I pretty much always use the 10* blocks.

Re: t fource setups
 

Start with this....

https://www.teamcrc.com/crc/modules....rder=0&thold=0

I had to only make minor changes to keep up with the fast guys.

take it from ur own experience not someone else's .

I would strongly suggest you try the Parma tires. You won't be disappointed!

Re: t fource setups
 

it is on the CRC website!!!:nod:

Rollout for dummies
 

I'm trying to understand the rollout values. I hope someone can educate me better and how to apply them accordingly. I've been at gearchart.com typing in values and trying to understand them. Ok so far:

Rollout = Distance (inches) the car travels for each motor revolution.

I'd like to figure out rollout values needed for certain tracks. How would you go about it if the track was 100'x75' compared to track that was 200' x75'. I think by knowing the rollout value, I can determine what size pinion, spurs, and wheel diameters needed to get optimum performance. Thanks in advance.

Hi Rev,

I'm having trouble with my e-mail right now, but pm me your e-mail address and i will mail you a good rollout chart. Do you have excel?

Chris.

YGPM! Yes I have excel. Thanks.

Thanks CE. The graph rocks! Worrying about pinion size is over.

testing
 

I did some tire experiments this weekend.
We all know that if you use a tire a couple of times in a row, it gets all mushy and soft, and your car is all over the track. The 'rotating tire system' works, but I wanted to try something else.
Observations:
* A rear tire (grey, granite) can be used twice in a row, easily. The third time is a bit sloppy, and the fourth time is time to get a new tre.
* Fronts can go a bit longer. About 5 runs. Because the compound is harder.
* If you clean the tires with motor cleaner between runs, you get more consistent traction. Maybe just a little bit more traction, maybe not, but in any case it's more consistent.
* If you coat the front tires only halfway across, make sure that the 'other half' also sees some traction compound. Even if it is for only 5 seconds, while you're wiping. If one half is completely dry and crusty, steering is too inconsistent.

When you take a 'fresh' tire, put additive on it, it will run very well, car will feel sharp and quick. But you can have more overall traction with a tire that has been run before.
The first time you put additive on a tire, you need to let it sit for at least 15 minutes. Take 20 minutes, to be on the safe side. For a tire that has been run before (on the same race day), this is much less. 5 minutes may be enough. 10 minutes is definitely enough.
You do not need to 'let it soak'! If you put gallons of traction compound on a tire, and let it soak for a long time, the traction compound will penetrate the foam, and make the entire tire soft and weak. This does give more traction, but it makes the tire much more prone to chunking. Plus, it feels 'sloppy' on the track. You would have been much better off with a softer compound tire with less traction compound!
Instead, I prefer this method:
The first time you use a tire, apply a coat of traction compound, but wipe most of it off. Let it sit for 20 to 30 minutes.
The second and third time you use that tire, apply traction compound, wipe it off very well, and let it sit for ... anything between 5 and 15 minutes. How long you let it sit isn't crtical anymore.
With this method, only the outer surface of the tire is soft. The inside is still firm, so the tire is well supported and resistent to chunking.

If a tire has had too much traction compound on it, and you want to use it again, you will have to let it dry out. So, you might want to begin with cleaning it with motor cleaner. If you wipe it, and your rag is still black, it's not clean yet.
You can let it air-dry, it will take a while for the inside of the foam to completely dry out. You can put them somewhere warm, like on top of your power supply, which does speed up the process. I've heard of people putting their tires on the stove for almost a week. I'm not sure if that's overkill or a good idea.

I've experimented with different traction compounds. CS Blue (medium traction), and CS yellow. (High traction) (www.cs-electronic.com)
Yellow gives a lot of traction. Even more than Jack the gripper and LRP blue. It really 'sticks'. It is somewhat oily though, so it has a tendency to stay 'on' the tire instead of penetrating it.
Blue gives less 'stick', but it reduces traction rolls, and the car slides much easier. Really easy to drive. It also penetrates the tire the instant you apply it.
I found the best combination to be blue for the front tires, yellow for the rears. Plenty of forward traction, and very forgiving.

elvo,

Nice information about your tire testing.

Were you cutting/retruing these tires during testing?

You didn't mention what brand(s) you were testing with. Kind of curious about that.

4 times Max???? I get 4 weeks out of a set of foams.... That's what truers are for....

I re-true after every race day.

tested with TRC's mostly. And one set of Jaco's.

vtl1180ny - you misunderstood; 4 times per day per set.

Re: Re: Re: 1/12th
 

No the car wasn't noticebly faster anywhere around the track, especially down the straight. But by looking at my lap times my ave. went down about a tenth per lap. So the motor was just a small part of the problem. I think the remaing issues may be comming from the need to make the changes in the suspension that you reccommended. The current setup I have, if I can remeber it all, is .20 springs up front with 25wt. oil in the shock with the gold spring, .08 T-bar with all 3 screws in the mount, purple fronts and grey rears. The track isn't open again until Thursday so we'll see what happens this time. Thanks for your help. And I know all about the golf thing too, maybe that's why all the courses always have the beer cart running around.

Ive found 400 is too corse. I use 600 or 800 (depending what I have on me) and do a quick wet sanding. I also dont use the figure 8 patern as that can give scratchs that move in the direction of the ball's which is not what you want. I just do a * patern slightly rotating it between each direction change, that gives the texture going perpendicular to the balls travel giving them the grip that you want.

Also with 600 or 800 grit you get many more sandings on one set of rings.