I have 3 , 4 gear chassie dragsters that I found (as stated in my "lost but found " post ) . One chassie has a screw in the back near th axel and also has springs under the brushes the others dont have the screw and do nt have the spring undre the brushes . Also the metal on the under side is different . Are these early and late models ? Is one better then the other for drag racin .
thanks
Dave

Sounds like you have a mix of MagnaTraction and Non-MagnaTraction cars.

Hey Gene
Oppss I fogot to post the pic . lol . Yea one has the magnets exposed and the others dont . I guesse that means they both made the special chassie ? When I was st your place I remembered you said about maybe a futer expansion to include drag stip . I looked around on the net and it sounds like fun , Maybe something I might really like to get into .

forgot the pic again

oppsss wrong pic

Usually, the non-mag Afx cars have a straight-line speed advantage - because of the hotter arm these cars have (mean green arms) though the dragsters usually came with blue-pole arms. Non-mags also use some silver components where MT uses some copper. But the MT chassis handle much better in the turns because of the extra weight from its bigger magnets, and a hint of magnetic downforce.

If you put a mean green in an MT chassis, look out.........

The screw helps prevent stripped gears.The three gear chassis perform better.
The 4 gear chassis was made so they could run huge tires on the back.

What are rules where you race. I used to race with ECHO (East Coast Hobby Organization created by Jim Scrig of Lansdale PA) and they require that the cars be stock. The nonmagnatraction does have a better motor but the magnets stink. So if you leave them stock it is balances out. My four gear slots are extremely competitive (I've done a sub 1 sec scale quarter with one) and I find more success with the magntraction chasis. When you are going that quick the rear tends to strip in the other chasis you described and if you'r racing at an event you're day could easily be over. Also, the rears tend to be hard to come by. I've only seen two cars do a sub one second quarter and they were both the four gear magnatraction set up.

The rivets are something to watch on these. They could've relaxed a bit and may need a little hammer and punch action to get the gears back in good mesh.

If your rules allow it stick a mean green into the magnatraction chasis, you'll love the results.

The magna traction chassis is the better of the bunch, the rear screw is an important upgrade. If you take the rear wheels off, don't pry them off. The plastic is very thin in the rear and is prone to breakage if you pry against it. Buy a puller if you can find one that will work on those monster wheels. Set up your flat pickups with a slight bend about 3/4 of the way down, you can increase the spring tension on the rail dragsters the added weight and canterliever action of the front end will help press the shoes down hard to the rails.

The 4-gears already have low gearing (hence the usual lack of top speed). I have taken off the stock 4-gear crown gear and put one in from a magnatraction (the biggest I could fit). Then put in a blue drag arm. Ultra low gearing with the most low end torque...lights up any silicones I put on it and it still has a bit of top end (will keep up with a stock JL or magnatraction). Lots of torque and will slide out the rear end at will.

jeremy, what kind of times do you run with that set up?

If your rules allow it cut the chassis enough to run a 19 tooth super II rear. The gearing meshes much better than a regular afx. Be careful because you don't want to cut the chassis completely mainly on the bottom and a little in the back, you want the chassis to remain one piece. Agian run amean green it'd just a better arm.

I don't run competition. Mostly like to work the mechanicals and get the most out of them...finding the best combinations. With the gearing of the 4-gear chassis so low, I would love to try my quadralam in it but can't bring myself to do that with a (nearly) $100 arm (I already have that one set up just right in a magnatraction). I'm sure it would scream. The 4-gears run great with the (dark) mean greens.

I don't run competition. Mostly like to work the mechanicals and get the most out of them...finding the best combinations. With the gearing of the 4-gear chassis so low, I would love to try my quadralam in it but can't bring myself to do that with a (nearly) $100 arm (I already have that one set up just right in a magnatraction). I'm sure it would scream. The 4-gears run great with the (dark) mean greens.

I wonder if you could make a bracket and use an xcellerator q lam armature. it may line up with the gears but it would need a clip to hold it in place. I will need to look at this closer...

Don't use it, it won't help much if any. a Super II arm I've been told is advanced while it works wonders on the three gear cars, it's just the opposite on a four gear. The timing on a four gear should be retarded. As I stated before run a your arm or if you have it run a mean green. As I stated earlier by simply cleaning and tweaking I've been able to make a couple run under 1 second in the scale quarter mile.

If you are serious about using a high performance arm check with Alan Galinko and ag&ghobbies. He'll let you know the that'll work the best depending on your power supply and magnets. It'll most likely cost you between $25 -$35.