The Perfect Track
I have been working, tweaking, adjusting, altering my track for the past 10 months...trying to find the "Perfect Setup"...but haven't been able to uncover its secret. My track isn't permanent, so its in pieces (kinda hard to move a 32 ft track all in one piece. Anyway, the work continues on...it would be great if both lanes ran the same, and there were no wrecks. I have Hot Wheels seamless track, but cars still wreck. I know some car designs and wheel type lend to cars wrecking...is this something we just have to live with? I really want this to be fun for everyone who comes to our monthly races...don't want people to leave sad, because their car wrecked out, or wasn't all that fast...any advice?
Preacher
Discussion
The transition is usually the culprit. Need to get that thing at an angle where it's least abrupt. My track is two foot sections of Orange track. Sometimes I have to switch around pieces of track where there are wrecks for whatever reason. It's good to try and identify exactly what is causing the wrecks, so you don't just move the problem to a different spot. I think tempature has an effect as well, but that's probably in more extreme cases.
fellow racer had 10 or so cars come off the track... I.M.O. he might place i very soft thin [1/4"] foam sheet from 1/2 way in the transition for about 3 feet towards the finish. where inertia transfers from almost vertical to horizontal, it compresses the axles, as the track flatens the axles spring back to straight, this tends to lift the car's mass off the front wheels just slightly. I HAVE NEVER TRIED IT. [DRAG TRACKS]
Have you considered lowering the starting gate height?
Talking with the guys that built our 50 foot 4 lane league track, the first year they had lots of problems with cars coming off. They dropped the starting gate and we have maybe 1 or 2 cars that come off from the 100s of cars that we have. Its not a seamless track.
Have you considered lowering the starting gate height?Talking with the guys that built our 50 foot 4 lane league track, the first year they had lots of problems with cars coming off. They dropped the starting gate and we have maybe 1 or 2 cars that come off from the 100s of cars that we have. Its not a seamless track.
Wow...I did some testing today with the seamless track. I laid it out on the ground and ran my worst wrecking cars on it and they made it down the track time after time. I did some measurements with my board track and the aluminum dividers that pinch and hold down the track and found that they were 2/8ths narrower than the actual width of the track. So I'm adjusting the aluminum dividers hoping that this will solve my problem. My crazy seamless track doesn't want to lay flat in this cold, damp Canadian climate. I'm really hoping that this will work.
Preacher
I did the changes to my lane widths, from 1 3/8 to 1 5/8's. And it has made all the difference in the way the cars go down the track. I took my worst car that would wreck and bounce down the track and it ran smooth as silk, and it was fast. I'm thinking about doing a post on my track build to help others from making the same mistakes that I have made over these past 10 months. Thanks for all the help...I couldn't have done it without ya!
Preacher
I also have seamless track and I hardly ever have wrecks.
Where are they wrecking? do you have a tight transition?