Thought id post a pic of this....i thought it turned out well for a 9 y/o using a dremel converted to a router...a bit heavy by pro standards im sure but for scout racing im pretty pumped with anticipation for him.
First ladder chassis
- Thread starter AceMontana
- Start date
Looks good! I would be excited too.
A couple of thoughts .....next time you can leave a little less meat for the axles. 1/4" is enough. It took me a while to get that thru my thick head. On this build, I see you narrowed the DFW side. Make sure that where you narrowed is long enough that the FDW does NOT rub on the side of the body once installed and adjusted for steer. It looks like it might be close?
A couple of thoughts .....next time you can leave a little less meat for the axles. 1/4" is enough. It took me a while to get that thru my thick head. On this build, I see you narrowed the DFW side. Make sure that where you narrowed is long enough that the FDW does NOT rub on the side of the body once installed and adjusted for steer. It looks like it might be close?
Ohhh good point about the dfw ...i hadnt given that a thought....thank you for the saved headache
Nice work. My 9 y/o will be attempting a similar style and technique starting this week, also using a Dremel as router. Good to see an example of it working out well.
I have been thinking about making one of these. Is this done purely to remove wood weight so you can move more weight to the back where you want it or is there other benifits?
The short answer is yes. NASCAR teams do the same thing. They use and build everything as light as possible. That way, they can place the weight where they want it for the best possible benefit.
With Cub Scouts, the trick is finding a correct balance of lightweight and strength. That magic sweet spot is a bit of a moving target. It depends on the kids (do they have a tendency to drop things), the competition, and track quality, track maintenance and the dreaded stop section.
I know it sounds simple, but ....you need to finish the race in order to win the race.
The track our pack has is metal and very smooth but the track for the district changes so unfortunately we never know what it will be like till were there. So for next year I'll do some of the hollowing but leave some meat for strength just in case. We need to run a 3.11 or close to it to win the district on a good track. last year we made second and ran a 3.14 but this year only made a 3.21 due to a wobble. Hopefully we can have that fixed for the district race.
This year, my boys did the ladder body following the 5kidsracing instructions. It’s easy enough and the cars were sufficiently sturdy.
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I'm seeing people talking about taping the bottom of a ladder chassis car. What kind of tape is best to use? or do you use any?
Taping can serve a couple different purposes. If you are using it to cover and hold the weights, then normally a metal type duct work tape gets the nod. There is a 3M ductwork tape that is commonly referenced, but I don't remember the number off hand.
If you are just covering weight pockets, then duct tape, painters tape, and clear packing tape have all been used with success.
Thanks Mojo! I couldn't remember the number and then forgot to go to the garage to look it up.
I used packaging labels so the kids could print images on them. I wouldn't trust the packaging labels to hold weights. If you're glueing your weights, they work fine. I don't have any idea if there's any speed advantage or disadvantage over using packaging labels, but it's fun and easy for cub scouts.
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