Soooo, I was testing for an upcoming race(this past weekend, "Texas 2-Step" at Dallas Slot Cars).... my F-1 was working "OK" but not great. As the afternoon wore on and a number of offs accumulated, the handling deteriorated. A post-mortem revealed what you see in the pics. The marks on the lead shows where the arm shaft was hitting the lead as the chassis bowed under impact. Wow! That's at least a 1/8" bow of the chassis to do that! The impacts had also bent the main rails where they were soldered to the nose piece. Due to less-than-optimal construction techniques, the corrective action chosen was to grab the thing in both hands and bend it back. Qualified 9th(out of 15) and finished 4th overall(won the B-main).
How far will a chassis bow?
Started by
Tex
, Nov 27 2017 11:43 AM
17 replies to this topic
#1
Tex
-
- Full Member
-
- 9,245 posts Joined: 07-July 06
Grand Champion Poster
- Gender:Male
- Location:Denton, TX
Posted 27 November 2017 - 11:43 AM
Richard L. Hofer
Remember, two wrongs don't make a right... but three lefts do! Only you're a block over and a block behind.
Remember, two wrongs don't make a right... but three lefts do! Only you're a block over and a block behind.
#2
Uncle Fred
-
- Full Member
-
- 1,367 posts Joined: 29-September 06
Checkered Flag in Hand
- Gender:Male
- Location:Northlake, TX
Posted 27 November 2017 - 12:00 PM
Rich, I've heard of a lot of excuses but this ones a real winner!
Seriously, it looks like the shaft hit the lead 5 or 6 times.......... First of all I cant believe you ran into the wall that often nor that you hit once and the chassis flexed 5 or 6 times?
Fred Correnti
#3
TG Racing
-
- Full Member
-
- 468 posts Joined: 11-December 11
On The Lead Lap
- Gender:Male
- Location:Kettering, OH
Posted 27 November 2017 - 12:03 PM
Is your motor screwed or soldered in? You might think about stripping it down and heat the chassis up on a flat plate to "relax" the rails.
- Richard G With likes this
Thom Greene
#4
Tex
-
- Full Member
-
- 9,245 posts Joined: 07-July 06
Grand Champion Poster
- Gender:Male
- Location:Denton, TX
Posted 27 November 2017 - 12:38 PM
Rich, I've heard of a lot of excuses but this ones a real winner!
Seriously, it looks like the shaft hit the lead 5 or 6 times.......... First of all I cant believe you ran into the wall that often nor that you hit once and the chassis flexed 5 or 6 times?
I didn't run into the wall(much) on race day.... this all happened the previous Sunday during testing/tuning.
Richard L. Hofer
Remember, two wrongs don't make a right... but three lefts do! Only you're a block over and a block behind.
Remember, two wrongs don't make a right... but three lefts do! Only you're a block over and a block behind.
#5
Tex
-
- Full Member
-
- 9,245 posts Joined: 07-July 06
Grand Champion Poster
- Gender:Male
- Location:Denton, TX
Posted 27 November 2017 - 12:39 PM
Is your motor screwed or soldered in? You might think about stripping it down and heat the chassis up on a flat plate to "relax" the rails.
The motor is both screwed AND soldered in. I'm not happy with the chassis anyway, so this will go in the old chassis bin as soon as I build a new one.
Richard L. Hofer
Remember, two wrongs don't make a right... but three lefts do! Only you're a block over and a block behind.
Remember, two wrongs don't make a right... but three lefts do! Only you're a block over and a block behind.
#6
SlowBeas
-
- Subscriber
-
- 1,010 posts Joined: 15-January 07
Troublesome De-slotter
- Gender:Male
- Location:Lost in South Carolina, USA
Posted 27 November 2017 - 12:59 PM
Unless I'm mistaken, it appears to be strictly a flex issue. I would think that reinforcing the rigidity around the motor would help. Maybe a short L-brace attached to the motor bracket and main rails? Of course, it could also affect handling, so it would require a little track time.
That's something I've never seen before. Amazing photos!
Jim Beasley
South Carolina, USA
"Assuming either the Left Wing or the Right Wing gained control of the country, it would probably fly around in circles."
- Pat Paulsen, 1968
"I drive way too fast to worry about cholesterol."
- Steven Wright ca. 1983
South Carolina, USA
"Assuming either the Left Wing or the Right Wing gained control of the country, it would probably fly around in circles."
- Pat Paulsen, 1968
"I drive way too fast to worry about cholesterol."
- Steven Wright ca. 1983
#7
Uncle Fred
-
- Full Member
-
- 1,367 posts Joined: 29-September 06
Checkered Flag in Hand
- Gender:Male
- Location:Northlake, TX
Posted 27 November 2017 - 01:25 PM
Have you tried manually bending the chassis to see if you can make the shaft hit the lead? Personally I cant imagine the chassis bending that much.
Fred Correnti
#8
Pablo
-
- Administrator
-
- 18,457 posts Joined: 20-February 06
Builder
- Gender:Male
- Location:Cleveland, Tennessee
Posted 27 November 2017 - 05:44 PM
I'd like to see pics of the chassis to see what would allow that much movement 
Paul Wolcott
#9
Mike K
-
- Full Member
-
- 1,340 posts Joined: 20-February 06
Checkered Flag in Hand
- Gender:Male
Posted 27 November 2017 - 06:34 PM
Broken chassis?
So much DRAMA for such small cars....
Mike Kravitz
Don't DQ me for having the wrong SHADE of orange on my McLaren... after all, it's ONLY a toy car!!!
#10
JimF
-
- Full Member
-
- 2,220 posts Joined: 20-June 07
Posting Leader
- Gender:Male
Posted 27 November 2017 - 06:34 PM
Seems to me that the chassis itself would bottom out before it would be possible to bend far enough for that shaft to hit. (unless there were a broken solder joint like maybe one side of the bracket to the main rails)
Jim Fowler
#11
Cap Henry
-
- Subscriber
-
- 3,371 posts Joined: 25-October 08
CHR Cars
- Gender:Male
- Location:Bellevue, OH
Posted 27 November 2017 - 06:50 PM
How long is the WB?
I'm assuming the car is fairly soft, or long. I had an F1 car that I built super long at 4.25" WB for the Sano, in the bottom couple lanes at Mikes it would throw sparks because the car would bow and the motor would rub the track, and the motor didn't hang out the bottom when on the test block.
#12
Tex
-
- Full Member
-
- 9,245 posts Joined: 07-July 06
Grand Champion Poster
- Gender:Male
- Location:Denton, TX
Posted 27 November 2017 - 06:54 PM
The car would "skate" and launch going over a "bridge" and hit quite hard, almost dead-on square; that's what was causing the bowing, NOT normal running. I guess I should said that before. LOL
Richard L. Hofer
Remember, two wrongs don't make a right... but three lefts do! Only you're a block over and a block behind.
Remember, two wrongs don't make a right... but three lefts do! Only you're a block over and a block behind.
#13
Cap Henry
-
- Subscriber
-
- 3,371 posts Joined: 25-October 08
CHR Cars
- Gender:Male
- Location:Bellevue, OH
Posted 27 November 2017 - 07:04 PM
scratch my theory then LOL
- tonyp likes this
#14
Mr. M
-
- Full Member
-
- 587 posts Joined: 04-July 11
Race Leader
- Gender:Male
- Location:Florida Space Coast
Posted 27 November 2017 - 07:15 PM
Is the motor going down or is the lead part of the chassis coming up? Not obvious.
Chris McCarty
#15
Samiam
-
- Subscriber
-
- 4,773 posts Joined: 18-January 12
Posting Leader
- Gender:Male
- Location:Long Island, NY
Posted 27 November 2017 - 07:22 PM
The hit marks are all over the place too. I think something is broken at the motor bracket..
Sam Levitch
"If you have integrity, nothing else matters, and if you do not have integrity, nothing else matters."
Robert Mueller, special counsel (2013)
"... because people have got to know whether or not their president is a crook."
Richard M .Nixon, Nov 17, 1973
"Fool me once, same on... shame on you. Fool me... you can't get fooled again."
George W. Bush
"If you have integrity, nothing else matters, and if you do not have integrity, nothing else matters."
Robert Mueller, special counsel (2013)
"... because people have got to know whether or not their president is a crook."
Richard M .Nixon, Nov 17, 1973
"Fool me once, same on... shame on you. Fool me... you can't get fooled again."
George W. Bush
#16
MSwiss
-
- IRRA National Director
-
- 25,920 posts Joined: 16-April 06
Grand Champion Poster
- Gender:Male
Posted 27 November 2017 - 07:31 PM
The car would "skate" and launch going over a "bridge" and hit quite hard, almost dead-on square; that's what was causing the bowing, NOT normal running. I guess I should said that before. LOL
So you launched, hit the wall real hard, but didn't bother to check if you bent the chassis, and subsequently hit the wall another 4 or 5 times, and still didn't check the chassis? 
- tonyp and Tim Neja like this
Mike Swiss
Inventor of the Low CG guide flag 4/20/18
IRRA® Components Committee Chairman
Five-time USRA National Champion (two G7, one G27, two G7 Senior)
Two-time G7 World Champion (1988, 1990), eight G7 main appearances
Eight-time G7 King track single lap world record holder
17B West Ogden Ave., Westmont, IL 60559, (708) 203-8003, mikeswiss86@hotmail.com (also my PayPal address)
Note: Send all USPS packages and mail to: 692 Citadel Drive, Westmont, Illinois 60559
#17
tonyp
-
- Member at Peace
-
- 15,325 posts Joined: 12-February 07
Grand Champion Poster
- Gender:Male
- Location:Sanford, FL, land of lizards and big roaches
Posted 27 November 2017 - 07:50 PM
Lol!!!!!
- Tim Neja likes this
Anthony 'Tonyp' Przybylowicz
5/28/50-12/20/21
Requiescat in Pace
#18
Tex
-
- Full Member
-
- 9,245 posts Joined: 07-July 06
Grand Champion Poster
- Gender:Male
- Location:Denton, TX
Posted 28 November 2017 - 07:20 AM
So you launched, hit the wall real hard, but didn't bother to check if you bent the chassis, and subsequently hit the wall another 4 or 5 times, and still didn't check the chassis?
Well, I needed the trigger time regardless... you make it sound so.... so?..... unproductive. lol
- MSwiss and Racer36 like this
Richard L. Hofer
Remember, two wrongs don't make a right... but three lefts do! Only you're a block over and a block behind.
Remember, two wrongs don't make a right... but three lefts do! Only you're a block over and a block behind.
