Question for race hosts about NPAs
My question is specifically for race hosts But if somebody wants to jump in, that's fine as well. As I get into my third year of racing, I don't think I've seen a single race on redline that allowed nickel plated pins to be used as axles.. I've seen races that allowed tubes but that seems to be the only common variant.
Nickel plating alone is not going to do anything fantastic but it certainly could be an interesting thing to build upon If you are faced with building custom axles.
Discussion
I think I would've allowed any axles for my tournaments (but IDK if I put it in the rules).
I use custom axles anytime the rules permit it which isn't often.
- Yeah that’s the issue especially if you have a premium casting with rubber tires. If that casting has wide track good luck finding a stock Hot Wheels axle that fits. So you’re faced with an option of using music wire or pins to get some plastic wheels on it. And somewhere in comments I thought I saw that if it says the usual - stock Hot Wheels axle FTE/NP etc. than using nickle plated pins is cheating. — AbbyNormal
- We had a full debate about this before. There was talk of more drop down options being added for hosts to choose from and one of those would have been any axles. Generally I think it's oversight and nobody thinks it's cheating. Still adds up to the same thing though, no custom axles which is a shame. — Chipped_Paint_Racing
- https://redlinederby.com/topic/lets-crowdsource-some-build-restrictions-and-guidelines/7284 — Chipped_Paint_Racing
Well looks like this has been hashed over and over from the link Chipped_Paint posted ..... so moving on I guess its a whatever you want or not.
Dale at DXP posted a good video about hosting on YouTube a couple of hours ago. Might not answer all of your questions, but it's informative
- Hey thanks RayRay I checked the video out and it was certainly very useful and informative, but did not really touch on the mysterious issue with nickel plated pins as axles. Today’s issue is I have a very nice Dodge hellcat premium that I want to send in to an event, but I do not have any stock Mattel axles that wide. So now I ponder do I go to the store and see if I can find a widebody car or two that might work or just slam in some music wire, custom axles or slam in some nickel pins and I guess talk to the host. I don’t know. — AbbyNormal
- If it's the super wide '20 Charger Hellcat, I found the wheels from the Mach Speeder casting fit. There's also a new casting called Street Shrieker that looks remarkably similar, but I don't know if it has the same width axle. — Spirit_Of_64
- My mantra since my start in the hobby has been if the rules say I specifically l can't do something, then I'm gonna do it if I feel it makes me faster. Some have called foul on me and accused me of cheating, but I consider it ingenuity. Mind you, that's just with mods. Anyone who does anything other than sand wheels and lubing for a stock race is definitely cheatingis cheating — RayRaySuga — RayRaySugar
- Pontiac Aztec axles ... — Marco_Polo
- Nice tip Marco also the wide body Mustang GTD. Still wondering why custom axles are verboten — AbbyNormal
Any axle is allowed in the NASCAR NITTRO Series
- Good to know as I’ve got some cars on the bench that are gonna head your way. The times I wonder if this whole nickel axle pin thing is similar to the issue with graphite. And that it just keeps getting copied and paste it from race to race, different house just copy and paste the same thing. Beat the heck out of me. — AbbyNormal
I think we need one race with custom axles, just to see what happens.
Drag would be good, open track is too quirky for a good measure.
- I always thought it would be a cool race where everyone can if they wish turn into cars. One car is kind of by the rules we have right now with the must be a Mattel axle in the other car. Could be whatever you want. Would be interesting to see what the splits are. — AbbyNormal
- Could be a race meet where you send two cars the same brand and model? One car abides by the usual rules. The other is more of an open class rule, pins, music wire, bushes etc, for me I think stretching the car would be too much though as changing the wheel base length would negate the test. — Chipped_Paint_Racing
- I agree. Send in two cars, one built normally, the other with custom axles, no stretching the body or chassis. — SpyDude
Doesn't matter to us what axles you run. I'm always a fan of ingenuity. Whatever you builders can use to make your cars fast and reliable, we're good.
- Thanks that’s good to know – I still really haven’t seen anyone come on to say what was the primary reason that using custom axles in general or specifically Nicola coated pins or a problem of some sort. And to be completely honest, my big deal here is I’m just lazy and if by chance you need a custom with axle for some car, I can tell you using a pin is a super easy thing to do. — AbbyNormal
When using piano wire, what is the best way to make the end so the wheel does not slide off? Anybody?
When using piano wire, what is the best way to make the end so the wheel does not slide off? Anybody?
- Hey there I’m sure there are many ways to do this what I do is cut a piece of music/piano wire about a half inch longer than needed. Then I have a large vise grip pliers adjusted way down tight. I then insert the wire about 1/8 inch into the tip of the pliers jaws. Using both hands I squeeze the vise grips to locked position. This mashes the end of the wire flat which will retain the wheel on the wire. Getting it properly fitted once both wheels are on the axle is another trick after which you carefully mash the other end. Great workout for hand strength. — AbbyNormal
- If you want more details just DM me — AbbyNormal
For Crimping the end of wire or pins use Fencing Pliers, get a cheap set off Amazon as you're only Crimping wire and not using them for their actual purpose so it won't matter much if you don't splash out on a big brand set.
- Have two pairs, works Great on Barbwire fencing! — Bent_Rod_Racing
- I've tried using these, but never seem to get a decent crimp on the end of the axle. — SpyDude
I have experimented with axle tubes and NP steel sewing pins. The nice thing was with no polishing at all, the wheels free spun 3 to 4 times longer than on the stock axle. It's a minor pia fitting but not too intense.
For most of my races, I don't care what axles people use, as long as the wheels are black. Generally the only time I won't allow open axles is for more stock type tournaments, like my Mustang Memorial, which previously was about keeping the stock wheels/axles with the car.