Last night my son PWD car was setting record times on are track.i put the car away on the work bench in a safe spot.we woke up early to do final prep before his Pack race and we ran the car. It ran variable speeds and never came close to what we had, I couldn't even tune it back, What could of happen? We resorted to slower car!
Strange car behavior
- Thread starter derbybrad
- Start date
Time to put your CSI hat on. What prep products were being used? Have you examined the wheels bores yet? See any contamination? A good visual inspection may reveal the culprit. Just throwing out some ideas.
- Nov 24, 2011
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When I researched the effect of humidity on graphite I learned that graphite doesn't perform as well in a vacuum. It relies on moisture and oxygen to allow the plates to slip and slide on one another. What kind of axles are you using? If you were over zealous and sanded off the zinc leaving exposed steel to the elements oxidation may occur, not too sure it would pop up over night though but that would definitely zap speed.
- Nov 24, 2011
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After you reapplied did you tap and then make a couple of runs. If not there was to much graphite in the wheel bores. Thus slowing you down. Graphite will usually last 6-8 runs. Numbers 3-6 will be the fastest.derbybrad said:
I have a small vote for humidity.
The track I set up in my home is the same one the Pack uses. I had data on the top 4 cars at the race. I know I have a slight track drop at home compared to the Gym, but it should effect all cars about the same. Two cars were using Moly-graphite, and had the DD4h prep. One car was using BSA graphite and secrets from a thin book. The forth car had stock BSA nails sprayed with a silicone spray- axle not polished- just out of the box. Wheels were raw out of the box. No graphite or oil. Times at my home were very consistent on each car. The weather was clear. The night of the race, 100% humidity all day and night- race at night. All cars slowed on the level 35 ft. track, but the car with no lube, just the silicon spray on axle had the least amount of change[+0.02] and came in first place. The two Moly-Graphite had about [+0.04] change and the straight graphite had a [+0.025] increase. I did the staging on all runs. Yes, I know these are slow times, but 100% of the prep is done by a Wolf or Bear in these cars.
The track I set up in my home is the same one the Pack uses. I had data on the top 4 cars at the race. I know I have a slight track drop at home compared to the Gym, but it should effect all cars about the same. Two cars were using Moly-graphite, and had the DD4h prep. One car was using BSA graphite and secrets from a thin book. The forth car had stock BSA nails sprayed with a silicone spray- axle not polished- just out of the box. Wheels were raw out of the box. No graphite or oil. Times at my home were very consistent on each car. The weather was clear. The night of the race, 100% humidity all day and night- race at night. All cars slowed on the level 35 ft. track, but the car with no lube, just the silicon spray on axle had the least amount of change[+0.02] and came in first place. The two Moly-Graphite had about [+0.04] change and the straight graphite had a [+0.025] increase. I did the staging on all runs. Yes, I know these are slow times, but 100% of the prep is done by a Wolf or Bear in these cars.
Did you CLEAN the tires the next morning and clean the track? How much was the time off? On a graphite car dirty wheels can cost you .015, has happened to many of us.
- Nov 24, 2011
- 3,903
- 30
- 48
- 13
- Nov 24, 2011
- 3,903
- 30
- 48
- 13
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