Going to district races, a few questions . . .

[archimedes]

Hi all. After doing some research on this board my son and I built his pwd car as a rail rider, three wheels touching car. 2.5 degree cant on the back and 1.5 on the front dominant, turned so it drifts about 5-6 inches over 8 feet of very gentle slope (raised 3 1/2 inches at on end). He won his pwd and will now go to the district race. So a few questions:

1. Only dry lubricant was allowed at the local race but any lubricant is allowed at his district race. Should I switch from graphite to something like Ny-oil? If so, what's the best method to remove all traces of the existing graphite so as not to mix with the oil and make a sludge?
2. A couple of times as his car ran, I noticed the back end wobbling side to side towards the bottom of the track. What can I do to correct that?
3. Our local race was on an aluminum track, but the district is on a wooden track. Any modifications I should make just for the difference in surfaces?

[5KidsRacing]

Feb 22, 2011 17:48:00 GMT -6 archimedes said:

Hi all. After doing some research on this board my son and I built his pwd car as a rail rider, three wheels touching car. 2.5 degree cant on the back and 1.5 on the front dominant, turned so it drifts about 5-6 inches over 8 feet of very gentle slope (raised 3 1/2 inches at on end). He won his pwd and will now go to the district race. So a few questions:

1. Only dry lubricant was allowed at the local race but any lubricant is allowed at his district race. Should I switch from graphite to something like Ny-oil? If so, what's the best method to remove all traces of the existing graphite so as not to mix with the oil and make a sludge?
2. A couple of times as his car ran, I noticed the back end wobbling side to side towards the bottom of the track. What can I do to correct that?
3. Our local race was on an aluminum track, but the district is on a wooden track. Any modifications I should make just for the difference in surfaces?

I would stick with graphite, oil is tricky and if not done right will be slower than graphite. In addition, I have not had any luck cleaning up wheels/axles and removing graphite then running oil. You would have to start with new wheels at the very least.

Your wobble could be because of not enough drift, try something more like 8"-9" in 8 ft. You can also tighten your wheels gaps to minimize and wobble during rough track sections.

Sorry, I can't help you with the aluminum vs. wooden track question :( I have never raced on a wooden track.

[phantomvirus]

interesting that your car was not impounded after you won the local races. We traditionally impound the top cars to keep any additional modifications from happening. W/R/T wood vs aluminum - many wood tracks are significantly slower then Aluminum and the cars will (from my experience) track better and slip less. Not really sure what you could do to change it up for switching tracks.