Hello. New member here.

[John Reamer]

Hello, my son and i built a fast car last year, and this year he decided on a truck. It was not fast. Turns out he doesn't like losing. After lurking on the boards for a few days I've learned we were lucky rather than good last year. I look forward to getting a lot more consistent due to all the great info on here. Right now, I'm trying to get my head around all the info and the order of importance. I've surmised it all starts with alignment. I am willing to get whatever tools are necessary. I have a few questions about the silver bullet xteme. Our pack is required to have 4 wheels touch (canting is ok), and use axels and wheels from the box. Does the silver bullet still offer a benefit in this situation.

 

[Thinkin'Bout Racin]

Welcome .....keep reading, read some more and then read even more! There is a ton of great information here! You are at the point of where everyone starts out. We didn’t even know what questions to ask. Reading as much as possible will help you in so many ways. It will definitely help guide you to asking good questions as you learn.

As to your first question; yes a drill jig will help a bunch. Getting your rear alignment accurate is critical to building a fast car. As you read, you will get a much better understanding of the physics involved with these cars. Physics won’t change if it is a 3- wheeled rail riding car or a 4- wheeled rail running car. The strategies and techniques will vary some, but if you can build a fast 3- wheeled car, you can also build a fast 4 wheeled car. There are a number of good threads on 4- wheel touching builds. Search for them and find the common themes. Combine that with what you learned about all PWD cars and then work on your skills and your build.

One more thing, try to build several cars over the year. You WILL learn more than you think each time. This is true both about your build style and about the physics of how you built the car.

Welcome and be careful of the rabbit hole .....many have fallen in.

 

[John Reamer]

Welcome .....keep reading, read some more and then read even more! There is a ton of great information here! You are at the point of where everyone starts out. We didn’t even know what questions to ask. Reading as much as possible will help you in so many ways. It will definitely help guide you to asking good questions as you learn.

As to your first question; yes a drill jig will help a bunch. Getting your rear alignment accurate is critical to building a fast car. As you read, you will get a much better understanding of the physics involved with these cars. Physics won’t change if it is a 3- wheeled rail riding car or a 4- wheeled rail running car. The strategies and techniques will vary some, but if you can build a fast 3- wheeled car, you can also build a fast 4 wheeled car. There are a number of good threads on 4- wheel touching builds. Search for them and find the common themes. Combine that with what you learned about all PWD cars and then work on your skills and your build.

One more thing, try to build several cars over the year. You WILL learn more than you think each time. This is true both about your build style and about the physics of how you built the car.

Welcome and be careful of the rabbit hole .....many have fallen in.

Yes, The rabbit hole is real. I watched a 25 minute video on alignment yesterday by lightning boy and found myself looking for a 123 block, gage pins, machinist squares, and a protractor. It all seemed totally reasonable. Is the silver bullet setup to drill 4 holes touching or do you need to move the block? I am having a hard time finding detailed info on it.

 

[TexasTaxi]

Yes, The rabbit hole is real. I watched a 25 minute video on alignment yesterday by lightning boy and found myself looking for a 123 block, gage pins, machinist squares, and a protractor. It all seemed totally reasonable. Is the silver bullet setup to drill 4 holes touching or do you need to move the block? I am having a hard time finding detailed info on it.

I'm so deep into that dang hole ... too late now!
The SBE is the second jig that I've bought. The first was a little aluminum piece of junk!
The SBE is VERY versatile. It will drill for 3 or 4 wheels touching with a variety of wheel bases. I don't think you can go wrong with that jig.

I am by no means, a "pro", so take this as my opinion, only.

Welcome to the Hole!

 

[Jupiter 2.9]

The SBE is the way to go. Rear drills @ 3 deg. Fronts are 0. I use the ends as the 123 blocks with aircraft length bits for the pins, just slide the block out the end. It's not machine shop perfect but A machine shop somewhere made it. The long drill bits alone show you a lot.
I do still use the blue jig thing "clamped tight" for the front drills if I want to impart cant on the front end.
I just use a smaller bit at an angle then re drill with the #43 bit.
I don't mind scarring up the blue jig so it's not junk yet.

I wish I had purchased the jig at the beginning of my rabbit hole, it would have saved a few trees.
The rest of the prep, tune, pins, scales, twitch & shake stuff all come in time.

It's a good time,