Contact with race track
The tires should have good contact with the racetrack. It is essential for the performance and behavior of the slot car. The tires and rims must be round and the axles should be completely straight. If not, the car start to shake and the performance of the car is miserable.
Tires, rims and axles
Inspection of the tires, rims and axles You can prevent problems with the handling of the car by inspecting the tires, rims and axles before racing. Unfortunately not all
slot car brands deliver the new cars without burrs at the plastic parts. You can cut the burr from a rim and use some sandpaper to finish it.
It is also important to check if the tires fit properly to the rims and inspect the axles. The axles should be completely straight. Sometimes it happens that the axles are bent due to transport. Ask your dealer to replace the axles if they are damaged.
Sandpaper and nail polisher
Sandpaper and mail polishers are used for truing the tires and rims. Put the sandpaper under the car (rear tires) and start slowly turning the wheels by giving power. When the tires contact the sandpaper you will be able to make the tires completely round. You will notice that you use a third hand to do the job properly. For that reason it is better to prepare a special track piece that is constantly powered. You can also use this track section to warm up the motor.
Truer Tire machines
There are three companies offering truer tire machines. The machines are not cheap, but for serious racers (mostly slot racers at clubs) it can be a good investment. In Europe the machines are offered for around 180 - 190 Euro.
Hudy
The Hudy (ref. 103100) is the best known machine for tire truing. The company Hudy is especially active in the Radio Control business but they created one machine for slot racers.
For more information you can visit the web site of Hudy:
www.hudy.com.
Reifenschleifmashine
The second machine is made in Germany. The name of the machine is in the German language 'Reifenschleifmashine' which means the tire truer for complete axles of 1/32 and 1/24 scale slot cars. The production and dealership is done by Overdrive.
More information:
www.overdrive-shop.com.
Slotcars.it
Slotcars.it develops the newest tire truer in Italy. The machine shows all the options you desire for the preparation of your slot car tires and rims. It is possible to prepare two tires at once and even to copy rims.
Read all about it on:
www.slotcars.it.
Jan Willem van Capelleveen
More information
Master class
Slot car preparation
History of controllers
Slot car motors
