# unrulie afx( non mag



## joegri (Feb 13, 2008)

hey boyz below is an afx that is kinda crazy fast and havin a hard time keepin on and in the trak. first i tried to take some spring pressure out of the pickup still fast i was thinkin bout swappin out the mags to a weaker variety. it has some slotted domed/silver brushes that i,m thinkin bout putting in the jb,s thunder instead. i know it sounds silly that the car is 2 fast. i have dialed down the voltage to 16 then 12 is managable. should my next move to cut out a loop or 2 of the springs? any input will help or i might just rob the arm for a tjet.


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## joegri (Feb 13, 2008)

arghhhh the pics did,nt come out! i,ll try again later.


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## joegri (Feb 13, 2008)

o.k. maybe they will now. also idler gear? brass or plastic?pictured u can see the fronts and rears to be used. i,m pretty sure it can be tamed with lead pieces. have u guys tried hemming the shoe windows? spect tonite i,ll spend some time with this chassis but wanted to ask the tunners here. i,ll tell ya man this thing gets weightless down the back strech and may as well have some wings cuz it do,nt wanna live on the trak!


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## Joe65SkylarkGS (Feb 15, 2010)

I love it. Too fast is good in my book. Proper body selection will help it too. You have any of the original front end weights that slip the front axle through em?? I never tried to mess with the shoe window myself. I usually just adjust them where I need them. Tweaking em.


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## Boosted-Z71 (Nov 26, 2007)

1st how much chassis to rail clearance do you have, the tires look tall, 2nd make sure the tires are round & the axles are straight on both ends & a good fit in the chassis, not too loose, if not start there. If your running stock hubs true them up with a dremel & nail file sanding stick, some of the AW wheels are terrible. I do cut the stock springs on my AFX, if I grind the front tires to lower the chassis, but no more than 1 coil. I will always grind o-rings to give a little more surface for the car to ride on & soften the rubber. I try to setup the chassis within .008 of the rails, then check to see if it drags anywhere, routed track you can go lower, depending on the track but I have been down to .004, but I guarantee it will drag on another track. I have found on high torque motors that the plastic gears usually don't last long enough for me, I run brass & lap them all in together. I also hem the pickup windows to limit travel, just like a fray car, I don't like the pickups going below the wheels at all.

Looks like you got some good parts going into that little monster.

Boosted


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## clydeomite (May 5, 2004)

Hey Joe:
Since it a non mag chassis try adding a magnet to the chassis . I would put a radio shack neodot mag on the side th gear is on . thos may require you to run a slightly taller tire but will help keep the car on the track.
Clyde-0-Mite


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## joegri (Feb 13, 2008)

cuz it was sooo damn cool in the cave last nite i passed on wrenchin down there and hung around the pellet stove.ca,nt believe that i hang upstairs thinkin bout what i,m gonna do when i go down to the cave.what a hobby.jskylark i,m into lexan for this build so light and sleek is the theme.after reading replys hemming the shoes and cut a loop off the sgring should do it. i do have some of those dot mags but will have to check for clearance.also a magnet swap could be in the future.the idea is to make it fast and get it to go around the turns too!just 1 small job this morning then maybe some cave time. thanx fellas for some ideas.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

True axles, wheels, and tires are step one. Rather than cutting the spring, try adjusting the shoe hook first.


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## bkreaume (Feb 6, 2010)

> try adjusting the shoe hook first


Bill, can you expand on this? Cutting the spring is such a pain for me.


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## joegri (Feb 13, 2008)

guess i should have mentioned that i did try backin off the hook area. just about the same results. i.ve tried just about everything i,ve learned in fraycar tuning and basicly the same results. i was thinkin that all the techniques would/should apply to the afx chassis.if i can get it close i,ll be kind happy. bk if u go to the fraycar tuning thread you,ll find it there and bill has made a good video . '' how to" with an unrulie tuff ones. it works real good but ya gotta play with a few before ya get the hang of it.


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## AfxToo (Aug 29, 2003)

The JB brushes and reducing brush tension will definitely help take some of the punchiness out of it. Also try o-ring fronts. The Super II magnets are fine. 

With the brushes, adjust them a little at a time and make sure they stay even. 

The silver domed A/FX brushes are my least favorite A/FX or TJet brush because they crud up the comm very quickly, wear down fast, and are either too punchy or a heat magnet if not adjusted "just right." I actually prefer the JL/AW copper-carbon TJet brush over the A/FX silvers. But the JBs or Wizzard brushes are even better because they deliver good conductivity at fairly low brush tension, which is the perfect combination for a cool and smooth running motor.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

bkreaume said:


> Bill, can you expand on this? Cutting the spring is such a pain for me.


Here ya go...crude but you get the idea. I tend to adjust the geometry of the shoes and leave the springs alone for the most part. HO World has a good shoe tute in the archives. Once you master the shoehook bend (for spring pressure adjustment) and develope confidence in the "Z" bend technique (for contact patch control) you'll be able to tame almost any chassis... short of those that would require wheelie bars and thats a whole nuther ballgame all together. 

http://s44.photobucket.com/player.s...30/modelmurdering/MOV05621.flv&fs=1&os=1&ap=1

Swamper Gene has some really cool illustrations of how to do this. The technique can be applied to AFX shoes as well. It just takes a lighter touch. 

Much "to-do" is made over pick up spring tension just like commutator spring tension. Either or both can be the certain death of good track manners for ANY chassis if you crank it up too much. Experienced builders generally come to the conclusion that less is more. 

As for pick-up springs, you have to keep in mind that once the chassis is on "plane" the rush of forward momentum keeps the contact patch pressed onto the rail. I prefer just enough tension for a good clean start and a properly adjusted patch. Otherwise your just grinding copper for no reason and dragging your chassis down; not to mention the detrimental handling effects.


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## Boosted-Z71 (Nov 26, 2007)

Joe is the chassis "square", I had a JL/AW that handled horrible, never the same problem & it was a leaner, Chassis was twisted so bad all you could do is make the tires larger on the high corner to compensate & it still handled poorly after that. It eventually became a push car with a mangled body for track art. Also are you running the original AFX ski shoes? I like those, but they are a bear to get right, so almost the entire shoe sets on the rail & very soft spring. 

Boosted


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## joegri (Feb 13, 2008)

bingo i have bingo!! bill h is correct the axel was a lil bent. so with an axel swap and some jb,s thunder brushes and i put a lil taller rears (.475) the chassis is quick smooth and predictable. i dug around some boxes and found this lexan cobra that i gave up on and decieded that it will work for this chassis.now i have a fresh afx that is a contender on my trak. i think it,s a top 3 but i cant really tell no timing device or anybody to race with. the tuning section is my favorite place to lurk u can really get the answer ya need here. thanx fellow ht guyz for the help with my unrulie afx!


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Fundamentals...go figure! :thumbsup:

That's good news Joe. While this sounds kinda cornball; I've found that almost every annoying or troublesome tuning issue goes back to some fundamental build step that I overlooked. 

IMHO, Boogered up tires wheels and axles are the number one cause of bad track manners


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## WooffWooff (Dec 23, 2009)

*Retro RTHO brass fronts...*

the ones that the "OD" was about the same as an original tjet tire, are great for taming an AFX(not AFX/MT). He no longer sells'em but if you can find any, just open the AFX axle hole a tad and away-she goes........


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