o
Cut appropriate amount
of front axle for front wheels to fit under car body. Removing the side to side play makes a big
difference in keeping the cars from deslotting through corners, with less axle
slop they corner smoother since there is no more body shift over the front axle
in the corners.
o
Adjust rear axle gear
position so that rear wheels are symmetrical under car body. Sometimes I also
add a drop of Crazy glue to the gear mounting on the axle if it feels a bit
loose.
o
True the rear tires,
usually until most of the tread is barely showing, especially on the larger
rear tires. I true the rear tires with fine grit (100 to 200) sand paper taped
down to a piece of track and run the tires over it making sure to be at about
1/2 throttle (~ 3-4V) and making sure not to stall the engine by pushing down
very lightly on the tires when holding the car. If not, you might strip a
pinion or a gear. I also found it easier to do that with the body of the car
removed. If the tires are very much out of round, moving the rear of the car
from side to side while doing this will help.
o
Reduce the diameter of
the front tires by at least 1 mm or at least until you can’t see the tread
anymore. I reduce the diameter of the front tires by mounting the front axle
into my Dremel tool with one wheel sticking out. Then I sand the tire down
almost at the lowest speed of the tool, by using 100 grit sand paper (hold it
by hand), then do the same for the other wheel. Make sure you to do this slowly
and never allow the tire to warm up as you sand it down, or it might shred.
o
You can also true the
rims themselves before you true the tires. Some wheels that I have seen were
severely out of round and truing them really helps. To do this, use the same
technique as for the front tires, i.e. mount an axle in your dremel and true
the wheel using 100 grit sand paper.
o
If the tires feel loose
on the wheels, i.e. they rotate on the rim when you turn the axle, glue them on
the rim (super glue works, just be careful not to put any on the outer tire
surface).
o
When wheels have been
removed, they should hold on just fine by just pressing them back on the axle.
However, after having removed them several times, they do tend to get looser.
In this case, rough up the axle ends a bit (sand paper or file) and put a dab
of crazy glue on the tip before pressing the wheel back on. They can still be
removed but will hold on the axle very well.
o
Check the motor
mounting, if it feels a bit loose or if the motor moves side to side or up and
down in any ways, fix it in place with hot glue.
o
Using a small flat
screwdriver, slightly move the pinion on the motor axle until there is about a
0.5 mm clearance between the pinion and the motor cage
o
Using racing oil (or any
other plastic friendly oil), lube: front and rear axles at the bushing, and
motor axle (1 drop in front (endbell), one drop between motor cage and pinion)
o
Using a plastic
compatible grease, lube the pinion/gear (2-3 very small drops max, evenly
distributed around the gear)
o
Flatten the braids as
much as possible and put one very small drop of tiger milk
o
Angle braids as close as
possible to chassis, i.e. until contact is just made between car and track to
reduce ride height
o
Tip from Artin King: use packaging tape to clean the
tires or a bit of thick cloth stapled to a block of wood moistened with WD40 and
run the tires over them. Golden rule though: if you use WD40 to clean your
tires, they must be dry before the car goes back on the track (WD40 is not very
plastic friendly so be careful there).
o
Here are some ways to
get more magnetic down force for the top heavy cars:
v
Reduce rear and front
tire diameter.
v
Make sure to use the
larger magnet size from Artin, the one that fills the entire square under the
motor (Note: not applicable to the new Indy cars since they have two smaller
magnets). You can also check
out the new tweaker magnet Slot Car World recommends for the 1/43 cars
(Caution: these are really much stronger than the stock Artin magnets).
v
Pop out the magnet (very
carefully with a small flat head screwdriver by pulling sequentially on all
four sides until the glue starts separating, then finish pulling it by hand)
and add a shim between the magnet and the chassis. You can add easily 0.5 mm,
which will make a huge difference. You can even shim it with paper if you don’t
have metal that thin.
o
If you want less
magnetic down force, remove the magnet entirely or use a smaller one
Last Update: 8/19/06 Drop me a note