Should I angle the axles (wheel Camber)???

[hotrod]

thanks everyone...I have been bending an axle and just eyeballing and praying. It's almost impossible to get both sides cambered the same without some way to measure bend. From experience, one side cambered more than other side is not good for tracking. At least now maybe I can get both sides more equal.

Ed

[volsfan]

Thanks for all the help guys. He did great at district! My son won every heat (six) until the last race for 1st, 2nd, 3rd. He had beat the other car in the previous heat to narrow it to the final three( in lane one, which I think was slightly faster). Anyway he got second in the final race, and I videoed it, and cannot tell from the video who won, it was by a fraction of an inch.
Anyway second was great for second year and out of 90 cars, and of course he had a GREAT time.

[RacerX]

Great Job!!!


Racer X

[Da Pine Racing]

Way to go & great to hear you and your son had a good time. Congradulations on the 2nd:)

[quantumleap]

ok, Cubmaster here, I built a track 6 yrs ago and it has gone to the districts every year, wood, 3 lane running software from yahoo board group. anyways. I ran my son's car 10 times in lane 1 every time, timed 0.00000 out so very accurate. His first 10 runs average time was 2.58533 on a 32 foot wooden track. Then I cleaned the wheels and axles, applied another fine coat of nyoil 2 and ran it again, lane 1 10 runs with a 10-15 deg canter down, wheels ran against car body. His average time was 2.50121. HUGE improvement. ok let me explain why down and not up. run on the outside, car ran extreemly straight. The boy glued cut peices from a teflon paint tray liner onto the side of his car where the wheels will hit, talk about slick slick slick (and he is only 8). so I was not worried about the wheel hitting the body. Last year webelos on that same lane ran an average of 2.51543. He is a bear this year, so I think he is gona do well. Cantering them downwards, unless others have something to add?

[anthony]

adding the teflon is illegal in my district. It is the same as adding washers, bearings etc.

[ohsofast]

quantumleap said:

ok, Cubmaster here, I built a track 6 yrs ago and it has gone to the districts every year, wood, 3 lane running software from yahoo board group. anyways. I ran my son's car 10 times in lane 1 every time, timed 0.00000 out so very accurate. His first 10 runs average time was 2.58533 on a 32 foot wooden track. Then I cleaned the wheels and axles, applied another fine coat of nyoil 2 and ran it again, lane 1 10 runs with a 10-15 deg canter down, wheels ran against car body. His average time was 2.50121. HUGE improvement. ok let me explain why down and not up. run on the outside, car ran extreemly straight. The boy glued cut peices from a teflon paint tray liner onto the side of his car where the wheels will hit, talk about slick slick slick (and he is only 8). so I was not worried about the wheel hitting the body. Last year webelos on that same lane ran an average of 2.51543. He is a bear this year, so I think he is gona do well. Cantering them downwards, unless others have something to add?

Because it makes the car think it is narrow and it acts skitish. There are some simple physics here that everyone uses and if what you are doing worked people would of been doing it a long time ago on all cars. Why don't you turn your axles over and follow the advice of the experts here on the board like Wheeler and Warp Speed for your alignment and re-run your test, re-jion the board and give us your results. I know timers and tracks differ, but your times would of given you last place out here in Kansas.

[quantumleap]

Hi ohsofast, Let me elaborate on the track. 32" long start to end timers, 4 feet raised center to stop the cars after the end timers. Home made track, 8 pcs of plywood 1/4" thick 3 lanes wide. It has 16 feet of curve from 4 feet high, Not a straight shot but a nice curve down. Track then has 16' of straight run to the finish. The fastest of the fastest cant break 2.50 on this track so 2.50 is about as fast as your gona get.

I didnt see the advise that you mentioned. Is cantering them up vrs down faster? If that is last place, then how long is your track, hight top to bottom, using all bsa gear on cars and what times are you running? Washers and bushings are not allowed either, but he cut this and matched it to the car as part of his car. just like using extreenly hard paint, and then 2000 grt wet sanding. creating the same affect.

[Derby Police]

anthony said:

adding the teflon is illegal in my district. It is the same as adding washers, bearings etc.

I agree, gluing any thing to the body between the wheel hub and body is prohibited in all Cub races. If it wasn't everyone would be doing it!

[SpeedGeek]

If the piece were free wheeling and not attached to the car body, it would be a washer, and therefore illegal. The rules we have state very specifically that things can be glued or fixed to the body, so in our case, gluing such something to the body at the axle is not illegal.

BTW, thanks Fred for the tips on canting. I have a few ideas to do it and needed a push. Of course, coming from you, it means a lot more!

[Fasterthnu]

speedgeek said:

If the piece were free wheeling and not attached to the car body, it would be a washer, and therefore illegal. The rules we have state very specifically that things can be glued or fixed to the body, so in our case, gluing such something to the body at the axle is not illegal.

BTW, thanks Fred for the tips on canting. I have a few ideas to do it and needed a push. Of course, coming from you, it means a lot more!

Sooo, if I glue a washer between the hub and the body, it isn't a washer anymore???

That's the most liberal interpretation of that rule I have ever heard!

[psycaz]

The problem you run into is interpreting the ruling fairly. Why would it be legal to build up epoxy to use as a bushing and not a piece of plastic? Folks do the epoxy thing all the time.
This one has been kicked around before when discussing those new graphite pads that are now for sale. Bushing/washer or part of the body since it's glued to it?

It all falls back to those enforcing the rules. The one thing that really matters, is be clear as to why it is legal or not and for gosh sakes, stay consistant.

[SpeedGeek]

Yes, enforcement and consistency are bigger issues than washer or no. Everyone should play by the same (clear) rules, and all rules should be enforced equally.

In our pack, we have fairly good set of rules that could be written more clearly, but at the same time, most are not enforced, but sometimes they are enforced.

Imagine my surprise upon seeing the Cubmaster's son's car with a very obvious illegal wheelbase!

The list goes on: rounded wheels, hinge pin axles, notched front ends, overweight... etc. At the same meet, I saw a distraught mother anguishing over failing inspection over the "4 on the floor" rule.

The veteran has a distinct (and unfair) advantage by knowing which rules he can "stretch" and which ones are strictly enforced.

[Fasterthnu]

speedgeek said:

Yes, enforcement and consistency are bigger issues than washer or no. Everyone should play by the same (clear) rules, and all rules should be enforced equally.

In our pack, we have fairly good set of rules that could be written more clearly, but at the same time, most are not enforced, but sometimes they are enforced.

Imagine my surprise upon seeing the Cubmaster's son's car with a very obvious illegal wheelbase!

The list goes on: rounded wheels, hinge pin axles, notched front ends, overweight... etc. At the same meet, I saw a distraught mother anguishing over failing inspection over the "4 on the floor" rule.

The veteran has a distinct (and unfair) advantage by knowing which rules he can "stretch" and which ones are strictly enforced.

I totally agree, if there are rules, they should be CLEAR and ENFORCED! Otherwise, it should be anything goes.

It really makes me sad to see a kid lose, only because he stuck to the rules as written, and the other boys didn't, but their cars weren't checked. What message does that send to our kids, that hard work doesn't matter, you have to bend the rules to win?