Derby Talk

What is the general thought on rubbing graphite on the tread surface of the tires? Using a drill press, my son and I wet sanded the tires with 800- and 100-grit paper. We then polished them with plastic polish, so the tires seem truly round and smooth. Will rubbing in graphite help or hurt?

Hello.




Here is the thoughts on this.

It has varied a bit over the years.

Some feel a less then super polished on the rears, provides more grip on the rears and reduces wiggle while preventing slipping.

Now, with rail riding. On the front right wheel (the front right wheel is the most common wheel used for rail riding). They tend to super polish and rub in graphite on the o.d of the wheel.

The reason behind this, is to make it easier to stick and roll smoothly with less friction on the track then the rear wheels.

Are you rail riding ? what are you're rules ? 4 wheels touching the track ? or three wheels ?

Do you know what rail riding is or canting ? are you doing any of that ?

Almost everyone rubs in graphite on the wheel bore/hub area on the wheels front and back. Some polish those areas first.

Do you know what type of track your son will race on ? wooden or metal ?

I will post a few example pictures in a bit for you.


Sporty

We are required to run on all four and they test on a piece of glass, so it's actually fairly hard to get all four down evenly.

We polished the bores and hubs and rubbed graphite into the body and inner and outer hub surfaces.

He will race on a wooden track and if he finishes in his den's top three, he will race at the district level on a longer aluminum track.

mehiggins101 wrote:We are required to run on all four and they test on a piece of glass, so it's actually fairly hard to get all four down evenly.

We polished the bores and hubs and rubbed graphite into the body and inner and outer hub surfaces.

He will race on a wooden track and if he finishes in his den's top three, he will race at the district level on a longer aluminum track.

You can still rail ride with 4 wheels touching. Is this your guys first year ?

Four wheel rail riding, is a little harder and trickier to do. we did it for several years. So If down the road, you are interested in trying it. Please feel free to ask.

This is his second year. No rail riding dialed into it. We haven't even test rolled it yet to see how it tracks.

Definetly try to make it a rail rider. Does the whole tread need to make contact? If allowed you should cant them as well. Try to have your non dominant wheel just barely touch. Like sporty said rub graphite to inner and outer hub and if you rail ride apply some to the inner wheel edge that will be riding against the rail. Looking at the track in your video of on the other post i would put a good 4" of steer over 4'. Keep the tread surface clean though, especially with that wood track. If you have the tread surface all slicked up and catch a bump the car will pinball all over the place. You want the wheels to have some grip to maintain their line if the car bounces on a seem. A nice trick to clean them up after apply graphite is using a Magic Eraser pad.

The 4 touching rule is pretty tough for any kid to actually get right on their own. I am hoping it just means they have to make any contact and not be completely flat.

All four tires have to just have to touch. I'll test roll it today to see how it veers. Thanks for the input

I would leave the tread alone and spend the extra timing doing a good burnish and really rub and polish the graphite into the inner and outer hubs.
Noskills

Sporty is right on as usual.

Although I have never done it myself, some of the fellas that race in the leagues put some graphite on the inner edge of the DFW.

Even though they are all running oil!

It seems like the type of thing that can easily slow you down if not done right, but there seems to be a slight bit of speed to be had from it.

mehiggins101 wrote:What is the general thought on rubbing graphite on the tread surface of the tires?

Have you seen these topics yet?