Rail Riding drifting wrong direction

General topics of interest to racers and race coordinators alike.
Speedster
Pine Head Legend
Pine Head Legend
Posts: 1972
Joined: Sat Feb 18, 2012 1:48 pm
Location: Toledo, Ohio

Re: Rail Riding drifting wrong direction

Post by Speedster »

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?
User avatar
Scrollsawer
Master Pine Head
Master Pine Head
Posts: 381
Joined: Sun Dec 30, 2012 4:24 pm
Location: DFW Metroplex, TX

Re: Rail Riding drifting wrong direction

Post by Scrollsawer »

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
"Laugh a while you can Monkey Boy."
User avatar
Loder66
Journeyman
Journeyman
Posts: 32
Joined: Tue Jan 14, 2014 12:27 am
Location: Plano, TX

Re: Rail Riding drifting wrong direction

Post by Loder66 »

Good luck today! Keep us posted on how it runs.
Loder
Plano, TX
john4840
Master Pine Head
Master Pine Head
Posts: 144
Joined: Sun Oct 11, 2009 4:42 pm
Location: Harrison City, PA

Re: Rail Riding drifting wrong direction

Post by john4840 »

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
User avatar
Stan Pope
Pine Head Legend
Pine Head Legend
Posts: 6856
Joined: Sat Jul 05, 2003 7:01 pm
Location: Morton, Illinois
Contact:

Re: Rail Riding drifting wrong direction

Post by Stan Pope »

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!
Stan
"If it's not for the boys, it's for the birds!"
Yoderby
Apprentice
Apprentice
Posts: 17
Joined: Tue Feb 02, 2016 11:52 pm
Location: SF, CA

Re: Rail Riding drifting wrong direction

Post by Yoderby »

Amazingly, car placed first overall, thanks again for the tips and feedback!
User avatar
Scrollsawer
Master Pine Head
Master Pine Head
Posts: 381
Joined: Sun Dec 30, 2012 4:24 pm
Location: DFW Metroplex, TX

Re: Rail Riding drifting wrong direction

Post by Scrollsawer »

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

Scrollsawer
"Laugh a while you can Monkey Boy."
User avatar
Stan Pope
Pine Head Legend
Pine Head Legend
Posts: 6856
Joined: Sat Jul 05, 2003 7:01 pm
Location: Morton, Illinois
Contact:

Re: Rail Riding drifting wrong direction

Post by Stan Pope »

Way to go!
Stan
"If it's not for the boys, it's for the birds!"
john4840
Master Pine Head
Master Pine Head
Posts: 144
Joined: Sun Oct 11, 2009 4:42 pm
Location: Harrison City, PA

Re: Rail Riding drifting wrong direction

Post by john4840 »

Nice.

John
Post Reply