loose Axle Hole

Nov 23, 2011
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We'll my car is starting to show its age. The axle holes are getting loose and it is time to build a new car. However, that being said are there any options to tighten the axle holes up?
 
Both mentioned above. Sometimes you can get lucky and add some water in the hole and it will tighten up. However that is rare. But worth trying.
 
Thanks for the suggestions, think I'll try the dental floss first. This is such a great place to race which is a result of folks helping each other out as we try to find more speed. John, you have a good thing going here and I'm very happy to be part of it.

Richard
 
Headless axles??? Wont the wheels fall off???
eeek
I have used wax paper it worked fairly well for me.
5KidsRacing said:
I see a future in headless axles for league racing for this very reason. I hate pulling axles to re-prep and I am sure I am not alone. There are zero quality big headless axles on the market. Might be worth a try?
 
Dental Floss worked great, car is going in the mail today. Feels good to get back in the swing of things racing again. Also, NASCAR starts up the 16th of Feb!!!
 
Chief said:
Headless axles??? Wont the wheels fall off???
eeek
I have used wax paper it worked fairly well for me.
5KidsRacing said:
I see a future in headless axles for league racing for this very reason. I hate pulling axles to re-prep and I am sure I am not alone. There are zero quality big headless axles on the market. Might be worth a try?

You are killing me Smalls!
 
Chief said:
Headless axles??? Wont the wheels fall off???
eeek
I have used wax paper it worked fairly well for me.
5KidsRacing said:
I see a future in headless axles for league racing for this very reason. I hate pulling axles to re-prep and I am sure I am not alone. There are zero quality big headless axles on the market. Might be worth a try?

No, you buy plastic tubing with a larger ID than the tubing we use on Unlimited.
I have been experimenting with solid axles made by pinecar, which are about .092 (a bit big). I used various grades of sandpaper to bring the ends down to .090 (or even .089). The only problem is that the metal on those PineCar axles is not of good enough quality to take a great mirror shine. However, I bought plastic hose just lightly larger than the unlimited stays, and it works great. I did make an Elim Car that is withing 1/100th of one using .084 axles.
 
I tried the dental floss tonight and the axle is a little tighter, but my question is, did the dental floss go to the back of the hole when the axle is inserted, and will it push the axle out during racing?
 
Might the floss or wax paper shim affect the original camber, though, if located at a single tangent?
 
Nah, not Stan (Stan who?). Just a dad enjoying a new hobby and askingg!questions like I was encouraged to when I first joined the forum. Sorry I asked in such a funny way. So the question rephrased is how do you make sure the axle comes straight out if you shim only on one side?
 
I wasn't laughing at you or your question. I was laughing at the stan comment. It just made me chuckle. Sorry!
 
jator359 said:
Nah, not Stan (Stan who?). Just a dad enjoying a new hobby and askingg!questions like I was encouraged to when I first joined the forum. Sorry I asked in such a funny way. So the question rephrased is how do you make sure the axle comes straight out if you shim only on one side?

Sorry Jator, no offense intended... I was just having fun...

If you drilled your axles holes and they are loose then putting a piece of floss in the hole will tighten the axle. You can also wet the end of the axle and put it in the hole to tighten it up a little. We are talking about just snugging up your axles, not filling a big gap.

Now if you are talking about an axle hole that is so big you used so other type of shim like wax paper I would say start over. If you are using the slots and the wax paper method to get the right cant then I would say you got some bad advice in the beginning.

I don't know how you would remove your axles and keep your cant the same with that type of method. I think it would be impossible.
 
Thanks for the tips, Scott. Oh and also thanks to you Mcmaster-Carr is going to see a spike in their 1st Qtr earnings on account of your recommendation.The wife's wondering why there's sawdust in the bed.