I haven't owned a slot car set since i was 11 years old, and I got a life like set a yard sale last weekend. I got the cars running again and everything,
but I can't keep them on the track.. I would eventually like to build a display out of it, but I can't decide to go typical race track, or street race
theme. my question is, how do I get better performance out of my cars or do i just need to buy new cars, are other HO cars such as AFX and Auto world
compatible with life like? I am new to this and could really use some advice.
0 Kudo
HO performance
| Author | Comment | ||
|---|---|---|---|
 beachwheeler |
HO performance |
Lead | |
|
Posts: 1 (04/22/08 09:11 AM) |
|
||
|
jd of racing |
they are all compatable. | ||
|
Posts: 153 (04/22/08 01:10 PM) |
yes,they will all run on the life-like track.
don't know exactly why cars won't stay on the track. probably lack of good traction. need better tires. i have those as well. i have alot of life-like track if you need anymore? just pm me. hope this helped, jd |
||
|
bremen68 |
|||
|
Posts: 33 (04/23/08 12:39 PM) |
Two things you'll probably need to do to get the cars running better are cleaning them and getting new tires for them... Check out www.hoslotcarracing.com for some great tips on tuning your cars. The new tires are key, the old ones that are as hard as
stone just slide all over the place and get no bite at all... The cleaning part usually just takes a pair of tweezers to get the lint out of the axels and
blowing out any dust in the motor depending on what surface the former owner ran the track on. Carpet is deadly for lint build up, and if there are long
haired cats...
I once got a couple of Tomy Super G+ cars that wouldn't run, the guy gave them to me and said they were junk... Once I cleaned the cat hair out of them they ran like new... As for buying new cars... It's kind of like tools, you can never really have too many... 
You'll probably want to clean the track too. I clean my rails with a fine grit 3m sander sponge (I've had the same one for years)... I can have my whole track cleaned in about five minutes including wiping it down to get the dust up. You use just enough pressure to keep the sponge on the track. Then I use windex on a paper towel to clean up. Good luck!!!
________
Insanity is only disturbing to those burdened with reality. |
||
|
beachwheeler |
|||
|
Posts: 2 (04/23/08 12:46 PM) |
I bought a couple of life like rebuild kits, and I am pretty sure they came with tires. so I will give them a try. I will have to start cleaning the track
tonight. thanks for all of the advice. keep it coming. would yall recommend buying the specialty tools?
|
||
|
Buspor63 |
|||
|
Posts: 50 (04/23/08 11:42 PM) |
I only have two LL cars, but they are fast by my standards. Clean them up and you should see some improvement. I've found LL sets new at the "Tuesday
Morning" retail stores.
|
||
|
bremen68 |
|||
|
Posts: 35 (04/24/08 07:57 AM) |
Right now the only specialty tools I have are a set of small screwdrivers, an exacto set, and a Harbor Freight
tweezer set.
________
Insanity is only disturbing to those burdened with reality. |
||
 RichD |
|||
|
Posts: 1350 (04/24/08 11:11 AM) Home Racing Guru! |
You might be better off using silicone tires, they have more grip than rubber and they do not degrade over time like rubber does. There are two types af
Lifelike cars, the older "M" chassis has two large ceramic magnets and the armature looks like the ones used with other modern magnet cars. The newer
"T" chassis cars have thin neodymium motor magnets and small dot type neo traction magnets. The armature is longer than the ones in other magnet cars
and the laminations are coated with green epoxy paint. Both types of car can be quite fast. The "M" chassis cars like to have a clean commutator to
run their best, the motors also run a bit hotter than other HO cars and as the milage piles up the motor brush springs can loose tension causing performance to
fall off. The springs and motor brushes are easy to replace. The "T" chassis cars are not my favorites, some of them are real pigs while others are
rockets. The rockets can be difficult to drive unless you tinker with them a bit.
|
||
|
beachwheeler |
|||
|
Posts: 3 (04/25/08 09:18 AM) |
I went over the cars last night, and found that they were much dirtier than I initially thought however I am in the process of rebuildiong them. I was wrong
about the tires coming in the rebuild set so I will have to pick some up this evening. I have also been looking on hoslotracing .com a lot it seems like he
has a lot of cool stuff as far as cars, and track sections. does anyone one know if you can get a lane changer for an afx track? life like makes the track
inter change connector and I haven't found a lane changer for a life like track. Should get a pretty good jump on this project sunday so I will try to
post some pics up of the track and stuff when I have something worth looking at.
|
||
|
sbctimh |
|||
|
Posts: 40 (04/30/08 11:59 AM) |
At the very bottom of this page there are track pieces to convert from Lifelike to Tomy AFX track.
http://www.oakridgehobbies.com/slot_cars/hoslot_pages/ho_lifelikeslot.html This is an AFX lane changer, I really like these, they make a 2 lane oval racing very fair, just place one after each corner. http://cgi.ebay.com/tomy-afx-8655-9-inch-straight-criss-cross-track-pr-or_W0QQitemZ270232643683QQihZ017QQcategoryZ2619QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem |
||
|
beachwheeler |
|||
|
Posts: 4 (05/01/08 09:37 AM) |
I added oakridge hobbies to my favorites they had every piece I need to make the track like I want it, thanks....
|
||
- Home Racing 1/32
- Bench Racers Lounge
- Artin 1/32
- Home Racing 1/43
- Home Racing 1/24
- Oval Action...ALL SCALES!
- Home Racing HO Scale
- Home Racing Vintage & Scratchbuilding!
- Home Racing Routed Tracks
- Home Racing Layout Design
- Pit Row Tech Tips & Hints
- Painters Corner
- For Sale or Trade/Vendors
- Digital Central
- Video Lane
- Home Racing Club Connection
- HRW Scrapbook
- Home Racing World Archives
