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Drilling holes or bending axles

Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2019 8:21 am
by Speedster
To Derby addict, here's my opinion and I'm sure you're going to get many others.
We're dealing with Scout Racing. Bend the axles. Buy The Pro axle guide $10.95, Pro Body tool Axle Drilling Guide, $10.95 (We use it to raise a wheel in our workshops) and a Pro-axle bender $79.95. You can have any bend you want. I question the 3 degrees.
I have yet to understand how anyone can drill a single hole in a piece of pine and then install a stock BSA Pinewood Derby wheel in that hole and have that wheel be perfectly parallel to the block. I've heard talk of expensive drill presses, special drill bits, expensive blocks and on and on. There is about .009 clearance between the wheel bore and the BSA nail. Anything can happen. I don't understand why there is a 2 1/2 degree on the rears either. I suspect it's from experience. We cannot go past 1 1/2 degree because of rules.

This is what we do. Using the Pro axle guide (take off the steel gauge and leave it off. It can easily damage your bore) clamped to the block, we spread the axle slots with a nail made in China (.086). We bend 3 nails at 1 1/2. Go ahead and bend the rears at 2 1/2 if that's what you want. We now have the ability to adjust the rears to run parallel with the block. The wheels should migrate to the axle heads and stay there, rolling forward and rearward. Glue in the axles so they cannot change position.

"The dominant front wheel". My Teams race on a 35' Best track both at Pack and District. I have a 35'- 2 lane Best track. Anyone in our Pack is willing to tune their car on it. I want to be able to run the cars on the track after we set the drift and tune it to its fastest speed. How can anyone drill a hole for Positive camber, Toe-in, put a stock BSA wheel and axle on it and expect it to be the best it can be? Even if a track is not available to the scout, the scout can set it up very close to what he/she wants it to drift.

We have been very successful with this build and the scouts learn all the Physics of the Pinewood Derby. So far, no one has walked out of the classes.
OK, I'm done talking. I'd like to hear about your builds.
I wish you all the Very Best.