• Congratulations to the Class of 2024 on your results!
    Let us know how you went here
    Got a question about your uni preferences? Ask us here

Electric dragster help ! (2 Viewers)

Okbang

New Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2012
Messages
13
Gender
Male
HSC
2014
Update:

Reglued the front axles like 5 times, finally got it to go straight ! :D

Trimmed off some weight to make the body narrower, someone tell me if a narrower car is more suitable for drag racing?

Reglued some wheels as they were starting to fall off.

But! One problem still remains...when i push the car normally (when its off) in a direction it will travel in a straight line (good). But when i turn it on and leave it to move on its own, it tends to move off to the left ? btw the motor delivers power to the right rear wheel which is connected to the left rear wheel via an axle, if that helps.
 

ClockworkSoldier

Clockwork Army
Joined
Sep 4, 2008
Messages
1,899
Location
Melbourne
Gender
Male
HSC
2008
Update:

Reglued the front axles like 5 times, finally got it to go straight ! :D

Trimmed off some weight to make the body narrower, someone tell me if a narrower car is more suitable for drag racing?

Reglued some wheels as they were starting to fall off.

But! One problem still remains...when i push the car normally (when its off) in a direction it will travel in a straight line (good). But when i turn it on and leave it to move on its own, it tends to move off to the left ? btw the motor delivers power to the right rear wheel which is connected to the left rear wheel via an axle, if that helps.
Yes, a thinner body allows it to 'cut' through the air with less resistance. Also, the lower and flatter you can get it, the better.

Power delivered to the right wheel will cause it to torque steer left. You can counter this with a differential to get both wheels spinning and delivering power (if you get ingenious with your smaller gears), or adjust the front axle to counter-steer (it may begin to steer right as the car reaches top speed though).
 

Okbang

New Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2012
Messages
13
Gender
Male
HSC
2014
Yes, a thinner body allows it to 'cut' through the air with less resistance. Also, the lower and flatter you can get it, the better.

Power delivered to the right wheel will cause it to torque steer left. You can counter this with a differential to get both wheels spinning and delivering power (if you get ingenious with your smaller gears), or adjust the front axle to counter-steer (it may begin to steer right as the car reaches top speed though).
Haha thanks, I've made it thinner but because I've glued/soldered most of my parts already i can't do any more than that. Oh well.

I tried the counter-steering thing today, it worked to some extent - it still yaws to the left but it's only barely noticeable. Explain the differential in terms of how to apply it with small plastic gears?

Here's a picture of progress

422266_10152033491450366_989876261_n.jpg

- Added rubber bands to the rear wheels to improve grip (the wheels + tyres are actually made of plastic)
- Changed the front (again, plastic) tyres to a rubbery set.

It's really fast atm but it presents another problem...the gears can't really take the power lol, tried them out today and the gears started shredding themselves off literally. Anybody know how to make them last longer or at least run smoother?
 
Last edited:

eshay lad 69

Member
Joined
Mar 7, 2012
Messages
306
Location
Penrith 2750
Gender
Male
HSC
N/A
Haha thanks, I've made it thinner but because I've glued/soldered most of my parts already i can't do any more than that. Oh well.

I tried the counter-steering thing today, it worked to some extent - it still yaws to the left but it's only barely noticeable. Explain the differential in terms of how to apply it with small plastic gears?

Here's a picture of progress

View attachment 26186

- Added rubber bands to the rear wheels to improve grip (the wheels + tyres are actually made of plastic)
- Changed the front (again, plastic) tyres to a rubbery set.

It's really fast atm but it presents another problem...the gears can't really take the power lol, tried them out today and the gears started shredding themselves off literally. Anybody know how to make them last longer or at least run smoother?
make the gears mesh better and lube them up
 

Okbang

New Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2012
Messages
13
Gender
Male
HSC
2014
Also, instead of a diff, can you run it with a fixed rear axle?
You may or not be able to see from the photo in the previous post but currently, both axles are fixed.

Thanks for your help guys, its doing remarkably well. I dabbed some oil/grease directly onto the gears so that they are barely coated. Don't know if it's gonna help durability wise, but it does sound a bit smoother.
 
Last edited:

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 0, Guests: 2)

Top