I have read several things to axle prep and wheel burnishing. I am thinking of polishing my axles down to 3000 and then pledge them. What I have read about burnishing the wheels was to clean them and use toothpaste to polish then use a pipe cleaner with graphite on a drill to burnish them. Does that sound good. Also how do you graphite your wheel once there in?
Need help. Wheel burnishing and axle prep
- Thread starter Daniel
- Start date
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Vitamin K
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That's pretty similar to what we've done with good results in the past. Our method was something like:
- Polish with Pepsodent toothpaste on a fluffy pipe cleaner, wash with Dawn
- Polish with Novus 2 plastic polish on a fluffy pipe cleaner, wash with Dawn
- Burnish pure-flake graphite into bore with smooth end of #41 drill bit (roll wheel on spongy surface with graphite and shaft in bore)
Polishing axles to 3000 sounds fine to me. I'm not sold on the effectiveness of Pledge, but it certainly doesn't seem to hurt!
For the final graphite lube, we'd use a graphite/moly blend puffed into the bore at both ends after mounting on the axle and spun to distribute.
You could, of course, use one of the polishing kits sold by the proprietor of this site. Also, I think a Tamiya swab would work better than a fluffy pipe cleaner, if you have the right size that will fit snugly in the wheel bore.
- Polish with Pepsodent toothpaste on a fluffy pipe cleaner, wash with Dawn
- Polish with Novus 2 plastic polish on a fluffy pipe cleaner, wash with Dawn
- Burnish pure-flake graphite into bore with smooth end of #41 drill bit (roll wheel on spongy surface with graphite and shaft in bore)
Polishing axles to 3000 sounds fine to me. I'm not sold on the effectiveness of Pledge, but it certainly doesn't seem to hurt!
For the final graphite lube, we'd use a graphite/moly blend puffed into the bore at both ends after mounting on the axle and spun to distribute.
You could, of course, use one of the polishing kits sold by the proprietor of this site. Also, I think a Tamiya swab would work better than a fluffy pipe cleaner, if you have the right size that will fit snugly in the wheel bore.
What i have done in the past with good results is the following:
1) Polish axles the DD4H Axle polishing kit and finish it off with Pledge.
2) Polish the wheel bore's and then burnish with graphite.
I burnish the graphite with a drill bit that i have polished the same way i polished the axle's. I then cut out two circular pieces from a glossy business card and punched a hole in the center with the drill bit. I pass the blunt end of the drill bit thru the wheel bore and fill with graphite on the open end. I then slip the two pieces of glassy business card over both ends of the wheel. This is to keep as much graphite in the bore as possible without falling out. I then roll the wheel on my leg by holding the drill bit on both ends, kinda like a unicycle. I repeat this step a few times for each wheel. I then mount the axle's and wheel on car and prior to pushing the axles all the way in i add more graphite to the wheel bore and spin several times.
Like the saying goes, there is more than one way to skin a cat, but i find that the above has worked for me.
We just had our pack derby and my son's car pulled a 2.8 and several 2.9, runs. It's a 42ft best track and it wasn't in the best condition. But following the advise of the pro's on this site we pulled off the Den and Overall win for his pack.
Hope this helps.
Tman
1) Polish axles the DD4H Axle polishing kit and finish it off with Pledge.
2) Polish the wheel bore's and then burnish with graphite.
I burnish the graphite with a drill bit that i have polished the same way i polished the axle's. I then cut out two circular pieces from a glossy business card and punched a hole in the center with the drill bit. I pass the blunt end of the drill bit thru the wheel bore and fill with graphite on the open end. I then slip the two pieces of glassy business card over both ends of the wheel. This is to keep as much graphite in the bore as possible without falling out. I then roll the wheel on my leg by holding the drill bit on both ends, kinda like a unicycle. I repeat this step a few times for each wheel. I then mount the axle's and wheel on car and prior to pushing the axles all the way in i add more graphite to the wheel bore and spin several times.
Like the saying goes, there is more than one way to skin a cat, but i find that the above has worked for me.
We just had our pack derby and my son's car pulled a 2.8 and several 2.9, runs. It's a 42ft best track and it wasn't in the best condition. But following the advise of the pro's on this site we pulled off the Den and Overall win for his pack.
Hope this helps.
Tman
Thanks, i have thought about it a few times and will probably do it. I want to experiment with oil first since i havent had a chance yet. That is my next challenge. We had an open class also at the pack races and i wanted to use oil but didnt have any silicone type spray handy. So i went with graphite and was able to add 6oz of weight. My car pulled several sub 2.8 runs and i was easily 1-2 cars ahead of all the others in the open class. Granted, a lot of that was due to weight mostly, but i would have liked to try oil instead of graphite.
Crazy what more weight does to these cars once they transition to the straightaway.
Tman
With oil just remember your surfaces need to be prepped to "smooth as possible". Axles and wheel bores/hubs to a mirror shine. Also, make sure there to clear your axles and wheel bores of dust and lint before applying oil. Lint will destroy your speed. Pay close attention to the axle head area and use a cotton string to scrub any residue out of the area around the base of it because used polish mixed with fuzz from your polishing material likes to hide out there.
Then don't apply too much oil, or that will slow you down as well. Get enough in there to cover all the surfaces as thin as possible, with maybe a tad to spare, but how much is something I can't tell you because I don't know myself.
The most confusing thing about starting out league racing is getting a USPS account and printing your send and return labels. Oh, and proper packaging so your car doesn't take a beating. Some of us who have been doing it right for a while still get that wrong from time to time.
Then don't apply too much oil, or that will slow you down as well. Get enough in there to cover all the surfaces as thin as possible, with maybe a tad to spare, but how much is something I can't tell you because I don't know myself.
The most confusing thing about starting out league racing is getting a USPS account and printing your send and return labels. Oh, and proper packaging so your car doesn't take a beating. Some of us who have been doing it right for a while still get that wrong from time to time.
Cool, thanks for the info. I really wanna try oil, just another challenge to work on.
Tman
