Fray Car Tuning

By Tim Leppert

Wizzard Shoes

Ok, here we go sports fans.

We will need :
Duck billed pliers
Tweezers.
Small, flat blade screw driver.
A pair of wire cutters.
A pair of the Wizzard shoes.

For another perspective on this same subject, try going to the Wizzard website for his tips and tricks with these shoes. He’s the master!
http://www.wizzardho.com/Main.htm

The first thing you will notice about these is that they are VERY different looking. And much heavier than the other aftermarket offerings. If you watching the weight on your finished car, (as you should be) you will be able to adjust the overall weight when running these shoes. This places more weight BELOW the C.G. Thus lowering it considerably.
They also may require a different set up on the hangers. Although, I usually try to run them without changing the hangers, just in case I need to go back to something else.

Before mounting:
We will be limiting the travel on these the same way we’ve done on all the other brands. By bending over the front. The only difference being, don’t go as far. Because they are made from a different alloy, and they are MUCH thicker, these shoe will break if you try to hem the top. That’s is fold them all the way over and crease them. So we need to simply place a 90 deg bend toward the top of the window with the tag facing towards the front of the car. By now you should be able to do this easily.
Using the same stock spring, mount one of the shoes and be sure it travels freely. If not, you may need to rotate the hanger plate so that it does. The hook at the back of these shoes is MUCH different than the other brands. It envelopes the hanger, and provides a very bullet proof set up.
Try running the spring tension these give you in stock form. In many cases I have left them as is. But because they are heavier, you may need to increase the tension. Do this the same way as you would with any other shoe. Just don’t go too far, you don’t need it.
When you get tension close, it’s time to set the travel in front and get them flat front to back. Now comes the tricky part, what I call, “Setting the camber.” This simply means twisting the shoe so it sets flat as you look at it from the front. This is hard to see with a sander, so it needs to be done by eye. If you don’t do this with these shoes, they will not run right.
Please refrain from doing this on the chassis. Look at the shoe from the front, and note the “camber”. Remove the shoe and adjust the twist, then replace.
If you try to do this on the car, it could bend the hanger and negate all of your other adjustments. With the other shoes, you can do this on the car, but because these are so much heavier, they could damage the chassis.
I have begun to use these shoes extensively on sectional tracks. They are so much smoother and they NEVER catch an edge, even on Tomy track.


I have really enjoyed sharing this whole thing with you all. I hope that it will help you enjoy this great hobby. Please remember to help the new folks that come to race with you in the future. Show them how to do this stuff for themselves. It will bring them back.

Thanks for reading,
Tim Leppert