Clearing the transition

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Vitamin K
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Clearing the transition

Post by Vitamin K »

So...! As those of you have seen on my build thread, our cars this year are fender-riffic, which is a lot of fun (and frustration) to build, but I recently have become concerned about making sure that the low-rider fenders will clear the transition sections of the track without catching.

I inquired elsewhere about how to make certain a car would clear. It would suggested to me that if the car could pop a 30 degree wheelie in either direction, I'd be okay. However, I think that's a little too extreme. I don't think a standard "EFE" car without fenders would pass this test.

So, I decided to try a visual aid. Since I had my cars laid out as vectors, I took the one for which I was most concerned and then created some "test sections", consisting of arcs from a circle of a 48" diameter, and of sloping (26 degree) and straight sections of track. I put the track sections tangential with the arcs, and then took my car layout and aligned it so that the wheels were touching at various points on my test layout.

You can see the results here (click for bigger pic): Image

If you look, the car gets mighty close in some spots, but never actual touches. However, I still think I'll be shaving the fender back some, out of paranoia. But what I really want is y'alls opinions on my method of testing.

- Does this seem like a viable test to do?
- These measurements (26 degree initial slop, 48" radius curved section) were taken from the specs from Best Track). Does anybody know what I'd be working with for a Freedom track? Plantedosi? What are some "pessimistic" measurements to work with that would clear any track?
- Part of me kind of assumes that if the car fits on the curved arc without touching, then it is "in the clear" for any other section of the track? Is this overlooking anything?
- Any other things I might want to consider?
Speedster
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Re: Clearing the transition

Post by Speedster »

If the car clears the curve of the Best track it will have no problem on the Freedom track or the wood Piantedosi track. I suspect there is someone on DT that has a Best track that might run the car down the track for you to see if there is clearance. Another solution would be to buy the curve from Best track which would enable you to test clearances on your cars.
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