# What a difference a magnet makes



## old blue (May 4, 2007)

I went out this weekend and purchased some of the rare earch magnets from Radio Shack. I attached them to the bottom of a variety of cars from newer JL tjets to some of my favorite old tjets from long ago. I do not have my track set up right now, but I can tell from setting the cars on a spare piece of track that the downforce is definitely increased. I can not wait to drive them. 

All of this made me think of the original thunderjet tracks and cars from the 1960s. The cars all came with the skinny rubber tires. Some of the sets also came with loop tracks. Can anyone comment on the original cars ability to make it through a loop like that. In 2007 it is hard to imagine that the cars had the speed or inertia to make it through the loops. 

Thanks,
Old Blue


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## AfxToo (Aug 29, 2003)

> Can anyone comment on the original cars ability to make it through a loop like that.


With practice and enough run up it could be done. I never left the loop in the setup for very long because it wasn't conducive to racing and the novelty wore off pretty quickly.

It's not like we ran the cars back then exclusively with the stock rubber tires. Some of the Wild Ones cars came with soft sponge rear tires that gripped pretty well when they weren't falling off. AJs sold trued sponge and silicone tires mounted on nice threaded aluminum hubs. I still have a few pairs of the silicone versions and they are as good as new. When you bought yourself a full set of AJs with aluminum hubs, o-ring fronts, silicone rears, threaded axles with jamb nuts, and a handling pan, brother, you were living large.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

LOL! 

The loops were a real challenge. So were the bank corners. Todays slip on sili's have really spoiled us. I still get a big kick out of running on stockrubbers every now and then for a blast of nostalgia.

Loosing one of those wildones skinny spongees was always a given. Hard in to the corner, eject a tire, nerf yer buddy...memory lane.

Has anyone out there tried the spongies that MASCRA now offers...or figured out some way to re-juvenate the vintage spongies that are like running on dry toast?


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## A/FX Nut (May 28, 2004)

I wonder if the tires were stock that the contestants in the Ford Aurora Grand Nationals raced on. 

Did you guys use any kind of tire tack / goop on the sponge tires?

Was the stock rubber tires softer on the Vibes and T-Jets back then? I'm wondering if the stock tires have gotten harder over the years. 

I remember the tires on our AFX cars weren't that bad. This was Christmas '75. They seemed good for the home race set. But my brother and I was 9 and 8 then. Randy.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

LOL Randy, 

I got scads of firestone...er ...I mean Flintstone tires. Plan to model the Springfeild Tire Fire from the Simpsons on my next layout!

Many groups/leagues have a stock tire class. Most guys use a secret sauce to help rejuvenate their old school hides. Now days however anything that gunks up the track is taboo.

Undoubtedly the rubber only gets worse with age. Strangley I just scored some of those old AFX silicone sponge tires via auction. They are still squishy and supple like the day they were made. They are also just as lumpy, lacking uniformity on the contact patch. Truing is really not an option cuz it's pretty easy to cut them back to the foam and yer right back where ya started.

The advancements in slip on silicone makes the whole tire question more or less mute. If ya really want the goods though, step up to todays sili over sponge tire and wheel combo's.

For AFX, Dragjet's new setup is very cool in that it preserves the pretty original rim and provides phenominal "gription". Been trying to mercilessly kill my test set with no resulting damage. Chris has them reasonably priced.


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## A/FX Nut (May 28, 2004)

I was just curious about the old days. Our group runs the slip on silicones except for the Super Stock class. We try to keep it as low cost as possible because of the younger guys we have racing. They have the smallest budgets and can't afford the cost.

Sili on sponge is the ticket. I may ask Dragjet for some prices on his tires. Thanks, Randy.


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## Crimnick (May 28, 2006)

Sili on sponge rocks.....we even run em on super stocks.....

I threw a set on a stock SG+ I been playing with wearing a JL XT monte....now blows the other SG+ stockers away...

I think they are .440's on a wizzard wide hub....


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

A/FX Nut said:


> I was just curious about the old days....snip


Well sonny first off ya had to walk three miles in a blizzard to hit the hobby store track...  Just pokin fun Randy  

In the rubber tire only days there was a lot of slippin' and sliding goin on. Outside of proper car mechanics there was not much to do but make sure you had true rims and tires. Secret sauces helped some but it still wasnt what one would consider traction. LOL! Ya had to be cautious about positioning in and out the turns or you'd get doinked. Naturally you could be more aggressive if you were running out in front but contact was a given when stuck in the pack. The tail just hung out if you drove on the edge and really that was the fastest way around in the stone age.

Spongees were a huge improvement considering the times, and the choice of speed parts began to grow so the overall speeds picked up considerably. Before long the spongees were more or less inadequate due to better arms and beefier magnets. So a short geared (9 tooth) set up would fry a set of spongees and we were kinda back to square one unless ya gobbed the stickem on.

The biggest advancement came with AJ's (in our neck of the woods) spun aluminum hubs with the new bonded silcone compound. A huge difference in that a cars power and handling were more in sync. When combined with a bolt on handling pan it was the stuff at the time. Of course the added weight of the AJ's slugs (aka lead boots) and weight pan was a comprimise due to added weight depending on the track design.

The slip on silicones were a big deal cuz you could cut a huge amount of weight by running lighter plastic rims. This provided a great avantage in acceleration/traction which more than made up for tossing your weight pan and slugs aside.

The rest is lower COG's, the Brass Wars, magnatraction, and the subsequent rocket inline designs. I was out of the hobby by then and off to a mispent young adulthood. 

At least according to my stone tablets anyway...


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## old blue (May 4, 2007)

Thanks for the trip down memory lane. You confirmed my suspicions on the rubber tires and the loop tracks. To get back to my other discussion, I have been driving with the tiny magnets under the t-jets and everyone loves them. The crash rate has gone way down and the speed has gone way up. It gives downforce on the tires without added weight. I did attempt to place a magnet underneath the shoe next to the guidepin, but that failed miserably. It caused drag. If anyone is out there trying to resolve the age old issue of "Do I share my older Tjets with the kids" consider the magnets, the cars wreck less and the kids think they have suddenly gotten better at driving.


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## neophytte (Sep 14, 2006)

old blue - you may want to invest ina couple of the AW T-Jets with magnets underneath. I'm not sure what the prices are like in the US, but here in Australia we pay a few dollars extra for them, but it's probably cheaper than wrecking classics 

As someone in our group said - the new T-Jets have magnets and the new G-Jets are magnet cars without magnets ... 

Cheers

Richard


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## old blue (May 4, 2007)

That is the beauty of this. A dot of superglue and a tiny magnet is all it takes. No wrecking involved. Compared to cutting open wheel wells this is more than worth it.


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## ic-racer (Jan 21, 2007)

*Best slip on silicones for AFX*

Since you all brought up the topic of silicones on the AFX, could you comment on the best ones out there?

I am in the process of expanding my original non-magnatraction AFX collection from 1972 (only 3 cars survived) with e-bay purchases. The tires on these cars are all no good, either crumbling or hard as a rock. I have one pair of Ajs that has to be shared between 10 stock AFXs.

Front tires are also an issue. Only 3 pair, and these are hard and cracking. Is there a good AFX replacement or do I need to go with NOS?

BTW I want to keep the original rims on all these particular cars.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*Try it you'll like it*

I like PVT's.

Thats Penn Valley Tires.

their # 1501= AFX standard rear
# 2001= AFX front
# 1901= AFX specialty rear, low pro-fullwidth

They also have t-jet standard size, tuff ones, buggy and hotrod tires, AFX dragster tires. I especially like the #1301 LXW (large -extra -wide) rear for my rod projects.

Note: The AFX front is not identical. It's smooth with no "Good Year" logo.

They are smooth and have a nice rolled outside edge. I've not had a bogus tire from these folks yet. I usually give them a light scuff to square up the contact patch and roll the inside edge a bit so they dont catch the rail. I use 220 dry sandpaper. 

They also stretch nicely with minimal distortion for custom applications. Easy to trim with sharp scissors, and again easy to scuff off the ragged edge were you trimmed.

Far and away my favorite slip on, You'll be amazed at how quietly they run...I was! Absolutly no chatter...if your rims and axles are straight, PVT's run true as the day is long.

As for drawbacks; due to their soft grippy compound they can tear if your hamhanded with them. They also pick up a lot of grungous from the track...but what good sili doesnt?

For those special racers in your box, Try Dragjet Resins new "Drag Trac" wheel and tire combo. Chris offers a bonded to the original AFX rim, silicone over sponge setup that is second to none. Beyond the performance leap the obvious bonus is that they retain the stock rim. 

Good Luck! :thumbsup:


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## vaBcHRog (Feb 19, 2003)

Bill Hall said:


> I like PVT's.
> 
> Thats Penn Valley Tires.
> 
> ...


Ditto on tghe PVTs great tires. Alsoc for AFX Weird Jack's But Uglies work very good also Slot Car Johnnie has some specially made AFX tires that are great on G + rims. AJ's Black cats and Gum Drops when you can find them were also Good AFX tires


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## ic-racer (Jan 21, 2007)

Thanks I will check these out!


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## TK Solver (Mar 18, 2004)

Anybody else adding magnets to the AW Flamethrower chassis? I've been gluing an 1/8th inch diameter neo disc into the available hole, swapping in some old narrow JLXT pick-up shoes to restrict the travel, removing the lights, and replacing the front tires with lower profile tires from the JL pull-backs. I put these under my GTP bodies and they handle great. It's ironic because nearly every stock Flamethrower chassis runs horribly, bouncing all over the place. What a difference a 19-cent magnet and a few adjustments can make...


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## dlw (Aug 17, 1999)

TK, the magnets from the Thunderjet Ultra G's are the same as the upcoming XTUG cars (you may already know this, but if you didn't, use for future reference).

But as you found out, the XT Flamethrowers have a leaf-spring/ pickup shoes combo, instead of the pickup springs. Upside - you don't have to worry about those little springs going boing, and flying or dropping lord-knows-where. Downside - the leaf springs are so strong that you have to lessen the angle they're set at to alieviate the front end hop, so you have to tweak the leaf spring to get less bounce.

And like the other TJ's/AW's you have to weed out any bad rims and/or axles to smooth things out.

For those who get any XTUG cars and you want to remove the neo-dots, there's a little hole that those little jeweler's screwdrivers will fit to poke out the magnet. The TJUG's have a larger hole under the rear motor magnet to remove them through.


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