Fray Car Tuning
By Tim Leppert
Now that we have gotten comfortable with
the stockers and the AMLs It’s time to try a different animal, the BSRT and
Slottech shoes.
These are different from stockers in a few important ways. The first is weight.
They are 30% lighter than most stockers, and they have a very different hook
area. These two main things make them a great alternative for the fray racer.
As far as the hook area goes, I usually try to make it look like the stockers.
Bending the hook and getting the tension close. The front is pretty close to a
stock also, in the way you adjust for travel.
Many folks have used these with great success by leaving the hook alone and
using it stock. You may want to experiment with both ways before you decide.
The main difference in the setup is the flatness adjustment. Get these very
close BEFORE sanding. You can bend these while sanding them, causing a false
reading. You will also find that these tend to want more tension. Be careful
when adding tension, this will tend to lift the front end, causing de-slots.
Also, Pay very close attention to the twist of these shoes, they are ALL
twisted,. I find that I need to adjust this on every pair I use.
You will probably find that these shoes will improve your overall H.P. at the
expense of handling. If you get them adjusted PERFECTLY, they are VERY fast. But
it is very time consuming to do. And they tend to bend easily in a wall shot.
Overall, I use these shoes on many of my routed track cars, They do work great
on sectional tracks, but the tendency to hook on track sections is too great and
I have begun to avoid them for this.
Next installment: Wizzard shoes, and on track adjustments
Previous installment: Shoes part 1