Derby Talk

If it's any consolation, I doubt if any car runs straight. It might want to run straight but tracks have a mind of their own. I think that's why a properly set-up rail rider is so fast. A rail rider can overcome some track problems. We tested a very fast "straight" runner the other day. The 2 left wheels rode the rail all the way down. If you put graphite on the inner rim of all your wheels that should help a lot. Let us know how you do. Might we see a picture of your car?

Yes, do please keep us all updated on how the race went. If you can post some pics. of the car, that might help others who come visit the site as well.

Good luck at the race!

Scrollsawer

Good luck today! Keep us posted on how it runs.

Yoderby wrote:Well, I'll have to do it next year as I handed in the car. It's out of my control from now on but I'm glad I was able to get to roll straighter thanks to help on here.

No problem. The test board is the best way to test your car to make sure that every is clicking. It will translate to a PWD track. Check out Stan Popes here. He has a lot good info on his web site.

John

For your future reference ... it sounds as if your rear axles are not perfectly aligned. Further, if they were in alignment, the rear wheel behind the DFW might rub the rail. Those can be corrected by notching the DFW-side by 1/16" or by aligning the rears to slight "dog trot", i.e. the rear wheels offset from the front wheel path by 1/16" to 1/8". All of this can be accomplished quickly with my alignment scheme ... it is quick and accurate, regardless of the amount of camber in the rear wheels. (The popular forward/reverse roll scheme loses accuracy as the camber goes beyond 2.5 degrees.) See http://www.stanpope.net/bentaxlealign.htm

Camber beyond 2.5 degrees is good according to an experiment published by MaxV a couple years ago. But you have to be able to align the rears accurately to get the good out of 'em!

Amazingly, car placed first overall, thanks again for the tips and feedback!

Congratulations! Happy to hear it worked out for your Scout.

Scrollsawer

Way to go!

Nice.

John