Derby Talk is a forum for Pinewood Derby, Awana Grand Prix, Kub Kar Rally, Shape N Race Derby, Space Derby, Raingutter Regatta and other similar races where a child and an adult work together to create a race vehicle and a lot of fun and memories
Guys,
I need your help, my son and I are in a pinewood derby this Saturday the 12th at walmart's day at the races. All of the other scout dads are using this race as a chance to get revenge on my son for being so fast at our pack I down loaded the rules and off walmart.com and it doesn't say we have to use dry lubricant. Should I use WD-40 or just stick to graphite Also there is no weight limit I went ahead and kept it at 5 oz. I don't know what do you guys think? will appreciate any feed back.
Richard wrote:Guys,
I need your help, my son and I are in a pinewood derby this Saturday the 12th at walmart's day at the races. All of the other scout dads are using this race as a chance to get revenge on my son for being so fast at our pack I down loaded the rules and off walmart.com and it doesn't say we have to use dry lubricant. Should I use WD-40 or just stick to graphite Also there is no weight limit I went ahead and kept it at 5 oz. I don't know what do you guys think? will appreciate any feed back.
WalMart is doing a race this year too? We participated in last year's race.
If there is still no weight limit, go for broke. Our cars were all over 11 ounces. I was a little worried about them crashing off of the end of the track, but that turned out not to be an issue with their "cardboard" track. You only handicap yourself if you stay at 5 ounces.
For lubricant, stick with graphite. Liquid lubricants can gum up over time and pick up all sorts of dust and stuff.
I agree with increasing the weight, but suggest not going over 12 ounces.
Regarding lube, if you want to try a non-dry lube, use 'Gunk' brand heavy-duty silicon spray (available at Home Depot in our area). The key is to spray the axles, let them sit a few seconds, then wipe them off with a clean soft rag. Also spray a pipe cleaner, run it through the wheel bore, then run a dry cleaner through. You just want a thin film, less is better.
I ran some time trials and found that this lube (and another liquid lube which I will share in the fall) outperformed graphite w/moly.
We participated last year and I was a bit disappointed about how little it was publicized and wasn't otherwise very organized. However, my kids and I had fun building their cars, which is the more important thing.
I down loaded the rules and off walmart.com and it doesn't say we have to use dry lubricant. Should I use WD-40 or just stick to graphite 
Also there is no weight limit I went ahead and kept it at 5 oz. I don't know what do you guys think? will appreciate any feed back.
