Bore defects...

[Cooper]

I've grown tired of sorting through wheels looking for decent ones. We've got pretty strict rules, so I ordered 4 sets of unmodified "dynasty BASX tall" wheels from DD4H. We have Districts this weekend, so I was hoping to use them. They all arrived yesterday. 16 wheels, all #3 molds and all 16 wheels have the same defect!

Anyone who's gone through wheels before has probably seen this. When you look through the bore under magnification, the light reflection looks straight. Spin the wheel 180 degrees and look down a different part of the bore, the light reflection bends.

I even cut a wheel in half to better understand what the issue is.. There's definitely a small indentation on part of the wheel bore that no amount of polishing is going to fix without significantly increasing the bore diameter. I polished a set up anyway, and they're just not as fast as a random matched set (#6) from kits that I had kicking around.

Is there any way to salvage these?

 

[Crash Enburn]

I fail to see a problem. The bore is bowed out, away from the axle and any associated friction. Plus, it lines up with the groove in your axle (if you have one). Win-win.

The #3 mold has been my favorite.

 

[Cooper]

But it's only bowed out on about half the bore circumference. Something bad goes on when these are used, at least with graphite. My tests have always been slower with these types of wheels, I have a stack of them that we use for NDFWs.

We aren't allowed to groove axles in our pack race, so we've never grooved them (Districts have slightly different rules though)

 

[Hogans Racing]

I don't use graphite, but the fastest wheels I have are dipped twice that much in the middle. I think of it as my oil reserve, lol!

 

[~JBD RACING~]

My fastest wheels have defects also in the.. Most of the time it where the groove is and never touches it

 

[Quicktimederby]

No speed difference with or with out the dips. I too like the dippy # 3's

 

[Cooper]

Thanks for the responses all.. I'll prep another set and see what happens.. For those who don't mind wheels with dips, are any using graphite? I'm thinking oil may be ok, but graphite is getting caught & slowing us down a little.

 

[Crash Enburn]

All my BSA cars were graphite.

 

[quadad]

If there is any reasonable chance of oil being allowed, go for it !!

 

[Cooper]

I'd love to try oil, but it specifically says, dry lube only, no wet lube allowed. Some may say oil, if done correctly is dry at race time, but I'd feel dishonest doing it.

My son and I did just groove some axles, something we have not done before because his pack forbids it. We got some faster times with our test car, but still not as fast as his car that is prepped and ready for this weekend.

The district rules say "axles may be altered by polishing and dry lubrication". they don't specifically say "no grooved axles" but I think we're going to play it safe & be confident we're sticking to the rules.

This car is already faster than his pack car, and we won pack by .14 seconds.

 

[jator359]

I just prepped two sets of Cheetahs, #4 and #13 and darned it 2 wheels in both sets had divots in the bore. Sure they don't come in contact with the axle (we use grooved axles and run oil) but I would think the wheel balance would be somewhat off, even if it was lathed concentric to the bore. I don't have one of those wheel balance gadgets to check.

 

[bracketracer]

I just prepped two sets of Cheetahs, #4 and #13 and darned it 2 wheels in both sets had divots in the bore. Sure they don't come in contact with the axle (we use grooved axles and run oil) but I would think the wheel balance would be somewhat off, even if it was lathed concentric to the bore. I don't have one of those wheel balance gadgets to check.

I don't believe that a divot in the bore will throw off your wheel balance. It's too close to the center of rotation to have a measurable effect.