To bend or not to bend

This forum is fantastic and I wish I would have found it sooner. I have read a lot of different opinions, but am confuses about bending.
If I am building my first rail rider for a scout race, should I bend the axle? I understand how it would allow for steering adjustments, but hate the thought of messing up. If I were to camber and try to toe in, wouldn't I just have on chance to get that correct? Can a straight axle be adjusted to correct the steering drift?

Thanks for any advice.
I have been trying to soak up all this knowledge and my wife keeps reminding me to go to bed, your son is only six

 

Bend ....for the DFW. If you cut a slot in the head, you can easily turn the axle and adjust the amount of toe in.

For now I would suggest three things, read, read, and read some more! There is a TON of great information here and a great group of people willing to share advice.

Tell your wife, the more you learn now, the more you can teach your son about the STEM that he needs later in life.

 

Thank you, and I will keep reading. It seems as if I have found a way to turn a chunk of wood into an expensive hobby.

 

Welcome to the madness!!!

 

Rob,

Don't be afraid to ask more questions. I joined just over a year ago and read most posts back to 2012 or so. I found the more I read, the more I understood what was happening. This helped to shape the questions that I still had.

Expensive...this can be relatively inexpensive or can be quite expensive just like any other hobby. One benefit of this is that you can spend time with your son teaching him the science behind what works. At the same time, you can teach him to work with both his mind and his hands. These are things he can use later in life.

Besides, you can create lifelong memories at the same time!

Good luck and enjoy!

 

Don't fear bending that front axle and setting steer. Its easy and kinda fun to twist the axle and watch that change the way the car moves.

 

Bending the axles is the best bet to get a good tune.

If your rules do require you to use the slots you can cant the wheels to make it steer and the rear wheels move outward. I was able to eyeball the rear cant and guessed at the front cant based on my previous cars. My troop revised the rules this year to try to make it fair for all the kids. The other parents were getting tired of my sons winning all the time. So we had to use pre-made wedge blocks no modification allowed, no bent axles, no wheel polish, no axle polish, no axle modifications and had to use the slots. My sons and I canted the wheels and glued them in. We built the car in less than 20 minutes. The funny thing is, he still came in 1st. The car ran down the track with no wiggles.

 

Thanks everyone. We race in a couple nights and we are both excited. I have been a pinewood nerd since I won both my troop races as a kid. I have helped my nephew in the past and we did well based on the amount of time he put in. Now reading what you guys are up to and that adults can race. This is a whole new level.

 

Jeez, why doesn't the pack just build a bunch of cars and randomly give one to each scout to race. That way it'll be "fair".

 

I’ll repeat my previous statement... welcome to the madness!!! Hehe
Seriously though, I know I was intimidated at first seeing the level that these guys take these little cars to but I stuck with it and absolutely loved my first league race over at APR. This really is fun and the folks here are very quick to help us newbs do well. It’ll all come and make sense. And you will meet great people and have fun. Mission accomplished!

 

Way to rip every opportunity to learn something from the event. My goodness. One of my favorite things about sharing PWD with my son is starting with basics and every year getting a little more in depth about things like COG, friction control, aerodynamics,etc. They have ROBBED you and the kids!

 

Unreasonable rules will never yield good results. The same people who won with the old rules will continue to win with the new rules. The people who win are the ones who put in the time to go faster. Dumb rules just make it more annoying for everyone.

 

No matter if you are for or against bending all the axles, everyone can agree that the DFW axle should be bent.
This allows you to tune the amount of drift or steer in the car. You want the DFW wheel to remain in contact with the rail.

 

Well gents, my son's car did as we hoped and took first place for his troop. This group goes no further.

The car also took a massive beating. The track was an old wooden track with aluminum lanes on top. The big issue was that there was not a good runaway or stopping ramp. His car smashed the stop plate or flew off the ramp every time. I tried to record videos, but played catcher even more than photographer. His front non dominate wheel is ready to fall off, but it was all for show anyhow. Now it is time to get ready for another racr.

 

Congrats!

 

Yep, stupid rules are a pet peeve of mine.
They'll wring hands and complain about rules that affect speed or if someone is better than everyone else, but go look at the Craftsmanship table at a District or Council race and tell me what you see. Workshop masterpieces that no kid ever thought about touching, done all by the Dads who happen to be woodworking enthusiasts and are better at it than the other Dads......so their cars turn out better.

And nobody says a thing, other than to "Ooh" and "Ahh" over the cars. But let a kid beat the crap out of everyone in the actual race? Then you'll get those knowing looks and glances, and the whispers of "You know the kid didn't touch that car" and the passive/aggressive "Congrats little man and DAD" comments.

 

Wow. They modified the rules to basically pounding a nail into wood. Wth is that...? That’s the most liberal “everyone gets a trophy” bs ever. Takes all the lessons of competition out of the sport. Be a humble winner and gracious loser. You wanna win...? try harder! I’d find a new pack.