Council race over the weekend

Jan 25, 2013
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Hi just wanted to let you guys know that we had our council race over the weekend and we finished third and got a trophy with a 3 time average of 3.07 second place had a time of 3.03 and here is where i would like to have some input from you pros the 1st place car broke the track record 3 times in my boys group and this is a scout car to run on graphite and stock wheels there was no checking on wheels or axles and his time overall average was 2.996 on graphite hmmmm? what are your opinions on this but i would like to give a big thanks to all the pros out there for helping my son win districts and get 3rd at council and most of all thank you John for your wonderful tools and supplies that could make this possible u truly do know how to make very fine products and the times to show it again thank you guys so much from my son and me 3 years in making it to council this is the year we turned the corner and got a top 3 again thank you for all your knowledge you shared to make a boy with a smiling face.
 
Not a pro but i am sure they were at least running with lathed wheels. How much they were lightened could be anyone's guess. To compare, what was your scout using?
 
There are so many things that can cause you to be .010 slower than another car, even aside from the wheels. Rear alignment, weight placement, DFW steer, and the body profile to name a few. My archilles heel has always been rear alignment. Using a jig to drill the rear axles, it is usually hit or miss whether you get it correct (wasted a number of blocks), although it is usually good enough for a scout race victory. I recently order the silver bullet, hoping to make the drilling of the rear axles more repeatable, and allowing my kid to do it. DFW steer is another gotcha. I know it is professed that 4" over 4' is a good starting point, but I have significant increased speed dialing in the steer with a few runs on a test track. COG and steer are related. Was the banging side to side on the rail?

Were the wheels lightened (lathed)? Were the axles purchased? Some axles are thicker (.091" as opposed to BSA .089") eliminated he slop. Wheel gap - a credit card gap is too much. And prep/lubrication is huge (pledge the axles, break in the graphite to simulate 4 or 5 runs, etc.)?

Just throwing out some food for thought.