Silver Bullet for four on the floor?

[Tepco]

So this is my first post so hello all happy to be here.

First off I have been lucky enough to meet John from living near his old shop and visiting while building my first car with my son. He is top notch, was very helpful and wish he would move back

. (although we did get beat by his kids cars in district..lol..)

I say that because if he promotes the silver bullet I'm sure its top notch as well.

My question is my son is moving on to districts and they have the silly rule about all four wheels touching the ground flat. I teach my son to always go by the rules and if we get beat by a cheater so be it.

Can the silver bullet be used to drill small degree holes I'm guessing 1-1.5 degree to keep the wheels flat?

 

[Kinser Racing]

Welcome to the forum! There is a certain degree of, shall we say, slop in between the wheel bore and axle that will alow you to drill a slight can't. I don't remember what it is, but someone here made the statemant so it's on the board here. Also, John has a way to drill both fronts at an angle and rail run while keeping the wheels flat (four on the floor). He'll be able to tell you on that one.

 

[Crash Enburn]

We also have to run four flat (w/ graphite). We just won all the prizes in our pack, and are on our way back to districts (we won third there two years ago).

I'm not sure that having the nail at an angle in the bore will make for more speed or not. We run the axles parallel to the tread. We inset both front wheels by 1/16", and then outset both back wheels by 1/16" as well. The body of the car is 1 5/8" in front and 1 7/8" at the rear. The idea is to keep the rear wheels off the rail no matter what the fronts decide to do.

You can see it in this car:

Anything I can answer or help you out with, feel free to ask.
- Eric

 

[DerbyDad4Hire]

Crash is right, keep the rears off the rail. The Silver Bullet will drill it anyway you like. I have 2 Proxxons setup and I can make the 4 touching cars with pre steer made into them. The front wheels work together and they run smooth. I would put a little cant for a flat running car.

 

[Tepco]

Thanks guys, so Eric your not running a dfw ? And I assume you built up the rear.

The reason I was thinking about a slight cant was to keep the wheels on the head of the axle and off the body.

And we also have to run graphite only.

We placed 5th at district 2 years ago on a 3 wheel rail runner with no where near the knowledge on this board so we are looking forward to getting a car set up with the new rules. Last year my sons troop leader decided to not have a derby because it was too much trouble. A lot of disappointed scouts.

 

[OPARENNEN]

Welcome to the forum! There is a certain degree of, shall we say, slop in between the wheel bore and axle that will alow you to drill a slight can't. I don't remember what it is, but someone here made the statemant so it's on the board here. Also, John has a way to drill both fronts at an angle and rail run while keeping the wheels flat (four on the floor). He'll be able to tell you on that one.

I bought one of John's blocks drilled for 4 on the floor. Helped a Cub Scout in our area, and he took first overall while breaking their Church's 5 year track record.

I rough cut the block we received, the boy painted and sanded it.
Together we prepped the wheels and axles.
We adjusted nothing, it ran right away perfect on my test board, and obviously in his race.

Save time and energy.
Buy it and run the car within 2 days.

 

[Crash Enburn]

Yes, the rear is built up with a craft stick (popsicle stick, tongue depressor) on both sides. They do a nice job of smoothing out the sides and covering up the weight holes.

I'm ashamed to say, but, typically we have done the wheels and axles at the last minute, leaving almost no time for tuning. /images/boards/smilies/eek.gif But, I figure that one of three things will happen:
[list type=decimal][*]
It'll steer left. Yea! Rail Rider!
[*]
It'll go straight. Woohoo! No friction from the rail!
[*]
It'll steer right. Yea! Rail Rider!
[/list type=decimal]
As we prepare for districts, I will be readdressing the polish and will make a point of looking at the steer on the car.

In watching the cars as they've made their runs, they have been very stable, w/o any of the wobbles you might expect. I have no idea if the wheels spend more time at the heads or the body. /images/boards/smilies/eek.gif Which has been plenty good for the Cub Scouts thus far...

So sorry to hear that the Cubmaster 86'd last years' race. It's for the kids. It just happens that I love it too. Which is why I spent ~15 hours on the track and timing setup this year.

- Eric

Thanks guys, so Eric your not running a dfw ? And I assume you built up the rear.

The reason I was thinking about a slight cant was to keep the wheels on the head of the axle and off the body.

And we also have to run graphite only.

We placed 5th at district 2 years ago on a 3 wheel rail runner with no where near the knowledge on this board so we are looking forward to getting a car set up with the new rules. Last year my sons troop leader decided to not have a derby because it was too much trouble. A lot of disappointed scouts.

 

[Tepco]

Yea, not having the derby last year was the least of the reasons we left that Cub master. Its really sad what "leaders" get away with. A whole other conversation...

So most likely Ill get a pre drilled block from John this year and also buy the SB for future builds. No point in tuning a car if the holes aren't straight to start with!

BTW, this is by far the best board for good quality info.

Tim

 

[Tepco]

DD4H Block ordered, I'm excited!! Although the Silver Bullet is a great deal it will have to be in the future. To many hobbies to little money..