# Best tools for HO slots



## gobucks1a (Mar 5, 2011)

I have read about a lot of tools to enhance the slot car experience. I have read a lot about the VRP Dyno 2.0. It seems to do a lot even for older or vintage AFX cars.

It is (for me at least) pricey. Anyone have a nay or yeah on this product. I also like, for a lot less price, the comm polisher VRP offers.


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## gobucks1a (Mar 5, 2011)

Mercy. I apologize for the use of a lot on my post. Hope you folks can see past my poor use of those words


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

That's a lot of a lots!! I've never used a dyno so I don't know a lot about them. A lot of guys do, so you could get a lot of answers!! :jest::tongue: :lol:

By the way, if you want to, you do have the option of editing your posts. Just click the edit button and you can rewrite.. I need to do it if I start posting before my 2nd cup of coffee...


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## martybauer31 (Jan 27, 2004)

We've had plenty of threads on dyno's in the past. There are much better ways to spend your money in the beginning if you are trying to build a collection of tools. The dyno would be a the end of the list, you can gain more by listening to your car than by looking at a readout....


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## gobucks1a (Mar 5, 2011)

Thanks for the input. As a newbie there is so much info to digest. On the tool side would you recommend the gear puller and comm brusher as first gets? From your experience what are the "starter tools" for a collection of AFX non mags to modern Tomy's.


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## neorules (Oct 20, 2006)

I would say tire puller and pusher would be on the top of the list. The best are at Scale Engineering:http://www.scaleengineering.com/


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*Off the top of the head*

Gear pullers and presses, wheel pullers and presses, poising tool or armature balancer, comm tool, tech block...

somewhat in that order... I suppose; as much would depend on what type(s) of chassis you intend to work on. An inline guy doesnt need the deluxe t-jet gear puller/press set and perhaps neither would you if you stuck solely to AFX; but a hardcore t-jet guy most certainly does. At the most you'll be banging arm gears on and off and not having to worry about mashing together driven clusters and swapping pinions...see?

The question is,"How serious are ya really?" So dont overlook the basics. How about?...(stuff I couldnt live without)

A good work light, an exacto set or the like, the basic pin vise set at a minimum, tweezers that work, a decent set of jeweler's screw drivers, a mini file set, small plier set with ends that actually meet, a pair of ***** that can cut without breaking, mini vice grips, a machinists rule and small square, a hobby clamp doohickey, dental pics, a digital micrometer...believe it or not...or a tire sizing guage at least, a work tray or mat, parts organizers for widgets and bitties, a soldering iron, a baby vise or clamping device ... 

...and of course a low speed variable moto tool and the basic wizzer bits; unfortunately these dont come with the good sense to know when to use hand tools, if yer catchin' my drift? 

Dare I say it?....maybe an airbrush...hahahahahahaha!

My personal list goes on and on. I'm also counting on our slot-bretheren to chime in and point out any glaring ommissions! :thumbsup: 

PS: If there was a point to this ramble of a post, it is that I began enjoying the hobby much more when I became better set up, organized, with stuff in arms reach. Cave time is a valuable comodity so maximizing your efforts and the quality of your work only serves to make it all the sweeter!


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## gobucks1a (Mar 5, 2011)

Bill Hall well said. As I move thru the levels of this hobby I think you said the best point...what is your interest level. As of now I am enjoying racing with my kids. We have my vintage cars and new ones. keeping these clean and running is the priority. 

It would appear that there is a lot of support for tire pullers, and gear pullers. RT Ho looks to have quality products but they only appear to be for vintage cars. I guess I might have to buy items for vintage and new cars.


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## cwbam (Feb 8, 2010)

I asked the RPM dyno question around a year to some great racers, and they said I don't know how many rpm's it turns. 
THEY DO KNOW LAP TIMES! I finally learning, 
cars are motors compare to load speed of drills & saws.
BSRT has great tools, a MICROSIZER timer is great on my TOMY track for 1 car. Scaleengineering 164-320 Pinion Tool is great & multiuse (thanks Mike) & remember a wheel puller does have its limits


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## gobucks1a (Mar 5, 2011)

Thanks for the suggestions on tools to buy. Where is a good place to find the microsizer timer?


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## cwbam (Feb 8, 2010)

ebay has a few

Item number:	260749953647 

Microsizers Digital Lap Counter


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## copperhead71 (Aug 2, 2007)

Great thread!


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## slotking (May 27, 2008)

> I asked the RPM dyno question around a year to some great racers, and they said I don't know how many rpm's it turns.
> THEY DO KNOW LAP TIMES! I finally learning,



I have been using dyno's for a few years now, I finally went over to the VRP dyno because it very easy to use.

The dyno makes a big difference I use it for both inline and pancake cars. The car of the dyno is to compare 1 car to itself. Did the changes you make increase the speed or reduce the speed. The VRP dyno also provides a load
so you can see how fast you do hit top end, ie. the faster you do, the more torque the cars has. 

I have had some top drivers adjust their cars to what they thought was the fastest they could get. I was able to find more speed for them with my dyno.

I have also seen some race reports where guys I know have dyno's are doing better at the races they attend


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## gobucks1a (Mar 5, 2011)

Slotking, sorry to be slow on the dyno thing. Is the concept of the Dyno simply a reading on your rpm's et? You put your car on the dyno then it tells you what it is pulling. Then you it is up to you to change the arm, brushes etc to increase the output.


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

edit.


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## slotking (May 27, 2008)

Hornet
I started to make my own but the VRP dyno is very well made with some circuity inside to that make it smooth with a 3 digit readout for finer adjustments. no matter how you hook up the power, it still runs the correct way and it has break in switch that drops the volts to 5!


for magnet cars, I can make slight brush adjustments with the car on the dyno and see if the increases or decreases the speed. i can throw a multimeter in line and see amp draw, the VRP dyno also lets you adjust the load.
the other thing a good dyno (very true spinner) is to see if the axle or tires are out of round.

it really does not matter if you see rpm or voltage or SG1 gate numbers!
as long as the reference is there. You will adjust your car hopefully increase the those numbers:wave:


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

edit.


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## Boosted-Z71 (Nov 26, 2007)

I built my own dyno, it reads, voltage, amp draw, rpm & wheel speed in KMH, a usefull tool but still not as useful as lap times. And I have found that an increase on the dyno does not always mean an increase in lap times, there have been occasions that I have tweaked for more rpm that have had ill effects on the track. 

As for tools to buy RT-HO are some of the best. I also built a lot of my tools. You also need to understand how to use them to your advantage, so think about what you want to do & determine what would be a proper way of going about the task, many times with just a little thought a tool design will present itself.

Boosted


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

edit.


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## gobucks1a (Mar 5, 2011)

boosted, well said. There are a lot of helpful tools out there to buy. Knowing how to use and if you will use them is the key. 

Speaking of which, fixin a vintage non magna car I noticed the arm/comm is really loose with the gear plate. Think there should be some play, but, this seems really loose.

I have not purchased any of the HO tools that would help. Any thoughts on household tools to use? And having a dozen or so pancake chassis, I might run into this problem is there a RT HO tool that would worth the purchase?


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## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

a wheel puller, wheel press, gear puller and gear press are essential for beginning to rebuild. trying to save money costs more money in the long run.
it doesn't matter if the armature feels a little loose on the gear plate when the plate is not in the chassis. if it feels loose when installed in the chassis, then the hole through the gear plate is worn badly. 
only way to know for sure is to pull the gear off the armature and examine the gear plate, gear puller necessary unless you are willing to oval the hole in the gear by prying it with a screwdriver. 
there has been a lot of good advice given so far, heed at least some of it.


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## slotking (May 27, 2008)

> I have found that an increase on the dyno does not always mean an increase in lap times


I would have to disagree with you 100% here.
We all know that slow cars handle well, if more speed causes a problem, then the car is not built correctly IMHO. More speed will bring about issues from out of round hub/tires or axles or to much shoe tension.

BTW, the dyno is a sweet tool to have in the hotel room!
I have mine here at work cause if i get no few calls then i can work on cars!:wave: and that's what i am doing:thumbsup:

These concepts are for any dyno

Rick, if you saw how the vrp dyno was made, you think how does he sell it so cheap! I watch him make a few!


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## gobucks1a (Mar 5, 2011)

alpink, thanks again for the advice. I went to RT HO and it looks like the pinon wheel puller and the gear installation tool is a good start. I have not removed any gears, but, it sounds like there is little chance to removce the gears with out troubles if you use a screwdriver.

Plus, if you want to tinker with new arms or gears it doesn't make sense spending money on those items if you can not put them on without damage.


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## slotking (May 27, 2008)

needle nose and duck nose pliers are nice, 
i have multi tire presses with 1 bring the slottech 1 cause it has pin that fits into the hub hole incase the axle does not come all the through.

jewelry cleaner
dollar store hammer (with the handle that becomes a screw driver


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## slotking (May 27, 2008)

als check out JW speed parts!

they have some nice stuff as well


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## Boosted-Z71 (Nov 26, 2007)

slotking said:


> More speed will bring about issues from out of round hub/tires or axles or to much shoe tension.


Exactly, and these problems could easily show an increase in speed, but will be tuff to diagnos on a dyno, but can readily show up on the track as slower lap times. Trust me I am not knocking a dyno, they are very useful, I just think the original poster would be better off with more building tools verse spending his money on an evaluation tool. 

Boosted


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## slotking (May 27, 2008)

understood, but if the problems occur at a higher speed, then adjustments need to be made or a new chassis is needed.

you should never be at a point were squeaking more speed from a car is a problem, it just that the car was never right in the 1st place.

JMHO

with the racing here, if you do not have speed, you will not win!


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

edit.


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## slotking (May 27, 2008)

the dyno is for racers and those looking to move and keep an edge in the game.

I think it a great tool for the new racer but not needed for the home body.

most long time racers can get close because they know the tricks and sounds to tune a cars, the new does not and that where a any dyno IMHO will help the new RACER.


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## Boosted-Z71 (Nov 26, 2007)

SlotKing I totally agree with you, more speed is a win/win situation like you said, just don't disregard the handling along the way. I have never been able to diagnose handling issues on the dyno, Most of the time the handling problems lead to a driver issue, ha ha. 

some of the other hand tools I use are, good tweezers, and small flat tip & phillips screw driver & a good set of feeler gauges to set, check gear lash etc, all are relatively cheap. I also have one of the articulating desk lights, It makes it really nice to put the light where you need it. 

Boosted


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## copperhead71 (Aug 2, 2007)

which volt/amp reader would you guy's recommend for testing the arms for mag/non mag arms.what readings would i be looking for?


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## sidejobjon (Jun 3, 2010)

Maurice,
I like the Small Radio shack model.


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## copperhead71 (Aug 2, 2007)

That's what my friend showed me that operates on a 9v battery,but he said they crap out eventually?was wondering if i should go snap on or matco?marcus


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## sidejobjon (Jun 3, 2010)

Radio shack , Digital Multimeter 22-820 maybe you can look up on line. No 9 volt.
Sorry Marcus don`t no were maurice came from. Any more pans or wheels.


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## slotking (May 27, 2008)

> which volt/amp reader would you guy's recommend for testing the arms for mag/non mag arms.what readings would i be looking for


for some reason my very cheap ones seem to work as well better as my expensive ones!

the key is maintaining a ref point for you! unless you race in a group that ohm's arms then knowing what the nim limit is is key


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## Rolls (Jan 1, 2010)

Same here, slotking. I have a beautiful crazy expensive old Fluke DMM and a Sears discount bin one I got for like 10 clams. 98% of the time I use the $10 meter -- I actually prefer it in all but a very few applications.


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

edit.


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## gobucks1a (Mar 5, 2011)

I purchased a cheap mm. But, I am a newbie on the testing side. What is the best way to test the arms? I saw a great description of pancake arms and their ohms. curious how my rate out.


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## HO_Only (Jan 30, 2011)

I'm new a newbie (& basement runner only) but here's my $.02 as cheap starter list

Number one tool is access to this forum...I think I got at least 80% of this list (& tips on how to use them) from reading posts here.(Free)

I'm in the pro Dyno camp. I bought a digital laser tach from Amazon for $8.00. With that, a frontend cut off a burned up chassis, a hub painted black, little piece of reflective tape stuck on a silicon tire and an old piece tack. I can now get a pretty good idea of the effect on changes I make.

Most of stuff I had around the house so I'm guessing at some prices, but for under $50.00 (plus shipping& tax) I think you can get most of you need to really clean up and get a lot more out of an old tjet.

Couple cheap screw drivers $5.00
Pink easer (clean coms and brushes) $.50
Small wet stone (re-surface pick shoes) $1.00
Utility knife (to score brushes) $2.99
Fiberglass spot sanding pen (clean all elect contact points) $7.00
Emery board (true tires) $.10
Roll of cheap duck tape (clean tires) $3.99
Some kind of Spot Oiler $1.00
Oil $8.00 will buy a life time supply of Mobil One synthetic (I'm sure there are hundreds of other choices)
Pocket grain scale (match magnets) $14.00
recycled paper to polish brushes

I think the next purchase would be Ultrasonic Cleaner, a roto tool (& some razor blades and level). Then get in to gear lapping/cleaning and arm blancing. 

feel free to let me know where I'm going wrong 

Lew


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## Boosted-Z71 (Nov 26, 2007)

Just be careful you dont scratch the com plate with the meter probes while testing / checking, seen that done several times.

Boosted


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## slotking (May 27, 2008)

just know where the brush path is and any thing out side the brush path doe not matter.

on the arm balancing I have been using magnets for years!
had 2 neo mags stuck to a vise! it worked as well as my razor blade or posing tool setup.
When I went to the VRP dyno with the helper tool he sells, my arms are so much better now! plus it help to show any shaft/wobble issues.

I use the SCM blueprint plate and JW gear press most times for my pancake cars


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

edit.


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

edit.


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## gobucks1a (Mar 5, 2011)

sorry again to be slow on the uptake. how do you use the mm to test the ohms? also, as i started back into the hobby, i read a lot of cleaning tips and one was to use an emory board to clean kunck off the arm. guess that is night right


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

edit.


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## Boosted-Z71 (Nov 26, 2007)

Here's my little fixture I built to easily ohm an arm with virtually no chance of scratching it. All you need to do is hook up the VOM to jacks on the front & rotate the arm. 

Boosted


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## slotking (May 27, 2008)

cool, nice job

here the 1 I use









yours and mine makes real easy to check a bunch of arms at once


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## Boosted-Z71 (Nov 26, 2007)

That is sweet I had not seen those units, Really quick to ohm out any arm. 

Boosted


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## Rolls (Jan 1, 2010)

Boosted-Z71 said:


> Here's my little fixture I built to easily ohm an arm with virtually no chance of scratching it. All you need to do is hook up the VOM to jacks on the front & rotate the arm.
> 
> Boosted


I like your design! Pretty slick!!


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

edit.


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## gobucks1a (Mar 5, 2011)

I am attempting to read the ohms on my vintage afx arms. The first thing I did was to touch my leads to see what they produce. It was 1.5. Then put my leads on the arm. This is where I am failing. It was hard to get a read, I guess my hands are not steady enough? Is this why you use aligator clips? In any event, I was reading a red with copper arm and I got a 15.5. So 15.5 leass 1.5 would mean the arm is 14 ohms?!?


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## slotking (May 27, 2008)

t was 1.5 is real high

The highest I have was .6 on a meter

normal is .1 to .3 so a a 16.5 ohm arm would be 16.4 to 16.2.
my expensive one is .4
my cheap ones are .1:freak:

my arm tool is .2 with the same reading every time at the same room temp!

for the new racers, temperature can really vary the ohms reading!
was at a race once where the temp had to be below 63!
my 16.5 ohm arm was at 15.5! they were talking DQ, when I said ohm get to real room temp! the tech guy blew on it gun and show 70 degrees and it passed


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## gobucks1a (Mar 5, 2011)

Slotking, thanks for your tips. I am really a novice. My digital mm is a commercial electrice purchsed at home depot. I believe the ohm reading is the omega sign. On this mm the omega part of the dial is from 6 oclock to 9 oclock. The six oclock says 200 while the 9 oclock reads 2m. So, I figured I would turn the knob to the 6 oclock reading on the mm. When it read 1.5 could that be .15


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

edit.


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## slotking (May 27, 2008)

200 is the norm that we use.
if reads that high, and still kind of new, take it back to HD nd show the electric guy, most of those are kind in the know


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## gobucks1a (Mar 5, 2011)

Off topic a little, but, with the multi meter what is the best way to test voltage of the race track. Do you put a lead on one rail and the other lead on the other rail, or both leads on one rail..etc


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## rbrunne1 (Sep 22, 2007)

gobucks1a said:


> Off topic a little, but, with the multi meter what is the best way to test voltage of the race track. Do you put a lead on one rail and the other lead on the other rail, or both leads on one rail..etc


To measure track voltage, place one lead on each rail while squeezing the controller.


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## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

t-jet/AFX armature gear puller on the eBay. 170617871779 . pricey? yes. worth every penny though and at least as good as any other and much better than most. I have missed seeing this guy at shows and glad to have found him again. he used to sell a combination press/puller that was nearly perfect for all applications. this gear puller I have noted is exceptional in getting under the armature gear without damaging the gear plate. YOU should have one in your box too!


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## Boosted-Z71 (Nov 26, 2007)

He has armature winders for sale as well,

Boosted


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## slotking (May 27, 2008)

looks like the rtho one, not sure who was 1st


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