Recent content by Chris Stevenson

  1. Chris Stevenson

    1/16" Notch by the DFW

    I mark 1/16" on both sides and then draw a diagonal line from the front of the car, through the 1/16" mark and to the front of the first cross brace. That way the width of the front of the car is tapered a bit and both sides are the same. I use the round pad of a bench sander to remove...
  2. Chris Stevenson

    COG vs weight placement

    You have to measure the COG with the wheels installed. That might move it up some. 1/2" is pretty aggressive. The information I have gotten and put into practice is that a better way of measuring weight distribution is to get three small digital scales and measure how much weight is on the...
  3. Chris Stevenson

    Air Shields and Fenders

    I'm sure this question has been asked a million times. Do air shields and fenders make your car faster? I feel like I've gotten all the speed I can out of the ladder body, tungsten cubes at the back, thin wedge, axle and wheel prep, etc. there is to get. A couple of the few things I haven't...
  4. Chris Stevenson

    2022 Build

    Well, my son won the pack race yesterday. It was kind of a bummer because the timing software wasn't working so we didn't get any data. I helped set the track up the day before and I ran the car on the track once to test it (when the software was working) and it ran a 2.54, which was faster...
  5. Chris Stevenson

    2022 Build

  6. Chris Stevenson

    2022 Build

    This is my oldest son's last year, so we're going for it! We won the pack race last year and we had a fast car, but there were still a few things we did to be "safe." We went from a 5" to 4-3/4" wheel base. Moved COG back to 7/16" from 5/8". We have 11.59g sitting on the DFW. 3" steer over...
  7. Chris Stevenson

    Unified Rules for Cub Scouts PWD

    100% agree. I wish PWD was more organized from the national level on down in scouts. In my area (Houston) we don't even have district or council races. There is nothing beyond the pack race for us. I've gone back and forth over this. On the one hand, I think the goal for BSA is to have the...
  8. Chris Stevenson

    Wheel Gap Question

    I have those pliers. What I have found is that the thickness of the very end of the pliers, the part that fits up under the head of the nail, it much thicker than the wheel gap you would want. The tip of the pliers comes in contact with the wheel and that's as far as you can push with the...
  9. Chris Stevenson

    Worth a Chuckle

    I know that even the same track torn down and put back up can yield different times, faster or slower. The times this year, except for ours, were slower. Last year the top 3-4 cars were running 2.59-2.60. This year, the second place car ran an average of 2.60 and there was a pretty big gap...
  10. Chris Stevenson

    1/4 tungsten cubes vs 2.1 or 2.3 oz tungsten bar

    Maybe a dumb question, but wouldn't the three scale method reflect more weight on the rear wheel on the non-dominant side because there is no weight being put on the front, raised wheel?
  11. Chris Stevenson

    Worth a Chuckle

    Update: Our pack race was yesterday and my son won 1st place overall. We cut .04175 seconds off of our average time last year, which is a significant improvement. What's weird is that the scaled speeds produced by the race software were actually slower than last year even though the times...
  12. Chris Stevenson

    Wheel Gap Question

    I haven't broken a body yet, but I've had this same experience of having to exert A LOT of force to get the axles in the holes and I was definitely worried about breaking the body. I have bent and ruined axles inserting them. That was even after relaxing the holes with the drill bit and/or...
  13. Chris Stevenson

    Worth a Chuckle

    Not with the kind I got. It's the type of vinyl used to make decals. Just peel and stick. I found the adhesive to be plenty strong. We just traced the shape of the body very carefully and left about 3/4" flaps under the car. Cut it out with a straight edge and Exacto knife. Very easy to...
  14. Chris Stevenson

    Worth a Chuckle

    One thing you can do to make the tape work better is to also cut strips for the sides of the weight pocket in addition to the bottom. I didn't do that because it felt secure enough for me, but I thought about it.
  15. Chris Stevenson

    Worth a Chuckle

    Thank you for reducing my anxiety level this week, lol. Our track is a 35' BestTrack, but there is a rough spot at the transition in one lane that has caused cars to come off the track in the past.