Am I crazy?

[SuperSlow]

I know most of u guys run oil but im assuming alot of u have been doing this for a long time and have tested many theories. The club that i race in the rules state "dry lubes only" for some reason i dont know why because we are autonomous and not afiliated with any other orginizations but thats niether here nor there. To get to the root of this question, lately ive really been thinking less is more when it comes to graphiting our wheels. Which ultimately leads me to this question i cant get out of my head, after perfecty polishing n prepping wheels n axles to these perfectly sleek n shiny slippery surfaces, is dumping graphite in contaminating these surfaces. If u did get a few lightning passes would it ultimately damage your wheel bores. Or am i an idiot and it would just be slow n this whole thing is stupid and im over thinkin it. The problem is i dont have my own track yet and i dont have access to one whenever i want to so i cant always test these things. I really need some insight from experienced guys who have probably already thought of these things and probably think im stupid.

Sorry for the long post

 

[SuperFastRacing]

I know most of u guys run oil but im assuming alot of u have been doing this for a long time and have tested many theories. The club that i race in the rules state "dry lubes only" for some reason i dont know why because we are autonomous and not afiliated with any other orginizations but thats niether here nor there. To get to the root of this question, lately ive really been thinking less is more when it comes to graphiting our wheels. Which ultimately leads me to this question i cant get out of my head, after perfecty polishing n prepping wheels n axles to these perfectly sleek n shiny slippery surfaces, is dumping graphite in contaminating these surfaces. If u did get a few lightning passes would it ultimately damage your wheel bores. Or am i an idiot and it would just be slow n this whole thing is stupid and im over thinkin it. The problem is i dont have my own track yet and i dont have access to one whenever i want to so i cant always test these things. I really need some insight from experienced guys who have probably already thought of these things and probably think im stupid.

Sorry for the long post

Are you asking if graphite is contaminating your axles and bores?

 

[txchemist]

I often show the Cubs with actual times what can change speed of car.
So going from raw axles to polished axles drops time by 0.2 sec. adding graphite, another 0.2. So if you inspect bores you could say they are all contaminated with graphite,but the car runs WAY faster. Learn the oil process and get even faster.- Get the rules changed. If you think you can not- then how could your group ever change anything? Fear and ignorance will always be a good thing to fight against.

 

[SuperSlow]

Yes, i guess in a nut shell i wonder if satisfying this compulsion to drown everything in graphite it helping or hurting the prep to axles n wheel bores. I wonder what would happen if u do the same prep process n run it dry what would happen, with or without pledge. I know everybodys prep probably has differences here n there. I think having all this lose dusty powder blowin around n falling out everywhere must slow u down. I think my next race im just gonna do my normal prep, then use a pipe cleaner to burnish graphite to a shiny silvery polished apperarence in my wheels bores n let it rip. See what happens with out adding more to them.

 

[SuperSlow]

I guess i just have it in my head there must be a sweet spot in there. I just cant convince myself that blasting more graphite powder in my wheels every couple of runs is doing anything to help the car.

 

[TRE]

It's making it faster

 

[Thinkin'Bout Racin]

I guess i just have it in my head there must be a sweet spot in there. I just cant convince myself that blasting more graphite powder in my wheels every couple of runs is doing anything to help the car.

I am not a pro, so take this for what it is worth...too much graphite and too much oil will slow you down. All of the information that I have read from those using oil repeatedly say the same thing. Too much oil is slower!

The same is true for graphite ...too much slows you down. Finding the right amount depends on how many passes you need to make before you can re-lube. It also depends on the prep, the graphite, and the burnishing process. I have found that I can make about 14-16 passes before the car will slow down. I prefer to do a light lube/cleaning after 10 passes.

To your question does graphite contaminate your bores? If using this logic, I submit that oil would also be a contaminant. I will also add that if I was in your race, I would be hoping that you were not running any "contaminates" in you bores.

 

[SuperSlow]

Yea thanks guys. As i said, i dont always have track access so in the mean time i probably wayyy over think things. Im trying to set up some track time with my guy. I plan on takin a few different combos of prepped wheels n axles to try this stuff out and gather some of our own data. I would have alot of fun doing this with my son, goin back n comparing results to what i thought would happen compared to what he thought.

Thanks guys, sometimes i stare at something for too long n a fresh set of eyes helps!

 

[SuperSlow]

Also i meant "contaminate" in a sense of adding something bad or not necessary to these surfaces we spend so much time and effort perfecting.

 

[Thinkin'Bout Racin]

Yea thanks guys. As i said, i dont always have track access so in the mean time i probably wayyy over think things. Im trying to set up some track time with my guy. I plan on takin a few different combos of prepped wheels n axles to try this stuff out and gather some of our own data. I would have alot of fun doing this with my son, goin back n comparing results to what i thought would happen compared to what he thought.

Thanks guys, sometimes i stare at something for too long n a fresh set of eyes helps!

If you happen to go back and read some of my questions, you will see that I WAAAAAYYYYY overthought a lot of items. The guys here pointed that out to me and I had to laugh at myself a few times. The people here will help guide you down the correct path.

The Force is strong on this forum!

 

[TRE]

too much oil will be slower, but i dont think too much graphite will most of it will sling out first time down the track

 

[bracketracer]

Whenever we have to test a graphite car, we intentionally put in too much graphite, shake/gently blow off the loose stuff, and then give it a couple runs down the track. It usually picks up speed before it levels out so we know we're ready to race. If you have too much in the bores and don't give it a couple runs it'll be slower that it could have been in your first couple heats so if you don't have a track at least roll it back and forth on a paper towel to break it in before you race.

If your group only allows dry lubes I would suggest you look into tungsten disulfide in addition to graphite.

 

[SuperSlow]

This is how i would typically do it.

too much oil will be slower, but i dont think too much graphite will most of it will sling out first time down the track

Something just feels like having "too much" loose powder working around in there would be slower.
And then ofcourse i get to over thinking things and wondering.

 

[Thinkin'Bout Racin]

Whenever we have to test a graphite car, we intentionally put in too much graphite, shake/gently blow off the loose stuff, and then give it a couple runs down the track. It usually picks up speed before it levels out so we know we're ready to race. If you have too much in the bores and don't give it a couple runs it'll be slower that it could have been.

What Bracket Racer said!!!!! We have found the same to be true. The car is slower when first "graphited". Normally no more than two runs and it is back at max speed.

 

[SuperSlow]

Thanks guys, the guy that runs the races is the owner of the track we use. I dont think he will be open to legalizing oil just because we give free kits to kids to try n get people interested/involved in pwd. We get alot of people in our kids class that dont have knowledge and or skill to be as competitive as some. But im gonna try n get him to add an oil class maybe, idk.

 

[SuperSlow]

Ultimately im gonna try to get him interested in league racing so he has to test and then we can all have a test day or weekend before sending cars in. Instead of bugging him to rent track time to us