Carrera Cheetah

[WB2]

This car has always sounded like a herd of elephants running down the track. Turns out both axles are bent, the front much worse than the rear.
Is this common?

Has anyone had luck removing the wheels and using a replacement axle?
Doh! That brings up the question of fitting the spur gear (which has quite a bit of wobble in it) on the new axle.


I like the sidewall lettering on the tires. Can the rubber be softened up for use on a wood track?

[GoBucks]

Uh, well, yes, I have had similar problems on 1/24th Carrera models. Front axles bent, hubs not aligned on axle, wheel hub centers cracked, and lately the Ferrari 512S arrived and the body leans on the chassis, so when you view it from the rear it looks like its set up for a NASCAR roundyrounder!!!! BUT, they are all fixable.

[TuscoTodd]

Wow! I guess I was extremely lucky with my Cheetah from the sounds of things! The wheels/axles were straight and true and took very little time on the Tire Razor to true up... Sorry to hear that you guys weren't so lucky... :(

[GoBucks]

Don't misunderstand me its not in all cars I have purchased and I still like the cars!!! But they do have some quality issues, at least in their 1/24th line up.

[WB2]

How about a fix?
I hate to spend a third of the car cost on new F&R axle assemblies without assurance they will be straight.
LHS where I purchased the car no longer handles slot cars.

512S I have runs much better but seems to need some tire truing. Then again, that's what I thought the Cheetah needed.

Yes, all is fixable, but these types of issues are the reasons that slot car racing is stagnating.
I've been to two places in the St. Louis area that had tracks set up in the store (one Carrera, one Scalextric). The performance was so awful most people that tried them just walked away. Another shop in the area has a buyer beware warning on the Fly cars.
Personally, I believe it's not the designer's faults but the manufacturer's execution of the design. Plus lousy QC.

[proxieken]

I was told by a couple of people that a lot of the cars are never actually run. They are purchased to collecting/display. Mine get beat to death, but if the companies are catering to the non-racing collector I can see where those wanting to race them might have some issues. I have 3 of the Cheetahs. The quality seems OK but the cars simply can not keep up with the GT 40, or the 917's. Not even close. I did some tuning and will hopefully be able to do a little better next race.