Done some research and wonder why you guys don't recommend bent axles? I know some have said its hard to do alignment with this. Also have never seen the track so wouldn't know if a rail rider would ge a good idea.... Any info here VERY appreciated. Already know to polish axles and wheels and have ordered tungsten.
Getting ready to build first car for cub scouts
- Thread starter scottsc86
- Start date
Imagine trying to steer something with 3 steering wheels. You never get the rear end dead on and that is what is important. With bent rears you also have to go through a complete retune if you remove one of them. With properly drilled rears you can dial a car in in minutes. I always build rail runners. They are going to hit the rails sooner or later and I don't want to zig zag.
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Vitamin K
Guest
!!!WARNING: The statements below are not endorsed by the board management (or most anybody else here)!!!
Bent rear axles CAN be a valid method of building a well-aligned rail-guided car. It is true that they do require re-alignment whenever removed, but with the proper techniques and setup, this alignment can be accomplished in under five minutes.
From my personal point-of-view, deciding bent vs straight depends on a lot of factors. If you plan to build a lot of cars and you are using premium aftermarket stainless steel axles, I think straight axles makes a lot of sense. If you're running a single car in a cub race using stock axles (and you don't plan to be building more than a few cars a year), bent starts to seem more attractive to me.
So, without turning this thread into a bent-vs-straight war, I'll just say that techniques exist for accurate alignment with bent rear axles, and if you want to go this route, I'm happy to help out.
I would personally not attempt to run cambered rears by inserting straight axles into the slots. If you wish to drill your own holes, you definitely want some kind of jig to help you do it straight, because even a small amount of toe will destroy your speed. If you have a drill press, you can purchase and employ The Block. If you lack a press, you can use a hand-drill jig, like the Silver Bullet Pro.
You can also try some hacked-up methods, like using a Revell guide with inserted pin to add camber. Tricky, but some have reported success at the Scout-level.
Of course, you can always just order a block with the rear holes pre-drilled, which might make sense for a single-car run, too.
Bent rear axles CAN be a valid method of building a well-aligned rail-guided car. It is true that they do require re-alignment whenever removed, but with the proper techniques and setup, this alignment can be accomplished in under five minutes.
From my personal point-of-view, deciding bent vs straight depends on a lot of factors. If you plan to build a lot of cars and you are using premium aftermarket stainless steel axles, I think straight axles makes a lot of sense. If you're running a single car in a cub race using stock axles (and you don't plan to be building more than a few cars a year), bent starts to seem more attractive to me.
So, without turning this thread into a bent-vs-straight war, I'll just say that techniques exist for accurate alignment with bent rear axles, and if you want to go this route, I'm happy to help out.
I would personally not attempt to run cambered rears by inserting straight axles into the slots. If you wish to drill your own holes, you definitely want some kind of jig to help you do it straight, because even a small amount of toe will destroy your speed. If you have a drill press, you can purchase and employ The Block. If you lack a press, you can use a hand-drill jig, like the Silver Bullet Pro.
You can also try some hacked-up methods, like using a Revell guide with inserted pin to add camber. Tricky, but some have reported success at the Scout-level.
Of course, you can always just order a block with the rear holes pre-drilled, which might make sense for a single-car run, too.
It's just going to be one car a year for as long as he is in scouts so I'm thinking bent after the research I'm doing. I'd love your help or advice on how to align it and any other trucks. I've heard clear tape over inside of wheels but thinking that might turn ugly if one comes off or puts wheel out of alignment. You can email me at [email protected]. Thank you
I am new to this, but did win 1st and 2nd at our Awana races last summer using all 4 bent axles. We used the provided wedge kits only, which meant using the holes that were already drilled. Turned out they were VERY crooked holes, all 4 going in different directions! I used bent axles and a treadmill to tune both cars when my kids finished painting them. I am sure they were not as fast as the cars on this forum, but they did win over around 100 other cars. It took a LONG time to tune them, quite a pain but it was all I had to use.
I am going to use the provided slotted blocks and then add my own drilled holes going forward, with canted rears and straight rear axles.
I am working on a tuning board as well, should cut way down on tuning time. I am going to have my son do it, he is going to do everything to his car this year. I expect a big graphite mess!
I second buying pre-drilled blocks if your rules allow, and use a bent front axle for rail rider.
I am going to use the provided slotted blocks and then add my own drilled holes going forward, with canted rears and straight rear axles.
I am working on a tuning board as well, should cut way down on tuning time. I am going to have my son do it, he is going to do everything to his car this year. I expect a big graphite mess!I second buying pre-drilled blocks if your rules allow, and use a bent front axle for rail rider.
This is the typical experience from someone using bent rears. Can you win? Yes, at a scout level if nobody is using the proper method. The TREADMILL is the #1 WORST method. Ruined wheels. VK you are making life hard on Scott.
Just get a drilled block and have fun with your son. He will lose interest LONG before you get the thing tuned in.
Just get a drilled block and have fun with your son. He will lose interest LONG before you get the thing tuned in.
The other thing they don't tell you is that a lot of times when you turn an axle it will migrate toward the body. So everytime you touch that axle you will have to check gaps too. If you have to pull the axle out a little then the axle will turn and then you are back to tuning. TERRIBLE advice but what do I know... Reach out to the fast racers here and get their opinion.
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Vitamin K
Guest
That much, at least, is easily solved. Insert your gap spacer before you turn the axle.
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Vitamin K
Guest
I'm going to make a video of the difference between a well built car using the best methods we have to our knowledge to date and I'll build a car using the gimmick methods I learned about when I was bran new. My boys won using the treadmill and the bent rears, the finger lathe killer device, and the DW tools. Then we thought we were fast, we searched for a bigger race, with more competition. We found nothing in our area so we searched further and found NPWDRL. Yes you can win at a small level where the cars are all fairly slow but winning in a council that has cars that employ proper building techniques as opposed to wasting money on crap jigs, and Chinese PWD tools. I have a drawer full of them and I will do a informative video that will be given away to help out the new scout families that fall for it each year. Please don't go the V.K rout if you want to win in any tough competition.
I had a better idea. V.K you build a box stock with bent rears, I'll build a box stock with canted rear drill and I won't use my track to tune, just my board. We'll see which car comes in where. You game. I'll only dedicate one hour to the build on video I will build it so you know you don't have the excuse I don't have the time. Just take one hour, and you said it's only 5 min to tune so that won't be a problem. I send an extra entry fee to Joel so you don't have to pay the ten bucks.
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Vitamin K
Guest
Hmm, that sounds fun. Always good to see more Box Stockers running. Don't think I'll be building again before March's race, though. Can you hold out til then?
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Vitamin K
Guest
Hey now, I thought I had to access the paid section of the site for tips like that.
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Vitamin K
Guest
Ha! This is fun... can I play too? I've got two Box Stockers sitting on the bench ready to go in! AND NO BENT AXLES!!!
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