50 foot future track talk (thread moved from Red,White,Blue)

I'm looking at making the track in 8' sections and actually be 48' long probably.

5' drop over 24' then 24' of flat. Build it in 3 sections that are hinged so they fold up to 8' long to fit in the back of my truck.
I've been working on the plans, hope to start actually building it next week.

@Martin - A new thread would probably be good I can see a thread about building monster tracks getting awesomely long.

Although you bring up a good point about the hill-to-straight ratio and what is needed and/or preferred. I'm of a mind that thinks the hill should be much shorter than the straight instead of a more 50/50 split. Have the challenge and fun of finding a fast car isn't how well it goes down a hill but how far it makes it on hill power alone.

I"m hoping to make mine flexible so I can alter the amount of drop, distance of the drop vs. flat.

I think I've got it figured out, at least on paper!

Yes, My standard track is 4 foot tall with 10 foot of slope, and I can easily
get the cars to 30' as shown in this set-up. I could expand to 40 feet and
it would still work. I recommend 1/3 slope, 2/3 straight-away.

I do not recommend you going taller than 5 feet. The cars may go too
fast and be flying off of your track. Plus you will have to pay attention
to the transition between the slope and the straight-away to make sure
that the front bumpers of the cars don't scrape the track.

I have to disagree on the 50/50 split thing, although I wouldn't go more then the 33/66 split. The longer the downhill, the smoother the transition. The smoother the transition, the faster the track... and we are racing after all.

The faster a heavy car goes, the faster it will slow down. The added speed creates more friction in the hubs and thats just more for it to overcome. Each car has it's own balance and weight aspects. I've been racing modified hotwheels for almost 10 years and can tell you they are all different.

My track is 6 foot high at the start line and has 24 feet of downhill. This makes for a 10* angle. (not even the lowriders bottom out on the transition) There is another 26 feet of run-out before the finish line. The track is built in six 8 foot sections and the remaining length is built into the catch box.

Well running cars have no problem staying on the track at any speed. If a car is jacked up it's not going to stay on any track.The next biggest thing is to make sure the track is smooth. Even the smallest bump will launch a car at speed.

The first thing you need to consider in the design of you track is the space available to set it up in. The big track is fun, but unless it's a convention hall it's probably not going to fit very well. Your only other option is outside, and that's weather permitting. Plus the sun loves to play with the orange track. I am all for the monster tracks and will help anyone build one, but make sure you have the room to play with it.

I have a new track design and I just finished the prototype over the weekend. It's very easy to build and I will be organizing a race series around the dimensions of the track. I am currently ironing out the details of the series, but should have everything ready to drop at the Nashville convention. Hopefully.

Martin, I'll send you a few pics of my 40' track. That one is very compact when broken down and will easily fit in a Pathfinder. I managed to get mine in a Grand Am one day, lol

Hmm......I didn't even take into account lowriders and making sure the transition at the bottom of the track is smooth. I'm sure a 16.7' drop starting at 5' high should have a decent enough transition. I'm a math guy, so that should have an angle of 17.46 degrees. I'm assuming that should be good enough.

@Jason - That 6' height and 24' drop actually has an angle of 14.48 degrees. I'm sure it's a little different because it's not a hard angled transition, the curve helps.

Wow, I didn't even think about the track expanding or shrinking from the sun. My idea was to have one section of wood cut out for each lane (deep enough for the track to fit in) and just a little wider than the base of the track. That way I didn't think I would have to adhere the track down anywhere. The friction from the walls of the track against the wood would hold it in place, or at least I was hoping so. This also prevents the track from moving at all. The cuts in the wood would have to be PERFECT though. I'm not sure I'll have access to the machinery needed for that, so I might have to come up with a new idea.

Question: how do you guys keep your tracks in line? Do you use some sort of adhesive? Duct tape? Do you roll up your track after the race is over?

Sorry, one more question. I don't mean to bombard you with all these questions at once, but when I told Jason that his angle of his track wouldn't be so bad because it curves in the transition, it's not a hard angle, I started thinking about the transition. My question is, how long is that transition on your tracks? Basically, what is the distance from when your track starts curving from the drop to the flat part of the straight-away? Is it a short transition or really long?

I use popsicle sticks to keep my track inline but still removable. Two sticks fit perfectly in the track groove and sometimes even snaps in. Easy and cheap.

Hmm......I didn't even take into account lowriders and making sure the transition at the bottom of the track is smooth. I'm sure a 16.7' drop starting at 5' high should have a decent enough transition. I'm a math guy, so that should have an angle of 17.46 degrees. I'm assuming that should be good enough.

@Jason - That 6' height and 24' drop actually has an angle of 14.48 degrees. I'm sure it's a little different because it's not a hard angled transition, the curve helps.

The run-out section of the track is elevated 12"... so you'll have to add that to the calculation. Sorry, I thought the pics were posted here somewhere..

Sorry, one more question. I don't mean to bombard you with all these questions at once, but when I told Jason that his angle of his track wouldn't be so bad because it curves in the transition, it's not a hard angle, I started thinking about the transition. My question is, how long is that transition on your tracks? Basically, what is the distance from when your track starts curving from the drop to the flat part of the straight-away? Is it a short transition or really long?

On my two lane track, I have a roll of adhesive backed magnetic strip that is attached to the underside of the track. Another strip of magnet is attached to the topside of the track bed. It just rolls out and snaps into place. A little nudge here and there and you're set to go.

On the eight lane track, I have 1" washers mounted to the track for a temporary fix. I was planning on routing grooves to drop the track into, but had a time crunch before the convention and had to put that on hold. The washers are working out pretty good and not creating the bumps I had expected. It will get changed one day, but there's no rush on that.

The 1" fender washer will slip right into the groove on the bottom of the track. Place a second, smaller washer under that one to elevate it and the track will slide on from the end. You may have to countersink the screw into the washer to get it completely flat. (Bumps are bad)

As far as the transition, The 10* is a really easy slope. Even if you go with more, the track will not hold the exact shape the the race bed and it will smooth the transition out on it's own

I tried the washer route once too and it did seem to work quite well but I ended up using the popsicle sticks instead. I think I picked them because they folded up better since my track is just some hinged boards.

http://www.redlinederby.com/2010/09/kee ... -straight/

And here's an old post that shows the washer in action...

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=87&p=584&hilit=washer#p584