# AFX Magna-Tractions



## cwbam (Feb 8, 2010)

Looking for Parts & Ideas.

Did Dash make magnets for this?
any available? 
Some great PolyMagnets are available BUT any others?

JL/AW Xtraction are nice, but cannibalizing them for just a few parts
seems a waste.

http://www.scaleauto.com/bsrt/aurora.htm
-10 Aurora Magna-Traction/AFX Pickup "Ski-Shoes™" (10 pair) $12.50
and more good stuff

Any springs, brushes tips? ideas?


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## slotking (May 27, 2008)

fantasy raceway in Rochester, ny has parts and springs & etc..

plus yeah, I take the parts from the jl/aw cars


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## old blue (May 4, 2007)

Is there a big difference between the Magna tractions and the AW cars?


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## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

LOL
he said " Magna *f*raction" 
LOL


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## slotking (May 27, 2008)

LOL:lol::lol:

for me, despite the flaw and inconsistency of some of AURORA products,
they are just better than the aw cars.

bad gear mesh, bad gears, warped chassis. and so on.

when we used to race the xtractions, to get a good race cars, i had buy like 4 cars and part sort to get 1, and had to hammer the rear gear post to get the gear to not slip


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

"JL/AW Xtraction are nice, but cannibalizing them for just a few parts
seems a waste."

It's your sworn duty Chuck....wastem'. All the cool kids are doin' it!


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## dlw (Aug 17, 1999)

*Online Shops for Afx MT Parts*

Here's some shops that can help you:

Slotcar Johnnies
Slot Car Central
Jag Hobbies

They have all the parts needed to fix your Afx MT's


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## Shadowracer (Sep 11, 2004)

Depends how exacting you want to get.

Honestly, my guys run Magna's and Xtracs together and there's not a lot of difference. However, we're just casual basement racers....we don't do much to em' except put silicones on the rear, and oil them once in a while. :thumbsup:


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## SDMedanic (Apr 21, 2011)

There probably isn't much difference between a good AW and a AFX Magna Traction. However AW quality control is non-existent compared to Aurora's and its probably easier to get a good running AFX Magna Traction.

Adding Neos to the AW chassis didn't help as the AW neo chassis are more sensitive to ride height and will bog down on a tall rail.


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## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

there are many sellers, some already mentioned, that sell the tall magnets for MagnaTraction chassis and those AW magnets are better.


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## rholmesr (Oct 8, 2010)

Get a good running mag traction and stick AW magnets in it for a little better hold down force, if that is allowed in club rules. That's not allowed in my local club though.

BSRT has decent MT replacement pickup shoes and motor brushes. They have copper, and also silver and gold plated pickup shoes available.

JW's makes a pretty good independent front axle arrangement, but I always have to put smaller o-ring front tires on it than it comes with to get the car as low to track as possible.


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## joegri (Feb 13, 2008)

jeez im glad this question has been posted. i have a handful of magnatraktions that just sit in a box.if i ever get some time i,d like to build one that rules the trak. i did find some really sticky magnets in another box that will work good in that chassis. i need the wider type shoe round here(they get stuck on the rail side).maybe even put some lights in one!so i guess i need the auto world shoes they are wider correct?


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## JVerb (Oct 6, 2006)

To keep the pick-ups from hanging up in the corners try putting a little rocker action on the shoes. Just a little. Lets the car ride back up on the rail. I use the flat shoes with no step. Hope this helps.

Verb


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## joegri (Feb 13, 2008)

thanx for that tip jverd. think i,ll try that on the ones that hang up. tuning section always good for stuff you dont know!


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## Jisp (Oct 19, 2008)

Cwbam, for bulk brush springs at an excellent price don't overlook Bulk Comm Springs for Aurora MT and JL/AW XT (and additionally Bulk Pickup Shoe Springs for T-Jets Now Available) in the swap and sell section from one of our members Grandcheapskate.

Just be aware that Joe (Grandcheapskate) has posted recently that life outside of slots has him very busy at the moment so he may take a while to respond to enquiries.

I'd say that the day I saw 200 of the little critters in my spare parts box was one of the happiest days of my life! No more worrying about springs going AWOL and the insane price of replacements. :freak:

Cheers,
Michael. :thumbsup:


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## Jisp (Oct 19, 2008)

JVerb said:


> ...try putting a little rocker action on the shoes....


How does one do this? Does it involve modifying the hook section of the shoe in some way? Thanks.

Cheers,
Michael. :thumbsup:


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Micheal, 

Rolling the contact patch on the ski shoe is fairly simple to do. I use a good set of flat tweezers and draw the shoe through them from what would be the predetermined heel of the modified area to the hanger window. After a couple of careful strokes you'll begin to massage some curvature into them. I do it right on the chassis so you can easily gauge progress and keep them the same side to side. It's less of a headache if you learn to do them on the chassis. I hold the hook into the hanger plate with my thumb so you dont toss the spring. 

Rolling a step back into ski shoes plagued me with irony, so over time I studied on it and eventually learned to just try and carefully roll some toe up into the forward edge of the contact patch by beginning the tweezer strokes up towards the hanger window and keeping the strokes short. 

IMHO, you want to minimize the plowing effect of the sharp angular factory bend at the hanger window, but also try and maintain the larger contact area of the ski design. It's somewhat trial and error until you acquire the feel for it. Listen for less shoe sound running on the rail. There should be a noticeable difference. Toe up is ancient sectional track knowledge that was lost in the later designs and erroneously copied into the modern era . Obviously the adjustment is less on continuous rail.


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## slotking (May 27, 2008)

for magnatraction & non mags, I use (I think it a power steer shoe??)
the front of the shoe curves up and back down towards the chassis and clips on the shoe holder.

I have always got the best time on my track with these shoes (mostly lexan body racing, not sure they will fit under all hard bodies)


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## Jisp (Oct 19, 2008)

Thanks gents,

It makes sense, it makes a lot of sense.... I honestly can't believe I never thought of it before considering that I've only ever run sectional track. Our layout changes and it's a problem that just pops up from time to time, naturally in tighter turns when we use them. It sounds like an extremely subtle curve and I'll be giving it a crack. Bill, I'll have a flick back through your thread and see if I can find a visual on it to confirm that what's in my mind's eye is correct.

Mike, I'm pretty sure I have seen pictures of the style of shoe you refer to. Very old type shoe if I'm right. Nothing wrong with old, if it works well the era is irrelevant. Do you have a pic by any chance please?

Back peddle - Joe, I just measured a JL ski shoe and it comes in at .1275"/3.24mm. The JL medium (?) step shoe is identical. The only car I can find right now with a known original AFX ski shoe is the same width. I'm unsure if AW altered the width with their current offering.

Cheers guys,
Michael. :thumbsup:


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*The Klickety Klacks*

"It sounds like an extremely subtle curve and I'll be giving it a crack. Bill, I'll have a flick back through your thread and see if I can find a visual on it to confirm that what's in my mind's eye is correct."


Save yourself the headache Micheal. I'm sure it wont be in the thread.
Ideally the adjustment is just a hair more arc than the maximum differential at the rail joint.

While there is a perceived enhancement of performance; I see it more as returning lost performance that was already there. Unfortunately the adjustment doesnt alleviate the mechanical chiseling effect that un-massaged rail joints inflict on the contact patch and shortens the shoes service life. Naturally it's a bigger issue with thin pick ups like AFX. 

Consider any ski...water, snow, the runner on a sled, a toboggan what have you. That curved leading edge is no accident. Then picture it, or the lack of it on an HO scale pick up shoe meeting the perpendicular edge of a rail joint. A slot car with unadjusted toe angle is an electrically driven cold chisel that strikes a direct blow to the shoe and bluntly cleaves a chunk away with every joint impact. You can find the fragments imbedded in your silicone tires. As the car travels around the track, the successive blows create Klickety Klack noise that we are all so familiar with. 

Although the adjusted toe angle doesnt eliminate the effect, it does minimize the heavy cleaving and thus noticeably extends the service life. The increased performance is simply the result of lessening the drag by deflecting the blow. 

An affixed sectional layout combined with massaged rail joints all but eliminates the chisel effect.


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## slotking (May 27, 2008)

found a pic!


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Thats a great example that illustrates the point. 

Still my favorite VINTAGE inline design. Plenty fast and just loose enough to keep ya honest. Yeeee-haaaa!


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## Jisp (Oct 19, 2008)

Thanks a heap guys. Bill, you covered it all, I've never felt short changed in an answer from you. Mike, you sealed the deal with the photo.

I find this immensely interesting and not just because it should help me fine tune some cars (got a few additional ideas I'll try also). My trusty slot car ID site tells me that the chassis in Mike's pic is a late 80s Amrac. The chassis is somewhat similar to a G+. I have a G+ and recalled it had a shoe configuration a little different to the so called norm. When Bill described his technique earlier, I figured it must result in something somewhat similar where the shoe toe is concerned.

Leads me to wonder what happened and why things changed. As Bill put it... "Toe up is ancient sectional track knowledge that was lost in the later designs and erroneously copied into the modern era."

If I have my history correct, the Rokar/LL M chassis followed the Amrac but lost the toe up. It sports a sharp angle shoe toe. Why? What was the thinking at the time? Perhaps sectional track had gone out of favour to the point where single rail was considered to be the future??

Lovin' this stuff. Thanks boys.

Cheers,
Michael. :thumbsup:


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## slotking (May 27, 2008)

> My trusty slot car ID site tells me that the chassis in Mike's pic is a late 80s Amrac


yes,
but the shoes are key
that what I ran on my magnatractions.
really helped them handle


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*Just another day at Math Camp*

Leads me to wonder what happened and why things changed. (Micheal)

1. Manufacturing curves in metal costs mo munny.
2. Clueless bean counters analyze expenditures.
3. Folding metal is cheaper.
4. A memo is cut and so is the cost (ironically so is the value)
5. Value is always factored by profit. 
6.The knowledge of the ancients becomes dust in the wind.
7. Mankind never evolves because theres no munny in it.
8. The cockroaches rightfully inherit the earth.
9. God cracks a beer and changes the channel to the ballgame.
10. The Angels are playing the Devil Rays


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## slotking (May 27, 2008)

:lol::lol::lol::roll:


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## Jisp (Oct 19, 2008)

I was a little optimistic in wondering if it was something other than money!! The mighty buck might make the rules "out there" but the ancient knowledge isn't lost just yet. Forums like this and it's members will see to it. That's mightier than any dollar....

Cheers,
Michael. :thumbsup:


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## LDThomas (Nov 30, 1999)

Bill Hall said:


> 10. The Angels are playing the Devil Rays


Not so fast there. The Devil Rays changed their name since last season. :freak:


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Yeah I know, and hesitated; but I let it fly anyway cuz I knew I had some "easy outs".

For continuity's sake consider that it all happened a few years back and #10 will slide across the corner of the plate for an American league strike.

Or....maybe it just takes a few years for the signal to get there.


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## ruralradio (Mar 11, 2011)

Bill Hall said:


> an American league strike.


Nuthin' like a nose to toes strike zone..... kinda like some high school blue shirts I see very weekend....


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