Racer Sideways Millertime Mustangs

[raggededgeracecars]

When I first bought this car and got it on the track I thought what a piece of junk. Car wouldnt corner and I was having a very hard time completing a lap at any competitive pace. Thanks to the HRW videos and review I know am headed in the right direct and I love this car however I still have a we bit of a problem.

First I should fill you in a bit. I have a 5' x 10' layout using Scalextric Sport track and have the RMS timing system using the YASCART timing program.

The problem I am having is the car is lifting the guide enough that its not tripping the lap counting gate on occasion. I have the 1.0 rear block in the car and I do run the magnet and its in the rear position under the axle. This is also with the stock tires that came on the car so I am gathering that it will do it even more once I put the Paul Gage Tires on it.

What should I do to correct this?
Move magnetic forward in the chassis? How much will that affect the rear traction I just gained?
Should I add ballist to the front of the car?
Should I use a different guide?

Any help or suggestions would greatly be appreciated

Chris Rhynold

[Wobble]

It seems like your front wheel/axle assembly maybe acting like a fulcrum which is lifting the guide due to the lower chassis under the rear axle, and add to that the acceleration trying to lift the guide as the magnet under the axle maybe providing another pivot point. Seems like a bit of weight up front or setting the front axle higher in the chassis might benefit or going back to the standard rear axle block and moving your magnet forward. You might find with better grip you don't need so much magnet sucking the rear of the car down.

[raggededgeracecars]

The car came with the magnet in the middle of the car and the 0 block. That wasnt the optimal configuration. The 1.0 block seemed to be the gig with this car but I had moved the magnet back. I think I will try the magnet forward. I have Paul Gage tires on their way so I will try it all when they come and see what happens. Thought I'd ask to see if there was something better to do. We have 2 more of these cars coming so I wanted to get this figured out so we can go right into racing them. Thanks for the suggestions

[Brumos RSR]

put about 3-4 grams of weight over the guide our under the front axle. Make sure your front ride height is just low enough but not to hit the bottom of the track. If you magnet racing leave the magnet in the current position and add a slot It 2.5gram tungsten weight in front of it on the pod. Loosen your pod screws in 1/4 turn increments to see if you find additional handling also.

[raggededgeracecars]

Awesome. Thank You Brumos RSR

[Brumos RSR]

Let's us know if it works, there's a ton of better tuners here than me.

[chappyman66]

Chris....
On a short track these cars accelerate pretty fast. If your guide is bottoming on the track or your ride height is slightly nose up you are going to get front end lift....PG tires may make it more pronounced with better grip.

If the guide is spaced right, raise the front axle to let the front end of the chassis drop as far as possible, then set the axle height.

Not sure how deep the sensor is, and what sort of lighting might be influencing your lap counting.

We run without magnets and as little weight as possible so in your situation you might need to move the magnet toward the front of the pod to keep everything down.

[raggededgeracecars]

The sensor is a trip gate. It about 1/16 down the slot. When the guide rolls through the gate it pushes it in and pushes up against a metal rail that touches a second rail. When the 2 make contact it sends a signal to the computer. I have read that there was a know design issue where the gate drops lower in the track. The fix was to as a small washer to keep the gate from dropping any lower in the slot. I have done this and it still does it. I have a feeling that the rail may have a small bow in it that makes it not touch on occassion

[chappyman66]

Hi Chris,
The other things that comes to mind with a gate/switch is that the thickness of the guide may make a difference. Not sure if you are using the stock guide or an aftermarket version. Maybe the thicker blade would help. You might also try a little Rail Zip of something similar or the contacts just to make sure you always get a good connection.

[slothead]

I'm thinking the same thing as chappyman66, that it's the thickness of the guide blade that my be the issue. Yes, the other factors being considered may be causing the guide to ride high in the slot so it sometimes isn't deep enough to trigger the gate. A combination of things (weight & front axle height) can help counter the rear magnet and traction from lifting the guide upward, but a thicker guide blade may help too and be an easy test. If you can wrap a small piece of tape around the front of the guide blade you might see a difference.

[Brumos RSR]

Just thought of this as I have the same track, if there is a bow in a track before the start finish line, some of my cars if going by too fast may lift the front and not register a time. If I slow down as I cross, it will register, no fun in that. Also Thunderslot and Scaleauto guides have trouble,registering on my particular track in general.

[raggededgeracecars]

The pieces of track before the timing loop are good. Guide thickness maybe the issue. It the stock racer sideways guide. Ill have to check the thickness'

[raggededgeracecars]

Just checked. The racer sideways guide is .017” thinner than a stock scalextric guide. Any recommendations on a replacement guide?

[chappyman66]

Lots of replacement guides out there....but I print my own. I will let others speak up.

You might try gluing a thin strip of styrene on the side of flag to see if it improves things.

[raggededgeracecars]

That’s something I got to get to. My boss gave me a 3D printer a few months ago. Haven’t had time to even touch it

[32lbking]

On the guide thickness, maybe try coating the sides of the guide with liquid super glue to make it thicker.
I do this to Carrera 1/24 guide posts because most have some slop. Most times it ends up a little tight on the first try, so I hit it with a fine file a couple times until I get it to where it pivots well, but the slop is gone.
Never needed to widen the guide, but I don't see why it wouldn't work.
Randy