The Joy of Wobbly-Wheels
Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2016 3:30 pmSometimes it’s fun to take a car from the box and run it as-is, accepting whatever faults are there as just a characteristic of the car.
I had a TeamSlot Celica in a case for about a year and just decided to try it out. The thing is, I’m distracted by non-slot things at the moment and don’t feel like tuning it a bit. That means I’m running it as it came, and it’s not pretty. Here is the list:
axle slop front and rear
excessive vertical axle play in the front
body does not sit straight on chassis (3 screws and brittle plastic means that it’s going to stay this way)
there is little to no clearance between the tires and body on both fronts and the right-rear, so tire rub is an issue at least in corners
all four wheels look odd when they spin- this car is the definition of wobbly plastic wheels
I removed the two small button magnets that were glued in place just ahead of the rear axle. I also lubed the bushings and motor. There was no wheel or tire sanding. Oh, and this is a belt-driven four-wheel drive slot car.
I thought it was undriveable the first couple of laps, but then I just got lost in the thing. The rumble was a new sound, and the sliding in the corners helped to give a rally feel. While by no means a well-tuned smooth running machine, this car is fun to drive! It’s something different, and there is a place in our hobby for cars that don’t run like the rest that we own. So what if it’s not going to glide down the track like a Slot-it? The fact is that once I changed my expectations, this dog of a slot car delivered to me what is often elusive: pure fun. I’ve put my Sideways and Slot.its back in their boxes and have started digging through my pile of never-rans, looking for more cars in this category.
Sometimes you just have to accept what is and make the best of it. You may just find that doing so is as rewarding as spending all day tuning a car to make it a slick runner. Enjoy the lemons!
I had a TeamSlot Celica in a case for about a year and just decided to try it out. The thing is, I’m distracted by non-slot things at the moment and don’t feel like tuning it a bit. That means I’m running it as it came, and it’s not pretty. Here is the list:
axle slop front and rear
excessive vertical axle play in the front
body does not sit straight on chassis (3 screws and brittle plastic means that it’s going to stay this way)
there is little to no clearance between the tires and body on both fronts and the right-rear, so tire rub is an issue at least in corners
all four wheels look odd when they spin- this car is the definition of wobbly plastic wheels
I removed the two small button magnets that were glued in place just ahead of the rear axle. I also lubed the bushings and motor. There was no wheel or tire sanding. Oh, and this is a belt-driven four-wheel drive slot car.
I thought it was undriveable the first couple of laps, but then I just got lost in the thing. The rumble was a new sound, and the sliding in the corners helped to give a rally feel. While by no means a well-tuned smooth running machine, this car is fun to drive! It’s something different, and there is a place in our hobby for cars that don’t run like the rest that we own. So what if it’s not going to glide down the track like a Slot-it? The fact is that once I changed my expectations, this dog of a slot car delivered to me what is often elusive: pure fun. I’ve put my Sideways and Slot.its back in their boxes and have started digging through my pile of never-rans, looking for more cars in this category.
Sometimes you just have to accept what is and make the best of it. You may just find that doing so is as rewarding as spending all day tuning a car to make it a slick runner. Enjoy the lemons!