The End and a New Begining

Tonight would be the last official race for my 10 year old T3 truck, as I've recently picked up a new Factory Team T4! My T3's shocks and diff needed a rebuild and the front shock and rear suspension mounts keep coming loose, so rather than hunt down parts to rebuild it, I went ahead and picked up a T4. The T3 has served me well, it's been fun beating people with such an old ride, and I liked the race director's comments about my T3 :) At one point during the night's racing he announced I was turning the fastest laps on the track... with a T3! He then said "You don't need new tech to go fast!" I wonder if they'll notice I'll be racing a T4 the next time I run Truck at OCRC?

Tonight was also the maiden race for my new B44! I've been putting it together over the past 3 weeks and now it was time to turn some laps. I couldn't wait to get this car out on the track :)

This will also probably be a really long entry, as I'll be recapping the racing from 2 classes.

4wd Mod Buggy
I was dying to get the car out on the track! I always hate running a car for the very 1st time :( It's so clean and shiny, I don't want to get it dirty. LOL! Anyway, I put the car on the track and proceeded to test the slipper setting. It was a little on the loose side, but I figured it would tame the power of my 6.5 LRP brushless motor until I got used to how fast the car was and the handling. For my 1st practice lap, I took it very easy, not jumping the big jumps, and going though the corners fairly slow and the straight at 1/2 throttle. I wanted to get a feeling for the steering response and torque, before attempting a lap at full speed. Everything felt ok, so I let'er rip on the second lap. OMG! The traction and torque this thing has! I overshot the big double on the track by 5-6 feet and hit the ground with a loud slap :( I was still on my wheels, so I continued on. Wow this car turns on a freaking dime! Any movement on the steering wheel and it darted in that direction! On lap 3, I overshot the table top after the turn off the straight and I was nose down, so I hit the ground nose first, and ended up on my lid. So much for my shiny car :( I walked off the driver's stand to marshall myself and flipped it over, then punched the gas. I heard a not so nice grinding sound from the car :( Wow! What a short maiden run for my B44 :( Back in the pits I checked the pinion gear mesh, and the motor had moved just enough to disengage from the spur gear. The spur wasn't chewed up too bad so I just reset the gear mesh and tightened the motor mounting screws. In the B44, the motor is mid-mounted and in-line in the car, thus the head of the motor mounting screws point to the rear of the car. It's also close to the battery, making it difficult to get an allen wrench in the small space and tighten the motor mounting screws. I also noticed a puddle under the car. WTF?! One of the rear shocks had blown a seal and all the oil was leaking out! I guess the seal blew out when I landed hard after overshooting the big double. Crap! Now I've got to rebuild the shock! I decided to get a practice run in with my Truck, while I had a chance, since I knew it would take me a while to make the repairs to my 4wd. After my practice run, I began to pull the blown shock off the car and install a new seal, when they announce that the track would be closed in 15 minutes for watering and they would hold a driver's meeting since there were 13 heats tonight! Oh great! There was no way I would be able to finish the repair and get a practice run in. I would have to get a feel for my 4wd during the 1st round of qualifying, as I've only put 3 laps on the car so far! :(

For the 1st round the track would be damp, as they were going to mist the track before my heat (they were misting the track every 5-6 heats or so). I got a decent start and just tried to not wreck. I still needed to get used to the steering and throttle and was taking an easy. I went over the big double-- overshoot and chassis slap :( I did this for most of the race, trying to figure out how much throttle it takes to downside this big double. I was also trying to get a feel for the steering, which was really twitchy, compared to my smooth steering Truck. Oh and what a rush down the straight! It was a rocket! Warp 9.9, Engage! I finished in 4th with a 16:04. Most of my lap times were in the mid 18's with a glory lap of 17.375! But they were inconsistent, with a long lap of 22 seconds. Not too surprising, since this was my very 1st race with this car with essentially no practice!

For the second round, I wanted to slow down the steering response, so it would feel like my Truck, making it easier to switch between driving the two, and easier to drive fast. I increased the camber from -1° to -3°, swapped in the next stiffer spring (AE Blue), and raised the front ride height. This time the track would be dry. I didn't like how the car felt at all. The steering was still too twitchy, making it hard to drive smooth. It was also doing this weird kicks off jumps, I've never run into with my truck. The throttle was really sensitive in the air too. It only took a little bit of gas or brake to raise/lower the nose of the car. I also had to figure out how to jump the big double this run. I would punch the gas after the roller, and almost coast over the big double. I would downside the jump or overshoot by a foot or so, rather than 4-5 feet. I went a lap slower this round, finishing in 5th with a 15:02. Almost everyone else went 17 laps :(

For the main, I would be the BQ (top qualifier of the B main, or just slow enough to miss the A main). The track was slightly damp this time. I should have changed over to Square Fuzzies or Taper Pins, instead of using my Holeshots, but I was busy getting ready for the main. I moved my front shock's upper mounting position to the outer hole on the shock tower and tightened the front diff, hopefully these changes would slow down the steering a little. During my second warm-up lap though, I heard a sound that sounded familiar. The grinding of a pinion on a spur gear :( Nuts! I didn't bother to ask for a grace period to reset the gear mesh, since it takes a while to do it, because I need to take out the battery to have enough room to tighten the motor mounting screws. The main started without me on the pole, as I was walking back to the pits. I reset the mesh, then headed back out to get some practice laps in. I stayed away from the other cars turning a few laps to see if the changes I made any difference. It helped, but I still wasn't comfortable driving the car :(

Some of the changes I want to make before the next time I race my B44. I want some harder compound front tires to slow the steering response; reset the shock mounting location, spring, and camber back to the stock settings; install a rear sway bar, as this is supposed to make the car easier to drive; raise the front inner ball stud; decrease the drag brake; add expo in the steering; cut down an allen wrench to get to the motor mounting screws without having to remove the battery; thread lock the motor mounting screws so they won't loosen up; and I hate lexan undertrays and battery hold down thumb screws!

Stock Truck
When signing up, I asked Robert what gear he was running in his truck. He told me 78/31, with no overheating problems. After hearing that one of the fastest drivers in the class was running a 6.5 ratio, I decided to gear back up to a 29 pinion for round 1, keeping an eye on my motor temps of course :)

In round one, the track was only slightly damp, since we were the last heat of the round, so I ran my Stingers on the rear. I've always had great results running this tire, so I ran them, while most of the other guys were using Holeshots. I got a clean start and was in 3rd for the 1st 4 laps or so. I caught 2nd place, and he made a mistake over the double and roller leading to the straight, getting stuck on a pipe. I went by into 2nd! I continued turning laps as fast as I could, since I could see the lead truck about a lane in front of me. I was turning mid to low 19 second laps, with a hero lap of 18.843 :) I finished in 2nd with my fastest run in Stock Truck yet, a 16:12 :)

For round 2, the track was in the same condition as round 1, so I stuck with my Stingers again. I also decided to gear up another tooth, to a 30 pinion, as my motor temp was still safe at 160°F after round 1. This round would not go as well as round 1. I got a horrible start, as my 1st 2 laps were in the 25 second range. I also had another long lap near the end of the race :( I kept making stupid mistakes this race. I wasn't driving clean at all. I think I was just trying too hard. I finished the race in 3rd with a horrible 14:00 time.

I qualified 4th in the A main out of 14 drivers (7 in the A)! Not bad for the last run of my T3 :) For the main I switched over to my new set of Stingers, since my old set was staring to feel a little loose. Again I got a horrible start, as a marshall stepped in front of my Truck while I was trying to drive around an accident, and kicked me into it! WTF!?! This is why when I marshall, oncoming cars always have the right of way. I don't want to mess up somebody's race by stepping in front of their car. Unfortunately, this marshall did not share the same belief, and I left the pile up in last place :( It only took me 4 laps to get back up to 4th place, even though these 2 drivers, ran into me a few times. Passing 3rd place would not be as easy though. We were evenly matched in speed. It would come down to who would not make any mistakes. He made a bobble and I slipped into 3rd. On one lap, we both made mistakes going over the big double. I overshot the jump, landing long, and going wide in the hairpin. The 4th place truck landed in the wrong lane, pulled a 180, and went into 3rd place, by cutting the track! Great! He should've stopped and let me by :( It didn't last long though, as he was immediately given a stop-and-go penalty by the race director, and I went back into 3rd. But, I made a mistake a lap later, and he got by me :( With time running out, I tried to make a pass and hoped for a mistake, but no luck. I finished in 4th with a 16:19. Only my 3rd 16 lap run on this layout.

Well that's it for my T3! I'm almost finished building my T4 (build photos and log coming soon!). All that is left is to build and mount the shocks and install all the electronics. I wonder if I can mount my T3 body on the T4? Then a part of my T3 can live on!

Keep the shiny side up!