I would like to know if you guys think that Skellenger rear ends could make it back into race cars? I ask because I am ramping up to finally produce these again and when it comes to machining I will be going a different route if no one thinks these belong in race cars anymore.

Thanks.

yes I do, I thing they would work good in dirt cars, I run a dirt track in Muskogee OK. The racers have problems with the belts on the left side The track is a least bit heavy the belts fill up with dirt real bad. I would like to build a latemodel with one in it I've heard they are slower than the belt but i thing you get a handling advantage witch will make the car faster You can do a lot more with suspension setup The price is what really matters to me

Thanks for the input. The situation is as follows... when skellenger produced the rear ends for racing they removed quite a bit of material from the inside to lighten them. The down side is that this made them more likely to crack under high stress when used in monster trucks, pulling trucks and dragsters. The rears were NEVER supplied "race ready" you had to really go through them to get the bearings, mesh and wear just right. A well prepared rear is extremely smooth with very low friction. Some believe the rears slowed down the cars.

So, I am almost at the point where I am ready to start production on these. I have been able to source the gears and a quality foundry. My first thought was that these would be sold primarily for the "scale" or "restoration" market, but race cars are where these things belong.

As far as cost goes, the best I can hope for is a $500-$600 price point and at that, its a big investment for a toy car...

The price sounds good to me I hope it something you can do I will be looking to buy one at a later date might even sell couple them for you

Don't mean to be a killer but don't think they will make it back on the track the belt system is here to stay 70 bucks verses 6 to 700 I love those old cars and those rearends but don't see it happening

Don't mean to be a killer but don't think they will make it back on the track the belt system is here to stay 70 bucks verses 6 to 700 I love those old cars and those rearends but don't see it happening

Thats exactly what I was thinking. I believe the cars have been stripped down so much that going back to a scale car would put the selling price way out of line with the current market.

I have found that there is a very high demand for these, but in the "scale" or "collecting" high end market. I think a huge majority of sales would go to these people. I just wanted to get your guys feedback on the racing market. It would take 30+ rears a year to make it worth catering to the racing sector and if thats not a possibility, its not gonna happen. They are going to have to stay heavy.:)

Thanks for the input guys!

Hay Mike I would eventually like to get one for a restoration project.

For the race market I think it would be pretty much limited to sprint cars right now. As I'm sure you know the rear camber adjustment of the newer belt style GN cars offers a huge handling advantage over the solid axle cars of the past.

However if dirt oval continues to pick up I could see the rear ends potentially having a new market.

Mike Reniger would love to have one. He broke 3 belts in the 500. We would have been 6 to 8 laps futher a head if not for the belts breaking. LOL

I would like to see it come back and I need to get one from you and try it in my sprint car. Give me a call # is on the website. Thanks

There are advantages in using one with a torque arm, The dinamics change and you can use the power to increase your rear wheel traction, by using the torque arm as leverage applied to the rear end, but it only works with a straight axel. It also frees up the rear axel, as you are not pulling on the rear axel with the gear.
Tom

Mike,

Make them beefy so they can be used in multiple types of applications. If someone wants one to race with, they can lighten it as needed. You don't want to have any negative product feedback due to product failures.

How long will it take you to get these in stock?

Scott

thanks for all the great feedback and phonecalls :)

I have the ring and pinions in stock. The foundry takes about 6 weeks and the machining about 2 weeks. I need to wait to finalize some business before I make the move. The best I can say is by the end of the year but hopefully much sooner. I want to make one more investment towards gears to make sure that I will have plenty of stock for the future. Currently we have about 100 sets but if we want to sell them as replacements as well, we will need much more. You never know how long your source is going to be available either?

Don you have the quick change gears and what ratio be available from the lowest to the highest

I only currently have the ring and pinions in stock. The QC gears are very easy to have made for a reasonable price. The market will decide how many ratios will be available. If the rears are only going to be used on display cars, the ratios available will likely only be 2 or 3. If there is interest from a manufacturer to use the rears in a race car, we will offer more.