Olly?s 1:12 Blog - Part 6
CML Distribution and Team Associated driver Olly Jefferies continues his blog packed with loads of great setup tips from his first season in 1/12th racing.
In my first blog I talked about building the car and spoke of the side links. I have had a few people ask me since then questions regarding this area. I am also going to give a few more tips that I do when building my car.
Firstly let?s look at the centre pivot. This area is very important to look after. I would advise taking this apart regularly to make sure it?s clean. At the Newbury national my team mate Keith Robertson had handling issues, when the car was stripped it this area that proved to be the problem, apparently it was full of dirt which had caused it to bind up. It?s not something you have to rebuild every race but if you have taken this section of the car apart it?s worth checking.
When doing the small screws up on the centre pivot be very careful not to over tighten them. You can bind up the pivot very easily if these are too tight! I find it best to screw them up in small increments at a time until you feel the screw is tight but the ball can still move nice and smoothly. I try and use the same method with the side links. These are also an important part which should move freely. I have seen many cars that have the link screws too tight causing the links to bind and hardly move. This is something that just needs a little time making sure they are built properly. The cars handling comes from this centre area so it does pay to take your time when working on this section of the car.
Top Tip - Apply a very small amount of joint grease on the centre pivot, not too much; you only need a very small amount.
When putting the links on I keep everything loose until these are attached. I find when the links are fitted it helps keep the centre pivot straight. I try and keep an equal gap between each side of the nuts.
Top Tip - Use a countersunk screw instead of the standard grub screw on side shock mount, this makes life much easier. Make sure its countersunk as this allows the shock to move.
Once this is all together the rear end, without the shocks attached, should fall and move under its own weight. If built correct it should have a nice smooth feel. Just go through this area once it is built and just make sure that it has no tight spots.
Top Tip - When fitting motor wires always be careful and ensure that they are not too short or in a position that can limit the centre pivot of the car moving. I find running them over the top of the pod is best.
Another small trick I do when building my car is take time when installing the servo. It?s very easy with any car to fit the servo on an angle or so that it twists the chassis. I always fit servos in this way as it means the servo is fitted straight and does not 'tweak' the car. I use a thin piece of header card and put that under the servo before tightening the screws up.
When removing the header card there should be a very small gap between the chassis and servo. I find if the servo mounts are not level it can cause the servo to twist on one side. This can really affect the way the car performs! I tighten the screws under the chassis first, but not fully tight, and then the servo screws. Once straight tighten the screws under the chassis. Once installed and the thin card is removed there should be a very small gap between the servo and chassis. Be careful not use a thick piece of card, just a thin header card will do fine.
I played around at the last national with the front track width and I have been surprised at how much difference this has made. I have been putting shims in between the bottom arm and the aluminium block. I started with zero then 0.5mm 1mm and 1.5mm. I have found that between 0.5mm and 1mm best, 1.5mm seemed to easy to drive but could be worth trying if there is really high traction. I find if the car has a 'twitchy' feel then this really helps this but without the loss of steering. I find it just takes away the initial 'twitchy' part of the steering which I find you can sometimes get with a 12th car. I have also found it works nice on really big flowing tracks.
Tyres, this is always a black art but sometimes the wheel can be just as important. I have found that with some front wheels, after some runs, the bearing can be a little loose in the wheel. This then creates front wheel wobble. Just check when fitting the bearings to the front wheels that they have a good fit. If you have some that are loose it?s easily fixed. I use super glue with a small nozzle. Run a very thin line of glue on the inside of the wheel. Make sure that it has completely DRIED before fitting the bearing to the wheel. I use a small amount of glue kicker to speed up the process. See pic below.
Next up for me is the Maritime National. I quite like this venue and I feel this meeting is going to go along way to deciding this years championship. Next blog and I am going to look at electrical installation, something that can be tricky in a 1:12.
When doing the small screws up on the centre pivot be very careful not to over tighten them. You can bind up the pivot very easily if these are too tight! I find it best to screw them up in small increments at a time until you feel the screw is tight but the ball can still move nice and smoothly. I try and use the same method with the side links. These are also an important part which should move freely. I have seen many cars that have the link screws too tight causing the links to bind and hardly move. This is something that just needs a little time making sure they are built properly. The cars handling comes from this centre area so it does pay to take your time when working on this section of the car.
Top Tip - Apply a very small amount of joint grease on the centre pivot, not too much; you only need a very small amount.
When putting the links on I keep everything loose until these are attached. I find when the links are fitted it helps keep the centre pivot straight. I try and keep an equal gap between each side of the nuts.
Top Tip - Use a countersunk screw instead of the standard grub screw on side shock mount, this makes life much easier. Make sure its countersunk as this allows the shock to move.
Once this is all together the rear end, without the shocks attached, should fall and move under its own weight. If built correct it should have a nice smooth feel. Just go through this area once it is built and just make sure that it has no tight spots.
Top Tip - When fitting motor wires always be careful and ensure that they are not too short or in a position that can limit the centre pivot of the car moving. I find running them over the top of the pod is best.
Another small trick I do when building my car is take time when installing the servo. It?s very easy with any car to fit the servo on an angle or so that it twists the chassis. I always fit servos in this way as it means the servo is fitted straight and does not 'tweak' the car. I use a thin piece of header card and put that under the servo before tightening the screws up.
When removing the header card there should be a very small gap between the chassis and servo. I find if the servo mounts are not level it can cause the servo to twist on one side. This can really affect the way the car performs! I tighten the screws under the chassis first, but not fully tight, and then the servo screws. Once straight tighten the screws under the chassis. Once installed and the thin card is removed there should be a very small gap between the servo and chassis. Be careful not use a thick piece of card, just a thin header card will do fine.
I played around at the last national with the front track width and I have been surprised at how much difference this has made. I have been putting shims in between the bottom arm and the aluminium block. I started with zero then 0.5mm 1mm and 1.5mm. I have found that between 0.5mm and 1mm best, 1.5mm seemed to easy to drive but could be worth trying if there is really high traction. I find if the car has a 'twitchy' feel then this really helps this but without the loss of steering. I find it just takes away the initial 'twitchy' part of the steering which I find you can sometimes get with a 12th car. I have also found it works nice on really big flowing tracks.
Tyres, this is always a black art but sometimes the wheel can be just as important. I have found that with some front wheels, after some runs, the bearing can be a little loose in the wheel. This then creates front wheel wobble. Just check when fitting the bearings to the front wheels that they have a good fit. If you have some that are loose it?s easily fixed. I use super glue with a small nozzle. Run a very thin line of glue on the inside of the wheel. Make sure that it has completely DRIED before fitting the bearing to the wheel. I use a small amount of glue kicker to speed up the process. See pic below.
Next up for me is the Maritime National. I quite like this venue and I feel this meeting is going to go along way to deciding this years championship. Next blog and I am going to look at electrical installation, something that can be tricky in a 1:12.
