Derby rules interpretation

[BlewBYu]

I need some help with rules clarification. The only rules my son's pack has about the Pinewood derby leads me to wonder what wheels/ axles are allowed. Here are the only excerpts from the rules sheet that pertain to axles and wheels:

"Wheel bearings, washers, and bushings are prohibited. Only official Cub Scout Grand Prix Pinewood Derby wheels and axles are permitted. Only dry graphite is permitted as a lubricant."

The only other part says:

1. Use only official BSA Pinewood Derby Kit wood, wheels, and nails.
2. Wheels may only be lightly sanded to smooth out molding imperfections in the tread area. Beveling, tapering, thin sanding, wafering, or lathe turning of the wheels is prohibited. The decorative dots on the wheel treads may not be removed.

Which wheels and axles do you interpret as being within the scope of these rules? Only what comes out of the box??????????

 

[Crash Enburn]

It says "only official Cub Scout Grand Prix wheels and axles". Essentially, BSA wheels, not Pinecar, Max-V, or others. The "lightly sanded" portion refers to lathing (turning). You'd be just fine with BASX wheels.

 

[Obsessedderbydad]

doesnt give much info on the axle portion of it. BASX wheels will work like crash said. Also, Id get a set of 92's. If you're worried about the groove in them get the 92's not the 92X's.

 

[Vitamin K]

"Lightly sanded" is some of the worst verbiage on the typical set of BSA Pinewood Derby rules, because there is no definition of what it actually means. For example, if I own a DW Wheel Shaver, and I use it to true the wheels, does that count as lathe turning it? Or, if I just use sandpaper to true the wheel, how much is considered "light"?

(Actually know of a dude on another forum who uses the shaver, but puts fine grit sandpaper over the blade to do the actual material removal.)

Aftermarket axles are out, since it says you can only use the BSA wood, wheels and nails. What you might want to ask about is whether you can use BSA-branded replacement parts (e.g., wheels and axles). If this is the case, you can possibly do two things: Buy a tube of Revell BSA-licensed wheels and axles, and use the superior Chinese-made axles. You can also buy several tubes of (American-made) BSA wheels, and pick from the best ones in there.

BASX wheels would definitely give you a boost, but since I'm pretty sure those are lathe-turned, they wouldn't fit the letter of the rules as written.

 

[ngyoung]

The Dynasty BASX wheels will be fine. It does say no lathe turned but IMHO I would be OK with using DD4H's wheels since there is only just enough tread removed to eliminate the imperfections of the mold.

Axles, if you want to stick to the official BSA axles I would buy a few sets of the Revell wheel packs and use the axles from them to avoid having to file crimp marks. The zinc axles that John sells are even better but not "official" but still zinc like the stock ones.

 

[cygnus]

I need some help with rules clarification. The only rules my son's pack has about the Pinewood derby leads me to wonder what wheels/ axles are allowed. Here are the only excerpts from the rules sheet that pertain to axles and wheels:

"Wheel bearings, washers, and bushings are prohibited. Only official Cub Scout Grand Prix Pinewood Derby wheels and axles are permitted. Only dry graphite is permitted as a lubricant."

The only other part says:

1. Use only official BSA Pinewood Derby Kit wood, wheels, and nails.
2. Wheels may only be lightly sanded to smooth out molding imperfections in the tread area. Beveling, tapering, thin sanding, wafering, or lathe turning of the wheels is prohibited. The decorative dots on the wheel treads may not be removed.

Which wheels and axles do you interpret as being within the scope of these rules? Only what comes out of the box??????????

Looks like you're stuck using the kit parts only. And you are not allowed to do much with the wheels. No oil! I hate those rules!!

 

[BulldogRacing]

For example, if I own a DW Wheel Shaver, and I use it to true the wheels,

I hate this freaking tool! I consider myself very good with tools, I work with my hands all day every day and for the life of me I could never get this thing to work. I watched the dang "how to" video so many times but this thing left so many chatter marks, it killed my fingers and hands, and destroyed every wheel hub I mounted to it. I think I'll go back with my knowledge I have learned over the past 2 years since I quit D.W tools and try and build a car again prepping the same but bending and hand lathing and hub cutting with the D.W crap and giving it an honest go. I'll also prep a set of stock wheels against them as a control and see how many car length advantage I'll get. I'll use a set of Basx too, I wonder how it'll end. Hypothesis, I bet BASX wheels will win.

 

[ngyoung]

If you're going to do that I would first make a run out gauge. Rig up a dial indicater and a
gauge pin. Also read to sharpen the blade in the DW tool to get it to cut better. Should make a good lesson for your son about how cheap gimmicks may improve it a little but nowhere near as much as proper precision machine.

For example, if I own a DW Wheel Shaver, and I use it to true the wheels,

I hate this freaking tool! I consider myself very good with tools, I work with my hands all day every day and for the life of me I could never get this thing to work. I watched the dang "how to" video so many times but this thing left so many chatter marks, it killed my fingers and hands, and destroyed every wheel hub I mounted to it. I think I'll go back with my knowledge I have learned over the past 2 years since I quit D.W tools and try and build a car again prepping the same but bending and hand lathing and hub cutting with the D.W crap and giving it an honest go. I'll also prep a set of stock wheels against them as a control and see how many car length advantage I'll get. I'll use a set of Basx too, I wonder how it'll end. Hypothesis, I bet BASX wheels will win.