Tips and Tricks

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Caution

- Some of the information below could be dangerous and could cause injury to you or your property. Please do not assume the information below is accurate or safe to try.

- The information below has been provided by hobbyist. Assume they are not the opinion of trained professionals.

1/27/07

I have a flexi car that tends to get loose in the corners. To fix the problem I put weight in the front of car. This keeps the guild from coming out of the groove.

12/31/04

Instead of adding weight( which is bad) just narrow your tires. You can do this with a dremel , exacto knife and a file. Just put the tire on an axle and attach it to your dremel. Cut off a little bit of both tire and file the rough edges. Works wonders for me. This really does work for me. I use it all the time. Even on big full hubs. Will this work on an oval? I run a hard body 1/24 4.5'' FCR RTR Parma?

Slow and steady will not win the race. Go fast on the turns and faster on the straight a ways and remember stay in school.

Also don't do drugs.

I've seen "Pro's" set rear axle clearance by using a dial micrometer.  You don't own one?!?  Then set them just as accurately (within a couple ten thousandths) without one.  Snug the axle down until you can barely feel a slight click when you attempt to move it from side to side.  You should not be able to see any movement in the axle... just barely feel it. Congratulations!  You just saved yourself $50+ on a dial micrometer setup!  :-)

For consistent contact, shorten new braid 1/8 inch.  Also unbraid last 1/8 inch of braid using an exacto knife, then use small wire brush to straighten braid.  For drag cars, unbraid entire braid.

Instead of adding weight( which is bad) just narrow your tires. You can do this with a dremel , exacto knife and a file. Just put the tire on an axle and attach it to your dremel. Cut off a little bit of both tire and file the rough edges. Works wonders for me. This really does work for me. I use it all the time. Even on big full hubs.

6/24/02
If you are having problems with traction & you cannot use glue try using Paragon tire treatment for RC Cars.  This makes them soft and sticky. Use of a heat gun to dry them make them even stickier.

8/15/02
My tip is for the scale cars on kings and queen tracks never put weight in the middle the car will not handle as good.  Only put weight on the sides.
Also with wing cars on tight lanes bend the wings it will give you more down force bend them to the sides and it will help out handling.

10/15/02
Grab something flat a piece a timber note pad size and a roll of any type sticky tape.  Now wrap the tape around  the timber sticky side up ,now run your cars over it you will be surpassed how clean and tacky your tires get.

11/22/02
When setting the gearmesh on a wingcar always use the backing to the lane stickers to space the gears.

12/03/02
For oval tracks can get better traction by putting weight on the left side of the chassis.  Also you can put a weight on the side of the car that has the most inside turns and a small weight on the side that has fewer turns.

12/22/02
Space the rear wheels exactly 3 inches apart(measure from the inside of the wheel) it evenly distributes the weight of the motor and the car sits on the track nice and square. This works very good on tracks with banks.

8/31/04

- Hmm I was reading and the one that has the 3inch tire space I don't see that working if have 3 inches on the insides of the tires that puts the tires 3/4 of an inch out side of the car no other car will get by with out hitting your car ...I found that 3 1/4 from out side to out side of the tire keeps for better handling and safer racing ....

1/01/03
Put a heavy washer under the front guide nut. This weighs the front of the car down enabling you to go faster in turns lowering your lap time.

1/23/03
If you are right next to another driver and you want to take the lead just start to go a little faster every second and you will win. (Kyle 9) Keep up the good work Kyle!

2/14/04

If you install your lead wires into the guide flag, then twist them opposite each other a couple times before you solder them to the motor, the wire will have a slight cork screw to it allowing the guide flag to spring back to the center position when you fall off, this is very useful if you are racing and the corner marshal has to put your car on very quickly during a race! Good luck!

If you install an 1/8" axle into a Dremel tool, you can install your tires onto the axle, once this is done, spin the tire at a slow speed and apply GENTLE pressure to the face of the tire with an emery board (local drug store). This will take a small layer off the face of the tire, cleaning it and truing it up so it's nice and uniformly round, remember if you spin it TOO fast, the rubber on the tire will flare outward away from the axle and you will sand the tires unevenly. Good Luck!

If you have a problem with your gears slipping, you can put the spur gear on, make a mark with a fine marker, remove the gear and make a small notch with a dremel or a file. The flat spot will allow the set screw on the gear to tighten down and make slipping impossible!

Press on pinions can only be installed once, then they stretch out and will eventually slip on the armature, to prevent this, install with the pinion flush with the arm, sand the end of the arm and the gear, apply a bit of liquid soldering flux, tin a bit of silver solder on your iron and solder the gear on. Good Luck!

When setting up a superflexy chassis, remember to raise the front axle high enough to get the chassis VERY close to the track, you do not want the front tires to touch the track unless the car is in a turn, put your car on a tech block and visually check the front chassis clearance with a playing card, if you push down on the front corners the chassis should tilt slightly and ONLY then should the front tires make contact with the track. Good luck!

If you are mounting a body, start with the factory "ground line" then work up from there. You want the from of the body to almost scrape the track, also cut as much of the rear end out as possible as this will reduce weight and most importantly this will allow wind to freely "escape" from the inside your car reducing the "parachute" effect! Good luck..

If your racing and every one seems to be going much faster then you, ask them what there doing or what you can do to make your car faster. Chances are its just a gear, a simple fix.

Its a good idea to solder your motor to your chassis, instead of using the set screws. Also solder it in by more then one spot. If I know I am going to be in a race were there are lots of crashes I will solder it in 3 different places!

When racing put your lane stickers on the front of your car, this way the marshals can see what color you are on right away.

Keep your slot car motor clean at all times, you can get "Electrol Cleaner" in a can. This is a spray safe for all electric motors and parts. It works great for a fast clean. Try it your motor will last longer and go faster!

If can use 3/32 size axles you should because you can then use 64 pitch gears, these gears are much better then 48 pitch. You will be able to get better gear ratios with 64 pitch gears. Making you faster and have more brakes!

When you get a new slot car chassis its a good idea to solder in your oilites/bearings this will keep them from vibrating, and moving. Keep them in place it will be a much smoother ride! Make sure your axle spines freely this is very important.

To make your car handle better then ever make it as low to the track as possible. Be sure not to scrape the track. You can make small bends in the chassis or use smaller tires.

If you race hard body cars (hard plastic model bodies) it's a good idea NOT to glue in the windows just tape them in. This will let the body flex a little more letting your car handle. Also the best glue to use for the other parts is called " GOO " it comes in a tube and is like a brown/orange color. WORKS GREAT

Weight is very important in wing cars especially, do what ever you can to reduce weight. When you mount your rear Abel cut as much of it off as you can to reduce weight. Be sure not to cut too much. Believe it or not that little bit will help.

When racing high power cars (group 27's, or group 7's) its a good idea to grind a flat spot in your Abel this will keep your tires and gear from spinning. Just make sure you tighten the set screw on that flat spot.

When using lexon bodies you can use strapping tape to keep the body from tearing. I usually put the tape were the body pins are and the nose of the car. Be sure not to over do it you don't want your car top heavy.

When you get a NEW slot car body and cu tit out the lower you make it the better it will handle. When you make holes for your body pins its a good idea to reinforce the body with "strapping tape" this will keep it from tearing holes in the body.

Remember you can do a lot with your slot car tires, the lower your car sits on the track the better it will handle. But if you are racing in a race make sure it will pass TECH!

If you are racing on a oval, or circle track, or a track with a lot of turns you might want to make your front tires "independent" you can do this by soldering a color on the axle to keep it from sliding off.

4/11/04

Don't overlook the importance of gear mesh. It must be quiet to be right. Any noise means one of the gears is going bad. Bad gear mesh will cost you speed, plus it can make you car handle terrible under acceleration (happened to me).

4/15/04

I built a 12v power supply out of a battery charger. All you need is a battery charger,and an every day household light dimmer switch. I took and mounted the dimmer switch in the battery charger. Connected to the ac power coming in. And you have a fully adjustable 12vdc power supply for less than fifty bucks. Be sure to get a charger with an amp gauge, that way you can tell how many amps your slot car is pulling. I use mine to tune my cars and run my commutor lathe. Works great.