...


NOW, I have this idea to use a nice spring piston stopper with a ratcheting lock mechanism, surely could be designed, prototyped and perfected for a few thousand bucks and sold for a few hundred per copy...

think that will hold water against the egg crate or Sponge Bob blanket for bang/buck?


:)

:mrgreen:


-Terry
"I dunno..." - Uncle Eddie, Christmas Vacation
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Re: Large foam for stop secton.

Post by doct1010 »

Teeeman wrote:... but I think the egg crate is the best as it doesn't mark the cars in any fashion...
-Terry
It may not mark them, but something similar I tried inside stop box tore the heads off several drivers! :shock: :lol:
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Re: Large foam for stop secton.

Post by gpraceman »

I really don't like any type of trapping methods to stop a car. It is more likely to knock things off of the cars.

I much refer the type of stop sections where the wheels drop down and the car skids on its belly. After trying these type of stop sections, I wouldn't want to use a ramp type stop section or the ballistic stoppers. I am currently in the process of retrofitting our pack's Piantedosi aluminum track with their new style stop section. I've seen that same stop section work well on our Awana track and I have also seen the Best Track stop section perform well. Similar sections can be built for wooden tracks as well.

Anyways, I still don't trust these sections to catch every car (call it paranoia) so I always place a jacket or towel at the end for a last stopping measure.
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Re: Large foam for stop secton.

Post by PWD »

I totally agree with gpraceman. This is why we really like the BestTrack stop approach. The cars just skid to a stop. You need to change the foam once a year. Plus it is a lot better if you use the thick foam. They gave us some of both but the thick foam works a lot better. The only issue is that if you are going to make one you would really like it to be twice as long.

The one provided with the BestTrack is made in such a way that you could just connect two of them.

I am dreading Districts with one car after another being damaged in the stop area. Last year they just had a boy scout with their arm at the end across all the lanes stopping the cars.
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2kids10horses
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Re: Large foam for stop secton.

Post by 2kids10horses »

When I watched the WIRL videos, I noticed that Warps cars would always stop quickly on the stop section. He put a small tab of abrasive on th bottom of his car to help the Best Track foam stop his car.

So, I'm thinking... Don't most of us put a little sticker on the cars with an ID number? Could we make those stickers out of some kind of sand paper (800 grit or better) that would act as a brake?

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Re: Large foam for stop secton.

Post by gpraceman »

I wouldn't put anything abrasive under the car. That is likely to chew up the stop section. You can get rubber non-skid strips at Lowes or Home Depot. When we ran some 12 ounce cars for a Wal-Mart race a few years ago, we added some of this to keep the cars from flying off of the end of the track. You just cut off what you need, peel and stick. It worked well.
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Re: Large foam for stop secton.

Post by Tim »

You can get strips of 1/16th inch thick natural rubber from McMaster-Carr
http://www.mcmaster.com
It's not abrasive, but it's very nonskid. Contact cement works well to attach it. This works well for the stop section. I haven't tried it on a car.
If the cars start sliding a little further, just clean the rubber with a little soap and water.

Tim Ward
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