Blutrack blues
So I just ordered a 25' blutrack for drag racing but I noticed their walls are not that high so it causes cars to crash. Any idea on how to make blutrack walls higher?
Discussion
Interesting that your cars are crashing so much. Yes, the walls are shorter but I wouldn't think that would make that much difference to the point of being unreliable. Got any photos on how your using the Blutrack?
- Cars are clipping the edges and are either going off track or crossing to the other lane — Ralph_Technology97
Are the wheels coned???
- Didn't even test my coned cars for fear of damaging them. I only tested stock cars. I tested again today and found that since the lanes are so wide cars have a chance to bang the walls at high speeds and that's what causes them to crash. So my problem is the width of the lanes, not how high are the walls — Ralph_Technology97
Interesting... I have been reading all the reviews etc on blutrack, as I would like to convert my sectionalised 4 lane 1/4mile to seamless. (Yeah HW 50ft track on Amazon is like $144 + $77 shipping ((x2)) so that aint going to happen) Blutrack the other option, but... yeah the width is reported by some? as an issue. Hmmm
Cheers all
- I will try to use plastic straws to reduce the width of the track and see if that works — Ralph_Technology97
Hi Ralph,
Quick question, what drop and angles are you using?
I will be interested to see how your blutrack works out.
Cheers
- I will be adding pictures of the track on this same thread so stand by and tell me what you think — Ralph_Technology97
www.youtube.com/user/jpcrankspanker
www.youtube.com/channel/UC-E0sH5KcvEAU09F8FdpNjQ
Not my channels but both use blutrack
- Checked them both and their styles of setting up the track are way more different than mine. Check the pictures I've added below so you can see my setupbelow — Ralph_Technology97
- I was just showing you where it's been used and how. I looked at your pictures and it seems you need to support the track better. Which might help get more consistent runs out of it. — NDeavers80
In the RLD Track Directory...the High Tech Redneck Track is Blutrack...check it out.
Indeed...Blutrack is sort of a red-headed stepchild it seems but in the Archive there is a collection of Blutrack discussions. Not much but worth checking out.
I've seen some awesome Blutrack builds though...long ones. If you can wrangle the stuff, I think it's just as good as anything else.
This is the setup I have. Very traditional style drag racing but I'm not using anything to support the slope. I just stretched it as long as I could and then glued it on the floor. It gave it more stability. Cars still crash but not as often as before. Width of the track still seems to be an issue. I will try using plastic straws to reduce lane width and see if that works. I'll keep you posted
- You should try to figure out some sort of support on that slope. It'll behave different each time you run and can certainly impact crash-ability of cars. Not to mention, the cars will lose a lot of energy. — redlinederby
- Even if it's other step ladders or totes or boxes or something... — redlinederby
- I'll see what I can do. I will do another post with the end results. Thanks for the help — Ralph_Technology97
- Yes, as Redline Derby suggests, address the slope and see how much your problem diminishes. — madmax
Almost three years ago i build a track with BluTrack, you can read all about it here:
www.redlinederby.com/topic/building-our-first-blu-track-europe/3245
I recognize some of your problems, because I had some of these too. It took some time, but over time I got the track pretty consistent with very little wrecks. BUT it came with a high price.
Because of (already pointed out) track walls are really small and low + the track is really wide + blutrack stays not as smooth as orange track, cars tend to bounce/wreck or at least have a really bad run quite regularly.
Summarized: Lowering the starting point (thus lowering the speed) really, really helps out here. I know it hurts, but for me it eventually gave me consistent results and a lot of fun with racing and last minute passes. Also creating a smooth transition is more important with BluTrack than with orange track. (Slowmotion capturing gives you a lot of good information)
So, I think BluTrack and orange track both have their pros and cons. I use them both, but for high speeds I prefer orange track (or older matchbox track) with higher walls and smaller trackwidth.
- I'm starting to think about using the blutrack as a base for my orange track. I'll see what I can come up with. By the way, I saw your track. Really cool looking and pretty professional lol — Ralph_Technology97
- Thanks! Building tracks can be really fun. Hope you find a good solution for your track!! — DDRacer
- I too prefer the old matchbox track, well, that was 45 years ago and I have yet to find some since I erm, grew down, The funny thing I remember as a kid, I would take my hot wheels to my neighbours, Run on his Matchbox Track, and one day he brought home a bunch of new matchboxes to race and all were much wider then the track. A problem which still exists which is why I am considering blue track so I can run those old wide matchbox cars. But that track is also not easy or cheap to come by when shipping costs are included. — madmax
Oh, and I think the EDU series and 2.0 BluTrack series have wider walls between the tracks. But i've never seen it in real life yet...
- Thanks for your input DDR. I read your build post a few days ago, looked great! Do you have any vids of the track in action? Cheers. — CutRock_R_Marc_D
- Thanks, and i just might have something somewhere. I'll will add it to the building post and let you know. It might take a few days! — DDRacer
- Hi Cutty_Marc_D, I just posted the test movie. It hasn't got great lighting or high fps, but it shows some action. — DDRacer
- Oh, it's in the building journal. https://www.redlinederby.com/topic/building-our-first-blu-track-europe/3245?p=2#comment-47710 — DDRacer — DDRacer
- Thank you DDR! Really well installed track! But yeah, you can notice the effect of the extra width of track. Ponders... Cheers — CutRock_R_Marc_D
One suggestion would be to buy a quantity of the plastic clips used to bind papers together, I think they are called spine bars. This would give you the advantage that they can be removed afterwards. For any transition from ramp to the flat, tape would probably suffice, you'll reduce the width of the lanes slightly but they're wide to start with...
I've not tried this as I haven't encountered the issues you have, but I see no reason for it not to work.
Kevblokey