# Sticky  Ok...I'm considering getting into HO slots.



## ClearHooter

Looked through the first 4 pages and didn't see answers to questions I have. All of these questions pertain to HO tracks. All questions are asked from a point of ignorance and it would be appreciated if they can be answered as such.

1. Will different tracks accept different brands of cars ?
2. Is there a preferred brand of track ? And why ?
3. If I combine 2 like tracks together. Do I use 2 transformers. 
If not. At what point do I have to add an additional transformer(s)?
Does the additional transformer need to be placed on the opposite side of the track?
4. What's the difference between a digital track and an analog track?
Is one those systems more reliable than the other?
Does one system have more body types (ie sports racers, F-1, classics, NASCAR etc) than another system ?
5. What else do I need to ask?


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## glock24

Hello,
I'll try to answer all your questions.



ClearHooter said:


> 1. Will different tracks accept different brands of cars ?


All HO tracks accept all types of HO cars.



ClearHooter said:


> 2. Is there a preferred brand of track ? And why ?


Most people prefer Tomy/AFX track, some others prefer the old Model Motoring and some prefer Tyco/Mattel. You'll see a lot of discussions about this topic.
Why? AFX is said to have better track sections variety, but it's mostly a mith. Quality was very good on AFX/Tomy track.
Tyco/Mattel track has more space between lanes and cars (especially newer ones) are less prone to bumping into each other and deslotting. Some say Tyco rails are smoother too.
Tomy/AFX slot is deeper, allows to use a longer guide pin.
Actually only two companies make new track, AutoWorld and Racemasters/AFX. The new Racemasters track had quality issues according to various users (warped sections, raised rails, etc), AutoWorld track seems to be decent quality. Both brands are a clone of AFX/Tomy track and are 100% compatible.
You can find Tyco/Mattel or older AFX/Tomy track new or used for cheap online.



ClearHooter said:


> 3. If I combine 2 like tracks together. Do I use 2 transformers.
> If not. At what point do I have to add an additional transformer(s)?


If you want 4 lanes you need 2 transformers or if you use one more powerful power supply you need to make jumper cables to connect all 4 lanes to the one power supply.
Voltge drops as you go farther from the terminal track (where the power is fed) so it is advisable to make jumper cables to keep voltage drop to a minimum (mostly for permanent layouts).



ClearHooter said:


> 4. What's the difference between a digital track and an analog track?
> Is one those systems more reliable than the other?
> Does one system have more body types (ie sports racers, F-1, classics, NASCAR etc) than another system ?


There's no such thing as digital systems for HO slot cars. There are "digital" controllers that use electronics to provide finer control of the cars and have some other adjustments, but there are also analog controllers that to the same. So far I've only used controllers that came with the sets.
I think all brands have all body types you ask, some bodies will be harder to find than others or will be more expensive because they are sought after.

I recommend you take a look at this site, it has a lot of information:






How to Identify HO Scale Slot and Slotless Car Chassis


Slot before Slotless, Alphabetically by Brand, Chronologically within Brand.



www.modelmotorist.com





The most common brands of cars are Tyco, AFX, Tomy/AFX and Life Like. You'll find a lot of new chassis and bodies from other manufacturers such as Dash and AutoWorld. Racemasters makes new cars too and they look really nice, I dont have any of those as they are not meant to be tinkered with and I like tinkering. There's a company that bought the rights to Life Life and makes reproduction bodies and chassis parts.There's also a lot of chassis manufacturers for higher end cars like Viper, Jag Hobbies, BDR Bulldog, OS3, etc.

Hope that helps.


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## glock24

Another thing you should have in mind is that there are two "groups" of HO racers, the ones that prefer non- magnetic cars (these have no traction magnets and have little or no magnetic down force) and the ones that prefer magnetic cars with high magnetic down force.

Non-magnetic cars are usually the ones with "pancake" motors like T-Jets or chassis based on T-Jets (Dash, OS3 TFX, AW cars with magnets removed, etc.) and AFX, Magnatractions and clones but there are also modern chassis where magnets are replaced with weights.

There are also some older Tyco chassis that have low magnetic down force like Tyco Pro, Curvehuggers/HP-2 and HP-7.

Magnetic cars are mostly all the rest.

There are also routed tracks that you can buy (or make), but price is usually higher.


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## Rich Dumas

Racemasters took over the Tomy/AFX line and came out with their own chassis, the Mega G. Because of child safety and electromagnetic interference regulations the Mega G cars were replaced by the Mega G+ cars. The old tooling for Tomy track was worn out, so Racemasters had new tooling made. There have been complaints posted about the latest AFX track. Back in the day Aurora sold just the bodies for their cars, since that time no maker that I am aware of has sold just the bodies. Many dealers buy complete cars by the case and take those apart. Probably they can sell the body alone for more than the discounted price of an entire car.
I believe that Harden Creek bought the rights to the Life-Like name. To raise money to make reproduction M car chassis there was a Go Fund Me site, but I don't think that enough money was raised for that project. There are some reproduction parts as well as reproductions of some of the Life-Like bodies.


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## glock24

Rich Dumas said:


> Racemasters took over the Tomy/AFX line and came out with their own chassis, the Mega G. Because of child safety and electromagnetic interference regulations the Mega G cars were replaced by the Mega G+ cars. The old tooling for Tomy track was worn out, so Racemasters had new tooling made. There have been complaints posted about the latest AFX track. Back in the day Aurora sold just the bodies for their cars, since that time no maker that I am aware of has sold just the bodies. Many dealers buy complete cars by the case and take those apart. Probably they can sell the body alone for more than the discounted price of an entire car.
> I believe that Harden Creek bought the rights to the Life-Like name. To raise money to make reproduction M car chassis there was a Go Fund Me site, but I don't think that enough money was raised for that project. There are some reproduction parts as well as reproductions of some of the Life-Like bodies.


Harden Creek makes reproduction M chassis, but bare chassis only. I think they don't have all parts for a complete chassis, still they make most of them like shoes, magnets, motors, axles, gears, etc.

They make the bodies too and sell new LL track, although I haven't read much about LL track.


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## glock24

Here are some video to identify the most common old HO slot car chassis, the ones no longer in production but still obtainable:

Aurora/AFX:





Tyco/Mattel:





Lifelike/AMRAC/ROKAR/Cox:





Here's another one with various brands:





An here are some of the chassis still being produced:

Dash and AW T-Jets:





OS3 TFX:
Review of the new OS3 TFX HO slot car chassis

Dash AFX Mondo:
IROC Race Dash AFX Mondo Chassis on Routed Track with Review of Performance by TJetClub and HOSERS

Harden Creek Super 7:
Harden Creek Slot Cars, LLC: The Super 7 HO Slot Car Chassis Project Overview

BDR Bulldog:
WEST COAST SLOT CARS -THE NEW BULLDOG RACING GT H.O. SLOT CAR CHASSIS IS HERE!!

Viper:
Viper V1 HO Slot Car RTR Chassis Assembly & Discussion

Jag Hobbies TR-3:
Jag Hobbies tr-3 chassis review

Jag Hobbies DR-1 and AW 4-Gear:
Why I think the DR-1 Is Better Than the Autoworld 4-Gear

AW X-Traction:
Which is better Aurora Magnatraction,Jonny Lighting Xtraction or Autoworld Xtraction UltraG

AW Super III:
Is the Super III by AutoWorld really that super??

I probably missed some cars that I don't know about.

Also there are tons of upgrades for the older and current chassis, like motors, tires, pickup shoes, magnets, guide pins, etc.


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## Milton Fox Racing

Stickied.....


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## ClearHooter

Thanks guys. A wealth of information.


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## Rich Dumas

Here is a site with pictures of almost every HO chassis: ModelMotorist: Identifications: HO Scale Slot and Slotless Car Chassis


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## massacre1

I like the Ideal TCR cars that switch lanes. YMMV


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## ClearHooter

Rich Dumas said:


> Here is a site with pictures of almost every HO chassis: ModelMotorist: Identifications: HO Scale Slot and Slotless Car Chassis


I started looking at this information Jan 5. Spent a couple hours an evening. Absorbed a little bit of it. But just got through it all this morning about 2:00.

One thing I saw almost immediately was the gearing on the Aroura Thunder Jet

1.Are the gear ratios changeable on those cars ?
If not. What is the advantage of having multiple gears instead of just a crown and pinion?

2.Is there anything like the "chassis list;" but for bodies and compatible chassis?


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## glock24

ClearHooter said:


> I started looking at this information Jan 5. Spent a couple hours an evening. Absorbed a little bit of it. But just got through it all this morning about 2:00.
> 
> One thing I saw almost immediately was the gearing on the Aroura Thunder Jet
> 
> 1.Are the gear ratios changeable on those cars ?
> If not. What is the advantage of having multiple gears instead of just a crown and pinion?
> 
> 2.Is there anything like the "chassis list;" but for bodies and compatible chassis?


From what I've read the "pancake motor" was created as a way to make a more powerful motor for such a small scale, as traditional motors at the time were too weak and the pancake configuration allowed for a bigger armature and bigger magnets, making for a more powerful motor.

1. You can change gear ratio by replacing the pinion gear and/or crown gear. The gears in the top plate do not change and I don't know of any gears with different teeth count, but I'm no T-Jet expert.

2. I don't know of such a list, others may be able to help. 

As a general rule most bodies from the same manufacturer fit most chassis, even newer ones, from the same manufacturer.

Eg. Tyco Pro, Curvehuggers/HP2, HP7, Magnum 440 and 440x2 have the same body mounts, most bodies fit all chassis, but there are some with clearance issues and some have different wheelbase lenghts. Tyco also has 2 body mounts, "wide pan" and narrow chassis. Bodies are not interchangeable between narrow and wide chassis.

T-Jet bodies use screws, bodies interchange with other chassis that use screws and are based on T-Jets, like Dash classic/mondo, AW Thunderjet 500, JAG Hobbies DK-4 and TR-3 and some others.

Aurora, AFX, Tomy and Racemasters use tabs to mount bodies, those bodies are mostly interchangeable between chassis types (AFX, MT, G+, SG+ [with clip], Turbo, SRT) and with other manufacturers like Viper [with clip], AW X-Traction, Bulldog, Super 7 [with clip], etc. Again, some bodies might have clearance issues with some chassis. There are also narrow chassis that use narrow bodies and those are not compatible with tab mounted bodies unless you use a clip.

Racemasters' MG and MG+ have 1.5" and 1.7" wheelbase chassis, I think the 1.5" bodies fit older chassis, but 1.7" bodies do not.


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## ClearHooter

Wow Glock..... How long you been doing this ?

I had no idea there were so many chassis types. And seems that even the older types are still viable.

Kinda Mind boggling....Really appreciate the help.


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## glock24

Hahah not much really. I had a Tyco set when I was a kid in the 90s. Rediscovered the hobby around 2016 and learned a lot from the knowledgeable people around here and on other forums. Just less than a year ago I got my first T-Jet like car (AW, then Dash).

Be warned, this hobby is addictive. You'll buy one car, then another, then just one more car and so on... then you realize you have 50+ cars 

There's something very rewarding in taking a 40-50 year old slot car, clean it, fix it and make it run. Best of all, with all upgrades available today you can make it run better than when new. At least I enjoy fixing and tweaking as much or more than racing the cars.


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