Hey Guys/Girls
I just purchased a lifelike nascar track for my 8yr old son.I haven't used,touched or seen a slot car track since I was his age.(i'm 33 now)I had a TCR slotless track with 2 vans and a dodge jammer truck, switching lanes was cool. Anywho my son wanted one of the Fast and The Furious Johnny Lightning cars I think they have the x-traction chassis. The car doesn't stay on the track very well at part throttle. It jumps the track to the next lane
The front pin is plastic and is smaller diameter than the lifelike,and is in a different place as well.Are there any mods I can perform to make this thing work? He is really "caught" up on the whole Fast and The Furious thing.
Thanks

You can get a pair of polymer hop-up magnets to give better downforce. These cars don't have strong magnets like your LL nastruck. These cars are an excellent teacher when it comes to respecting the curves. You have to slow down when approaching the turns.

If he's not that good at 'driving', you can substitute a Tomy chassis which has magnets like the LL cars.

Here's a thought: How slow can you make the cars go when you just barely pull the trigger? I know many people have had problems running JL Thunderjet cars with Lifelike controllers, because they're kinda like on-off switches for certain types of cars. The resistors in the Lifelike controllers are something like 45 ohms, and the Thunderjets work best with controllers around 80-120 ohms. What that means is when you just barely touch the trigger, the Thunderjets are almost at full throttle. Now, I don't have any experience running X-Traction cars (as opposed to Thunderjets) with Lifelike controllers. I know they can work better with a lower ohm controller than the Thunderjets, but I don't know if the LL controllers are TOO low. Anybody else here have luck using the LL controllers with X-Tracs?

Question for Super74: Does your set have controllers that plug into the power track, or are they permanently wired to it? If they plug in, it's easy to substitute a set of Tyco/Mattel controllers which are more like 75 ohms and will give you a bigger range of control. The car will start out slower when you just barely pull the trigger, but top speed will be just as fast as with the other controllers. If the controllers are permanently wired, you can still use the Tyco/Mattel controllers, but you have to cut and splice the wires.

I have a whole box of Tyco/Mattel controllers from sets I've picked up at yard sales and such, and I can send you a pair for free if you think they'll help.

--rick

Thanks for all the input. I won a lifelike set off e-bay to get extra track pieces. Its alot cheaper than buying separate pieces of track. This track is an older set and I think the controlers plug in rather than being hard wired to the track like the new set I bought him.The Johnny lightning car is not as fast as the lifelike cars,so speed is not an issue when it jumps the slot.
I just tried it right now and I can make it crawl if I barley pull the trigger.
When i give it more trigger it does fine,The thing that concerns me is sometimes it will just stop and not do anything. If i push it it will take off again. The transitions between 2 adjoining track pieces on liflike are like this.
this dotted line being the slot and the diamond at the end of each piece
-------<>--------- when the car get to this point it spins out. I'm thinking of putting a larger pin behind the front axle like the lifelike and see if that helps the tracking of the car.(get rid of the front plastic pin) On getting a tomy chassis how well will it work on the lifelike track,this johnny lighting doesn't seem to like it much.

If Junior MUST run Fast & Furious cars on your LifeLike track, buy a few Tomy Super G+ chassis from http://www.budshocars.com/Sec03June06.htm (they're priced at 3 for $40) and run the F&F bodies on those. If your son is REALLY into the F&F cars, it would be a wise investment to buy a Tomy Super International set. In my opinion, the problem you're experiencing is actually due to the LifeLike track and controllers. It's inexpensive for a reason. The X-Tractions work great on Tomy track with standard Tomy controllers. X-Tractions are not as fast as the magnet cars but the racing isn't as mindless and the drivers don't get tired of it as easily. Lancelot Link could win a LifeLike race.

super74 check the marks on the shoes of the X-Tractions. I'm guessing but if you've never touched them probably only the tips are showing contact marks. On most of the XT's (right out of the box) the middles of the very flimsy shoes are actually bowed away from the rail. If you flatten them out to where you get a good half of the shoes' length making contact, you should be in good shape, even on LL track. It definitely sounds like a contact problem and probably what's happening at the rail joints is that the tips of the shoes are getting hung up.

I also found out on tyco track that if you use the pointed side of the guide pin it works better than the flat side. Dont know about on lifelike. Might also check the depth of the guide pin.

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I agree with AfxToo the Tomy SRT is your best bet.

Lancelot Link could win a LifeLike race.

:jest: :lol:

I want you to know I had to Google that in order to get the reference...

--rick

Thanks again for the great input. I modded the johnny lightning car last night.
I installed a new pin behind the front axle,and tweaked the shoes. Now you can run it all the way around the track without it stalling.My son enjoys it.
I decided on a lifelike track because most of the hobby stores in my area carry parts for this brand.My son had his cousin stay over last night,and now his cousin wants to get a slot car track.So all in all it turned out great.I think I will still purchase a tomy srt rolling chassis,and let him give it a go.He is pretty good at not running off the track but when the action heats up between two young boys its FULL THROLLE all the way!Thanks everyone :thumbsup: