My car won't go straight anymore...

chelboed · #1 05-21-2003, 08:45 AM

I changed the title of the thread because I discovered that the diff was my problem of not being able to go straight. I toasted it.
I'll explain further down in the thread.

I got my car out on glassy smooth concrete last night and it won't go straight at full throttle. My car is back down to a 4cell with soft springs, and soft tires. I am not hammering the throttle from a dead stop. I ease into the throttle over about 100 feet and when I get to a certain speed, my car spins out. I have noticed that the rear T-bar is a tiny bit loose compared to how it used to be. I have a diff. and front knuck's on order, I hope that will help the tracking a bit.

Any ideas?

How's your guy's rear pivot point? I notice that I can push mine up a bit before it butts up against the battery box. Do you think this may be the problem?

kwikbb · #2 05-21-2003, 09:00 AM

Hmm weird, i'm kinda in the dark here myself

And if you hammer it at launch what happens, does it spin out or go straight?
I wonder if the throttle and steering signals are crossing after a certain distance?? I guess it's a shot in the dark... *shrug*
As far as the rear goes, mine has always had a good deal of travel at the pivot point so i think you're fine there.

Wow i'm perplexed... let us know how you make out chelboed.

chelboed · #3 05-21-2003, 10:22 AM

On a smooth surface, it has always wanted to pull to the side if I hammer it from a dead stop. The whole diff./drive side issue. That's pretty normal.

I don't really notice my problem too much on carpet, so I have a sneaky feeling that the problem lies in the diff. I think it may be toasted since I used to run 5 cells. Maybe the non-drive side is not getting any power. My front knuck's are a little wobbly too, because I have taken a few hard hits. As soon as I get those in and replaced, I will report back.

I also wonder if it's my soft tires. They are pretty inconsistant as far as the hole being actually centered. Apex did send me some new ones for free to replace the wacky ones. I haven't tried them yet, though.

chelboed · #4 05-22-2003, 03:16 PM

Well, my new diff won't be here until tomorrow but I have a sneekie suspicion that there in lies the problem. My diff is very noisy now. It seems to slip much more at take-off than it used to. I think I wore those little gears out when I had it 5 cell'd. I also used Tri-flow lubricant on it and that may have caused premature wear. I need to get some more dry lube. I also notced that my front knuckles have a little bit of camber in them now. Too many 14mph power-slides I'm assuming. My new knuck's will be here tomorrow as well. I will put the diff in first to see if that's the problem, that way you guy's can fix yours if it happens to you.

chelboed · #5 05-23-2003, 12:57 PM

Just as I suspected. The diff was so worn out, that the 3 connecting gears within were not always coming in contact with the drive gears that are on the ends of each axle. I decided to do a quick fix and squirt some epoxy in the diff to lock it up. Now I have a posi track rear end. My new diff will be here in a few hours. With the straight axle set-up that I have now, it gets wonderful traction and runs very quiet. I like it, but it does comprimise the turning a bit.

At least I found the problem. Now my car goes straight again.

kwikbb · #6 05-23-2003, 01:01 PM

cool! glad to here you worked it out, good to know if anyone else runs into the same problem.

chelboed · #7 05-23-2003, 01:52 PM

Yet another reason not to go over 4 cells.