Track maintenance for seamless track

redlinederby Friday, 4/8/2016
Site manager

I just finished up the Derby Dash and my next hosting duty isn't until May, so I have a month or so where I want to tear down my track and rebuild it to hopefully address some balance concerns and just make things run more smoothly.

My track is two, long seamless lanes. It's easy enough to take those off the base and adjust the downhill and things but as far as how to keep the track wrinkle-free over a long period time is something I need some suggestions and tips on.

The track is in my basement, which is finished, but temperature and humidity can still vary quite a bit...but generally, it's cooler down there. 

Part of my plan is to reverse the lanes and rotate them. So lane 1 becomes lane 2 and the end that was at the finish goes to the start...like a tire rotation, kinda. And while that's great, it won't help any bumpiness in the track or anything.

So...not sure what I should do to handle that or what my routine should be. Hair dryer? A better way to nail down the track? Or should I abandon seamless and go back to track segments?

And more so, what does my routine look like to support that. Do I blast it with heat before every race? Just once, twice? Only once a month? How often should I rotate...annually, monthly?

I'm all about routines and systems, it's what I need to be able to get things done efficiently given a very limited amount of time to dedicate. 

I know we all have very different tracks with setups, types and accessories so any tips, tricks and suggestions are appreciated - even if you don't have a seamless track.


Discussion

Your track did look pretty bumpy in that race...and I'm not really sure what you can do to it to fix that. If you heated it before the race, it would flatten it...but, then you'd have to deal with the lanes cooling off during the race.

Personally, I think the Drag Tracks sections are the best...by far...surface for racing. DT is a really nice width (blue track is kinda wide, Orange track is also a nice width), and DT, being made out a harder mater (with bracing) stays very, very flat and true.

So, my answer would be to run DT...sorry, no real good answer for the orange track

For me getting the cars to release evenly is just as important as the track being even.  

Depending on how low the front of the car is will affect when it is released. Any starting gate with drop pins will have this issue, the flip up gates like Smitty’s and the LJLRC gate seem to be the fairest.

The starting gate on the DT is my biggest complaint


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redlinederby 4/8/16
Site manager

Yeah...Drag Track is nice and hard but I'm stuck with the orange track, I've just invested too much into it by now.

Anyone know how the folks with the super long tracks deal with it? Do they just have their track glued down so it doesn't move or warp? Or do they just not worry about it?

I don't really want to permanently attach my track. Had a thought about a really long connector that it could slide on but I don't think that would fix the warping problem. I also wondered if going back to segmented track would be an option. I hate the idea of joints but in theory that would reduce the warp factor.

I've been thinking a lot about my starting gate. I like the sturdiness of the 3DBotMaker but I know the drop pin style has some issues. Another thing that cropped up with the 3D one is it doesn't sit flat, which I didn't think about until I started using it more. Of course, it's not intended to sit flat so I can't complain too much. I can certainly fashion a flip-up gate like LJLRC or might hit up Smitty for a starter.


  • I think LJLRC uses velcro to hold their track in place...could maybe try that? — 72_Chevy_C10
  • I'm using little velcro squares right now but not one long strip, hmm — redlinederby
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fordman 4/8/16

hmmm.... do i see a need for sloppy track anchors... like the sloppy transfers, but with shorter strips...


  • actually, i guess it's the same thing as the transfer, just don't bend it — redlinederby

We roll our track up and store it in a tote. We then soak our track in very hot water before we unroll it for setup. The hot water will make the track very flexible.

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