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Questions on raising a wheel

Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2015 6:45 pm
by DaringRacer
Our rules are very strict, no bending anything, wheels must be flat, etc. One thing we are allowed to do is run on 3 wheels. I've made several cars with raising a wheel but have been wondering about a couple things that even after searching I'm still not sure of.

1. I can get the alignment to go fairly straight, but not perfect. It's going to ride the rail at some point. Which side should the car 'steer' toward? The raised wheel or the down wheel?
2. Should I put more weight on one side of the car or keep it centered?

Thanks!

Re: Questions on raising a wheel

Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2015 7:49 pm
by Stan Pope
The purpose of the raised wheel is to avoid expending energy to spin that wheel up. Do you avoid expending that energy if you steer the raised wheel into the rail?

Re: Questions on raising a wheel

Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2015 10:46 pm
by ngyoung
Having only 3 wheels touching any part of the track, including the rail, is preferred. So steer the down wheel into the rail. You can also take advantage of the slop in the wheel bore to have a very slight 1* angle in your axles and still have flat sitting wheels. For weight, having it centered if fine. Whether biasing some toward the DFW or away is pretty subjective. There are too many variables to rule one side better then the other for all cars.