Fenders are the Bane of my Existence! What am I doing wrong?

[Pinewoodguy]

Ok.... my son's car took first in pack for the Second year in a row! So here's the dilemma, I ordered GEE fenders and trailing fenders for his car. (Which took a month to get, but that's another story)
We are headed to districts so I mounted the fenders and the car is slower, bye a lot! Almost 5/100's ! The reason I went with GEE fenders is that I couldn't get the balsa Nellie's to work either.

So what the hell is the deal? What am I doing wrong? I am using a wheel gap tool and there is no rubbing of the wheels or track. The body weights in at 7 grams with a mono coat film covering and is 1/4" thick. Final weight with wheels is 18 grams. Have 2 rows of 5 - 1/4 tungsten cubes behind the axle and the rest in front of the rear axle.

What's the deal with fenders?
Someone Please let the Jeanie out of the bottle.
Thanks in advance!

 

[B_Regal Racing]

Did you clean your wheels (although 5 100ths is a ton of time)? Clean wheels are fast wheels.

Are you sure the fenders are not rubbing the rail (e.g. protruding past the inner edge of the wheel)? I have seen people mount fenders and ensure they do not drag on the floor but the inner edge of the fender rubs on the rail and acts like a brake.

Do the wheels that the car rides on (I'm excluding the raised wheel) all spin freely? Maybe you have gotten some contaminants in a wheel or changed the wheel gap accidentally.

Did you check the steer and verify it is still the same as expected?

 

[Cramjet]

The DFW can wobble and scrape it if there is not enough clearance. I had to sand mine a little on my Box Stock for that reason.

 

[HurriCrane Racing]

Adding the GEE fenders should not slow the car by .05! Something has to be rubbing or hitting the rail.
One thing that also may be a problem is if you used CA glue near your axles. It will haze the axles and kill your speed.

 

[Ballistic Racing]

Pop the fenders off & see if your speed comes back. If not, like the others said probably something you did to upset the car. If it comes back, something gone wrong on the installation.

 

[Pinewoodguy]

Yes and yes.
All the wheels are free. No debris and wheels are clean. The DFW has a relief cuts in the body so no rubbing.
The fenders don't touch the wheels at all and that is the mystery behind the drop in speed.

I just can't figure it out and it's like a pebble in my boot!

 

[Kinser Racing]

Only 5 in each row behind the axle? Is your car that narrow? If the wheels aren't rubbing the fenders your fenders are rubbing on the track. Either down at the track surface or on the rail. Next guess would be what HurriCrane said.

 

[Pinewoodguy]

Pop the fenders off & see if your speed comes back. If not, like the others said probably something you did to upset the car. If it comes back, something gone wrong on the installation.

It's funny you mentioned that here's his speeds.
35' Best track

No fenders with 3 runs
1. 2.505
2.2.500
3. 2.498

Fenders
1.2.518
2. 2.516
3. 2.514

2nd run no fenders
1. 2.503
2. 2.501
3. 2.499

Crazy!
Does any one have GEE Fender placement photos they'd like to share ? Im stumped!

 

[Kinser Racing]

Post your pictures of the car.

 

[GravityX]

Like Kinser said, post some pics. There may be an installation concern. You may just need another set of eyes on it to reveal it.

 

[BulldogRacing]

sometimes it helps me to violently disassemble the car by pitching it across the room at walls and large objects. During these therapy sessions I usually see the evidence of the simple mistakes I made in pieces of my crime scene. Might help you here?

 

[bracketracer]

That is one method I haven't tried yet Bulldog. LOL!

 

[Pinewoodguy]

sometimes it helps me to violently disassemble the car by pitching it across the room at walls and large objects. During these therapy sessions I usually see the evidence of the simple mistakes I made in pieces of my crime scene. Might help you here?

LMAO Bulldog!

 

[jrbryant68]

sometimes it helps me to violently disassemble the car by pitching it across the room at walls and large objects. During these therapy sessions I usually see the evidence of the simple mistakes I made in pieces of my crime scene. Might help you here?

For best results please make sure there are no children or things your wife considers important in the same room.

 

[Pinewoodguy]

Trying to get the photos to link. Let try this.

https://flic.kr/p/E6Ptev

 

[Kinser Racing]

Trying to get the photos to link. Let try this. https://flic.kr/p/E6Ptev

With the fenders bud!

 

[Crash Enburn]

... against a white background. /images/boards/smilies/thumb.gif

 

[Pinewoodguy]

I'll have to put them back on after district races on sat and then I'll take pics and post them. I could put them on his alternate car and photo that one.

 

[Kinser Racing]

I'll have to put them back on after district races on sat and then I'll take pics and post them. I could put them on his alternate car and photo that one.

With you having removed them we may never know why it was slower.

 

[Pinewoodguy]

Ok so I set them exactly the same way on his alternate car as I did on the first car. You will also see the other car with balsa Nellie style fenders. The fender spacer is the green thing, gravity X hooked me up! Thank you sir!
See what you think and please remember that these only have a couple spots of CA glue holding them on so you might see light between body and fender.
Thanks