Cylinder weights extend above car??

[cosmo9370]

Before I found this page this year, my son has done a wedge build and we used cylinder weights, which are obviously much bigger than the cubes.

Since finding this page, I want to adopt the ‘thin to win’ body but we won’t be able to get the tools to carve the weight cavity, shape the car, get the cubes, etc. before the pack race.

My thoughts are we can still build a much thinner car and insert cylinder weights in the top and have them extend beyond the top of the car.

may question is if this is a bad idea. Will it cause instability? Mess up aerodynamics a lot? Etc?

should I just stick with the thicker wedge and keep the weights hidden? Or is the thin body with exposed weights okay?

 

[Hangtime]

I’m not a pro, but I’ll try to answer this one…

A wedge can be very competitive in most pack races. My 2 cents… stick with that wedge. Concentrate your efforts on other aspects of your build. Alignment, wheel and axle prep are super important. As T-Bone was alluding to in another current thread, you need to master the basics before you will see any meaningful gain from aero.

 

[flockshot]

I agree with Hangtime on keeping the wedge. Just enough wedge to cover the weights. Two ounces behind the rear axle and the rest right in front of it. Where you put the weight is going to be what is important in this car more than the thickness of the wedge. Axle prep, wheel prep, and alignment, along with that weight placement will make your car a winner.

 

[DerbyDad4Hire]

Build a "fender" on the top in front of the weights.

 

[cosmo9370]

Thanks guys. I have wheel and axle prep kid and will be tackling that this weekend.

I also bought the tungsten putty and COG balance to fine tune the weight.

unfortunately I was reading sites focused on Cub Scout races before I found this goldmine! I’ll be practicing on spare cars in the ‘off season’! lol. He has this year and one more, so trying to help him do better at Districts. He won his den and pack last year but trying to raise the bar!

 

[DerbyDad4Hire]

Not too late to rebuild it the right way!