Click track
03-05-2013, 03:47 PM
#1
Click track
Hey guys,
Im trying to do some research on the square piping that is used at most of the big races. At snow birds it seemed as though it was velcroed and possibly screwed down to the sub floor.
How is your club holding it down? Does it hold down really well?
Our club here is looking for a way to go to different barriers and Im doing the research before we make a move. Right now we use 4x4 wood blocks bolted together and it takes 5 hours of heavy work for 5-6 people to get a track change done. Any other ideas for pvc type barriers?
Thanks
Chris Adams
Im trying to do some research on the square piping that is used at most of the big races. At snow birds it seemed as though it was velcroed and possibly screwed down to the sub floor.
How is your club holding it down? Does it hold down really well?
Our club here is looking for a way to go to different barriers and Im doing the research before we make a move. Right now we use 4x4 wood blocks bolted together and it takes 5 hours of heavy work for 5-6 people to get a track change done. Any other ideas for pvc type barriers?
Thanks
Chris Adams
03-05-2013, 03:55 PM
#2
The click track is the best.
Its not cheap but we use CRC carpet and Velcro it down works great!
Its not cheap but we use CRC carpet and Velcro it down works great!
03-05-2013, 03:57 PM
#3
Our track has 4" PVC pipe around the perimeter that is screwed down and the inside is click-trac that is velcro'd down. We have a couple of weights near the corners to keep it from moving but the velcro does a pretty good job as it hardly moves.
One person could really change the entire layout .. but usually it's 2-3 in under an hour. It takes more time to decide on a layout, then to actually change it.
You can see pics of the weights and stuff here - http://corrc.org/
I'm sure the rest of the 5280 crew will chime in.
One person could really change the entire layout .. but usually it's 2-3 in under an hour. It takes more time to decide on a layout, then to actually change it.
You can see pics of the weights and stuff here - http://corrc.org/
I'm sure the rest of the 5280 crew will chime in.
03-05-2013, 04:02 PM
#4
We currently use click-trak. If velcro is used on the bottom it holds in place very well, even with the abuse of sedan. Since we don't have enough velcro on ours, we supplement the corners with metal weights to keep them in place.
We used to use RW200 PVC downspout.It's available at ACE, I found some at Do-It, and other hardware stores for about $12/10ft. It worked fine, but I found it absolutely impossible to bend and therefore custom corners need to be made, either flappers or plywood or such, making for an ugly track IMO. The RW200 is about 2-5/8" outside square with a ~0.06" wall (if I recall correctly). I made a custom bender for it with a 2ft radius, used a 12ft oven at work to uniformly heat the piece, tried it with sand, and other configurations and finally got a smooth outer radius, but could never get the ID to be wrinkle free. It was not up to my standards and I gave up.
Alternatively, the click-trak is 2" outside square with a heavier wall and thus able to be bent
We used to use RW200 PVC downspout.It's available at ACE, I found some at Do-It, and other hardware stores for about $12/10ft. It worked fine, but I found it absolutely impossible to bend and therefore custom corners need to be made, either flappers or plywood or such, making for an ugly track IMO. The RW200 is about 2-5/8" outside square with a ~0.06" wall (if I recall correctly). I made a custom bender for it with a 2ft radius, used a 12ft oven at work to uniformly heat the piece, tried it with sand, and other configurations and finally got a smooth outer radius, but could never get the ID to be wrinkle free. It was not up to my standards and I gave up.
Alternatively, the click-trak is 2" outside square with a heavier wall and thus able to be bent
03-05-2013, 05:40 PM
#5
I race at a facility with clik-trak and it is by no means a perfect solution. Since it is plastic it can break. The basic kit you can get from CRC may not come with enough pieces to make the layout you want. You may need to buy extra pieces or a larger kit. Another thing is that the straight pieces only come in 5 foot or 10 foot sections, which may not fit the type of layout a facility might want to run.
If you have a small indoor carpet road course track, you may find that you have to compromise your layouts to accomodate the limitations of the clik-trak. This may equate to wasted space in the layout or overly simplistic layouts due to limitations of the pieces. You will find custom made barriers (2x4 or wood)allow most tracks a wider variety of layouts.
I think the best solution may be to buy clik-trak and modify the pieces (make shorter straights for example) to best fit your facility. For example, trying to build a decent sweeper with clik-trak at a smaller facility can be an issue.
Here is a link to a VTA race at the track a race at. You can see the compromise in the corners when using clik-trak (almost 90 degree fast corners), but it allows for around 10 second laps. When the facility uses more forgiving fast corners, the lap time drop to about 8 seconds in VTA, which doesn't promote good racing or interesting layouts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugkPAUS8NgA
------------
My comments above aren't to suggest not buying clik-trak, as it is a quality product that works very well for road-course racing.
I would suggest visiting/contacting facilities similar to yours that are using clik-trak. They should be able to let you know how it works for them.
If you have a small indoor carpet road course track, you may find that you have to compromise your layouts to accomodate the limitations of the clik-trak. This may equate to wasted space in the layout or overly simplistic layouts due to limitations of the pieces. You will find custom made barriers (2x4 or wood)allow most tracks a wider variety of layouts.
I think the best solution may be to buy clik-trak and modify the pieces (make shorter straights for example) to best fit your facility. For example, trying to build a decent sweeper with clik-trak at a smaller facility can be an issue.
Here is a link to a VTA race at the track a race at. You can see the compromise in the corners when using clik-trak (almost 90 degree fast corners), but it allows for around 10 second laps. When the facility uses more forgiving fast corners, the lap time drop to about 8 seconds in VTA, which doesn't promote good racing or interesting layouts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugkPAUS8NgA
| + YouTube Video | |
------------
My comments above aren't to suggest not buying clik-trak, as it is a quality product that works very well for road-course racing.
I would suggest visiting/contacting facilities similar to yours that are using clik-trak. They should be able to let you know how it works for them.
03-05-2013, 05:57 PM
#6
Layouts are easy. I think some of the angles it makes are weird and unnatural. Nearly every track runs it, and it will helicopter your car when you tap, so it's good if you can practice on it.
Overall, it's currently the best option on the market. 3.5/5 stars on the Amazon scale.
Overall, it's currently the best option on the market. 3.5/5 stars on the Amazon scale.
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
