Building a winning pinewood derby car is more than just sanding and painting; it’s about precision engineering. Even the slightest misalignment can drastically reduce your car’s speed and performance on race day. That’s where a Pinewood Derby Car Adjustment Tool becomes indispensable. This simple yet effective tool ensures your car meets regulations and, more importantly, is perfectly aligned for maximum velocity. Let’s dive into how to use this essential tool to give your derby car the competitive edge it needs.
Mastering Your Pinewood Derby Wheel Alignment Tool: A Step-by-Step Guide
The pinewood derby wheel alignment tool is designed to simplify several critical adjustments to your car, ensuring it runs straight and fast. Here’s a breakdown of each function and how to use it effectively:
1. Ensuring Axle Slots are Perfectly Aligned
The first step to a fast car is ensuring your axles are perfectly straight and aligned. Misaligned axle slots will cause friction and drag, slowing your car down.
How to check axle slot alignment:
- Place your pinewood derby car adjustment tool flat on the bottom of your car.
- Align the ruled edge of the tool flush against one side of the car block.
- Check if both ends of the axle slot line up precisely with the #1 line on the tool.
- Repeat this process for the second axle slot.
- If the slots are misaligned, carefully use a small file to adjust them until they match the #1 line. Alternatively, consider using a different car block if alignment is severely off.
2. Achieving Optimal Wheel and Car Body Clearance
Proper clearance between the wheels and the car body is crucial to prevent rubbing and ensure free wheel rotation. The pinewood derby car adjustment tool includes a notch specifically for checking this clearance.
How to check wheel and body clearance:
- Install your axles and wheels onto the car body according to your pinewood derby kit instructions.
- Locate the wheel clearance notch, marked as #2, on your pinewood derby car adjustment tool.
- Position notch #2 between the car body and each wheel.
- The wheels should fit snugly against the tool, indicating proper clearance.
- Place your car on a flat surface to verify all four wheels make contact with the surface and rotate freely when the car is rolled (unless you are intentionally raising a wheel for a rail-riding technique).
- If necessary, adjust axle depth or sand the sides of the car block to achieve proper clearance.
3. Preventing Camber for Straight Runs
Camber refers to the angle of the wheels relative to the vertical axis of the car. Excessive camber can lead to uneven wheel contact and reduced speed. This tool helps ensure your wheels are perpendicular to the surface.
How to prevent camber issues:
- Set your pinewood derby car on a flat surface.
- Hold the pinewood derby car adjustment tool perpendicular to the wheel and the flat surface.
- Observe if the axle appears parallel to the surface and the wheel is at a 90° angle to both the surface and the axle.
- Adjust the axles as needed to correct any camber issues, ensuring the wheels are as close to 90 degrees to the surface as possible.
- Repeat this check for all wheels.
4. Fine-Tuning Toe-in or Toe-out for Directional Control
Toe refers to the angle at which the wheels point inwards or outwards relative to the direction of travel. Proper toe alignment is essential for straight tracking.
How to adjust toe-in or toe-out:
- Lay the pinewood derby car adjustment tool flat on the bottom of the car.
- Push the ruled edge firmly against the front and rear wheels on one side of the car.
- Ensure that the rims of both wheels are touching the ruled edge at all contact points.
- While holding the tool in place, gently pull the opposite set of wheels away from the car body.
- Verify that these wheels now align with the same lines marked as #4 on the pinewood derby car adjustment tool. This ensures proper toe alignment.
5 & 6. Verifying Legal Length and Width Dimensions
Pinewood derby races have strict dimensional regulations. This tool conveniently includes measurements to ensure your car complies with these rules.
How to check length and width:
Length:
- Lay the ruled edge of the pinewood derby car adjustment tool lengthwise down the center of your car.
- The total length of the car must not exceed 7 inches, as indicated on the tool.
Width:
- Position the ruled edge of the pinewood derby car adjustment tool widthwise across the widest part of your car, including the wheels.
- The total width must not exceed 2 3/4 inches, as marked on the tool.
7. Ensuring Adequate Ground Clearance
Sufficient ground clearance prevents your car from dragging on the track, especially over any imperfections or transitions.
How to check ground clearance:
- Place your car on a flat surface.
- Slide the extended end of the pinewood derby car adjustment tool, marked as #7, underneath the car.
- Confirm that all parts of the car body clear the tool, indicating adequate ground clearance.
By meticulously using a pinewood derby car adjustment tool for each of these steps, you can significantly improve your car’s alignment and ensure it meets all dimensional requirements. This attention to detail will translate to a faster, more competitive pinewood derby car, ready to take on the race!
