DavidL.....I dont think that the date of Octoberfast should be changed, there are other people that have already made plans to attend the race. And the "Midwestern" guys that are attending the worlds should be a non issue. The worlds is in Ohio and most Midwestern guys will drive to the race that are in the race. Also how many of the guys live like 3 hours or less from the Worlds track that are going to the worlds I would venture to say a lot of them do. So the time frame and travel should not be a problem. How many guys are we talking about that are attending the worlds and the Octoberfast race maybe 20 to 30 tops? Why punnish the 100 or so more for a select few I feel the date is already set and it should not be changed IMHO.

Traction roll....
 

Well, anyone got any ideas on this one?

My totally dialed 1/12 scale has started to traction roll. I have changed about everything (too long to list) there is to change. Car is very dialed with new tires, but traction rolls as tires begin to wear. This car spanked a well known pro with his touring car last week......this week it's so twitchy its hard to drive....

Here's my question to the group:
Is it possible for a front tire to begin to get "hookie", to the point of catching and inducing a traction roll? My idea is that as the tires wear, it wears to a smaller diameter and the nice radiused outside corner turns to a sharp edge and begins to catch, thereby causing the car to greatly oversteer and traction roll. Car seems to be rolling or initating from the front, to the point it lifts the rear inside wheel and either spins out or on the higher speed sections .....well a very spectacular traction roll.

Has anyone ever had this happen or have any experience with this ? Is this a known or commen problem with 1/12 scale?

Opps, almost forgot....I'm running a 12L3 on high traction asphalt track, purple front/grey rear with 0 degree blocks, 2 degree camber and 30 wt shock oil. Car normally dialed.....

Traction rolling is the most common with 1/12 than any other R/C car.

The first thing I would check is to see it the front springs have collapsed. The next thing I would try is to clean the tires with motorspray or lighter fluid. Cleaning the tires might fix it but it is only a band aid to the problem. Does your car start traction rolling the second run on the new tires or does it traction roll after many runs? Also if you have run the tires a lot they might be getting too soft causing too much traction. If the tires do not seem too soft reradius the edges if they get too square that will help also. Also as the tires begin to wear the ride height will change and your front end may be way lower than your rear. You want it to be even or the front to be a touch lower, maybe .025 or so at the most.

You could also try a stiffer car setup. I do not know what you are running now but, a .076 t-bar and .020 springs is a common setup. Also you might want to try doping the front tires less. I do not know how much you dope now but go half as much and see what happens.

Hope this helps. I am sure some of the other guys will come up with something elso to help you too.

Paul

Traction Roll: Make sure your front ride height isn't lower than your rear. This is called the "rake" of your chassis. If you are running a negitive rake in your chassis, you are actually taking caster out of your front end. This will make the car very twitchy and hard to drive. Paul's post about cleaning your tires is also right on the money.

Diff Rings: As far as I know, SpeedMerchant cars have always come with the Asc. style stealth diff ring axle/hub combo. If you have something different on your car, it was probably changed by the previous owner. I race up in the North-East. I get my parts at R/C Madness or through mail order at Hobby Etc. Here is the correct rings off of their website. http://www.hobbyetc.com/cgi-bin/item...1115&car_id=68 Good luck.

Have tried the following:

T-bar- went from .063 to a .075
Front springs-went from .020 to .024
Shock oil went from 30wt to 35,40 and 25wt
diff-rebuilt three times, from loose to very tight
sauce- all of rear, front-went from 2/3 of inside to 1/4 of inside
toe-0/camber- 2, rechecked several times

Chickey03....regarding the tires, they have several (read LOTS) runs, but are still in good shape. The purple/grey combo works well here and is long wearing...

I know the answer is looking me in the face, just got to figure it out. Thanks for the input chicky03, I'll take it all into consideration.....anyone else got a similuar experence?

Rev.3 racer.....rake!, oh, thats good stuff......I running to the garage right now to take a look....!!!!!! Thanks! What do you guys usually like to run for ride height? Our track seems to like alot and has a sharp transition from the banked oval portion to the infield area, without some ride height, the body and nose of the chassis take a beating....

i would definately put a radius back on your tires. if that fails try a less castor.

Ausracer...
 

Is it common to have to put a radius back on the tires? I can't wait to try this and see what happens.....Thanks, Mate!

Mark A, Boomer........still waiting for your input!

I have ran the same set of tires for the last 5 weeks on my car with no problems. there is NO radius on the fronts or rears anymore and my car handles the same as it always has, or I just can't tell the difference. BTW I run on a prepared asphalt parking lot track. my ride height is about 4-5 mm.

Re: Ausracer...
 

Ummm....I already gave you my input at SoCal and it obviously didn't help :D ;)

SO I decided on the Six Pack. Now the hunt is on....seems like no one has them in stock....

What servo and speedo do I get?

Graphitedust,

If you can find or use some ones durometer you might find that the tires have just become too soft even though they look fine with no cuts or chunks removed. Normally 3-5 mm is a good ride height. Since it seems that your track is a bit different that the normal flat track you might want to try more. If the traction rolling does not happen the the transition of the banks the ride height is probably not the problem as long as it is close front to back. I usually start the day with 5 mm and get to 3mm by the end of the day. I only use tires for one race day maybe two at the most and at a big race two or three qualifyers is about all you will get with out getting too slow because of them getting soft. We rotate them also to keep them lasting longer.

Paul

did you try direct from CRC? www.teamcrc.com

Hey graphitedust-
If you are racing on carpet with one set of tires, and using a product like paragon,you can get that problem. So if you are saucing for asphalt, you may be having a similar experince. Multiple runs on one set of tires can make them too soft if you are saucing them. Try to use at least 2 sets of tires. Also, you could be leaving the sauce on for too long a time as traction comes up. hope this helps.

Chicky03/robk ....great info!
I had no idea that you could go through a set of tires so fast on these cars......that might be part of the problem. I suspect that I'm going to find it's several things wrong, all in the correct ratio to give me this problem.

I did notice that when my car is sitting on the bench, that the shock is compressed about two thirds of the way in it's travel. Perhaps when I go into a banked/high speed turn the chassis/t-bar is flexing so hard that the shock could be bottoming out....which I suspect would put things in a bind (a bad thing I suspect). I shortened one of the ball cups and it looks as though the shock is in a better orientation. I'll keep you posted guys thanks for the help!!!!!!!

Mark A, your thoughts? See you Thursday?

No, I won't be at SoCal this Thursday. See ya Saturday though.