Wheel Gap Tool
- Thread starter jeffreyl7
- Start date
Most hobby shops that sell airplane & RC car stuff will have sheets of plastic that are available from .010 thru .035 available in many colors. Just get the thickness you need and use a drill and X-acto knife. Plastic is better any way because you won't scratch your hubs or side of car.
I use a credit card. You can cut a slot to fit around your axle and if it's to thick for the gap you desire then just sand it down to give you the right thickness. I've got four different size gap guages made on one card .015, .020, .025, and .030.
You are going to have to make one. There are currently none for sale that are small enough. This is one big problem I see with a lot of cars. Too much gap.
If your body is drilled correctly and you are running on a well set up track like a league track I would make your gaps very, very small. I would only increase a gap if during testing it made my car faster.
DerbyDad4Hire said:
In what class of cars are you speaking? Stock (w/ canted axles)? Unlimited (running bearings)? All of the above? The "0.02" and "very, very small" gaps mentioned here seem to be incredibly close tolerances.
Running graphite and four-flat on stock (that I've polished) BSA wheels and axles, I eyeball about a 1/16" gap.
TIA!
OPARENNEN said:
OR BETTER YET:
Just go to an automotive shop and get a "feeler gauge" set. They are used to set valve timing on cars. They don't have a slot, but you can make them work. My set has 10 or so blades, even much smaller than the .020 mentioned above. Mine goes down to .0001 and all the way up to .050. AND they are not expensive. See: http://www.amazon.com/Kastar-THICKNESS-GAUGE/dp/B001DKR2QG
Sanding a credit card is also good, because you can cut a small slot to go around the axle. However, you need a good gauge to measure the final sanded thickness. The gauge sold by DD4H will work, but you have to be careful when measuring, to hold the guage in a very accurate position. The kind of guage used by auto mechanics to measure very accurate thickness of various components is best, but more expensive. See: http://www.amazon.com/DIGITAL-ELECTRONIC-OUTSIDE-MICROMETER-attachment/dp/B004CZ4QB8/ref=pd_cp_hi_3
There's really no ideal gap.. Like a lot of these post say. Guys move the gap back and forth as a matter of tuning, I have noticed though if the car is built and weighted right the gap can be very tight.. and in that case tight gap means speed.
DerbyDad4Hire said:
This has been one of the best little nuggets I've mined off this board. While tuning I started reducing the gap... then I went back to easing it. The results were like a smack upside the head. Tighter was faster... I barely get a side-to-side click when I check the gap on my wheels. Any looser and it slows down.
Now... what I haven't been able to confirm is the non-dominant wheel. Currently I leave it very loose... thinking it will stay off the rail. Anyone have any thoughts?
JT
I run my non dominant pressed to the body to reduce vibration. You can also slick up the surface that would make contact in case it does and it won't slow you down as bad.
DerbyDad4Hire said:
Hmmm... good thought. I've noticed vibration is deadly. I've found running three cars is a lot different than running one.
DD4H, just so I'm clear, you still let it spin though, right? So, lube and shine like the other three?
JT
