Hi Guys,
I have a bunch of NOS Aurora Super Magnation style chassis, as well as a few runners. Most NOS are Speed Shifters, but there are some Cat's Eye and Blazin' Brakes. All of these chassis are basically the same.

My problem is with trying to actually use these on regular plastic track. Specifically, I have three Speed Shifters, but do not use them that way. One of the two crown gears doesn't engage, so they act like a standard one crown gear car.

But the problem is with the overpowering downforce these cars have. Of all the standard chassis I have, these have the strongest attraction to the rails. It makes them very difficult to use. It seems that you need a lot of power just to break free from a standstill, and then you're going so fast there's no way to control the car. There doesn't seem to be a middle ground - either it's a dead stop or going fast.

I use the old Aurora 20v power packs, one per lane. I can also turn down the voltage using a router speed control.

The other problem with these chassis is the strength of the pickup shoe springs. These springs are also the strongest I've found on any chassis. In fact, if the traction magnets move off the rails, the springs decompress and the car deslots. This happens quite frequently on the inside lane of a 6" curve; if the car tails even a little, the springs pop the guide out of the slot.

In fact, try this. Take a Super Mag and put it on the track. Then just start to move the back end of the car sideways. You'll see once you get just a little offline, the springs start to decompress and it's not too much farther before they pop the guide above the slot.

And pickup shoe wear? You can wear a groove in these things in no time at all. Combine big downforce with strong springs and you're going to get excessive wear.

I know these aren't the most popular chassis, but I'm sure some of you guys have fooled with them. So any tips you can provide will be welcome.

Thanks...Joe

Several things you might try: I used to trash the whatever they came with rear axle and gears and use a standard AFX/Tomy set with a spacer to keep the mesh tight. I also used to run larger tires to help control the down force, taller tire = less down force. For the pick up shoes, they are made from some pretty crappy soft metal and wear quick, with that small contact patch, so I always did one of the following, soldered a piece of a say Tyco 440 Magnum shoe to the super mag shoe or simply soldered some braid to the shoe. Always solder to the front of the shoe, not the contact area. Lastly, get a real power supply, old stock power supplies or wall warts just don't cut it. I run my super mags on my track that is powered with Alan Galinko's power supply. I have no such problem with starts from a dead stop. There is plenty of clean power and the voltage is variable from 14 to 21 and it pumps out 10 amps. Hope this helps and have a good day!

Thanks for those suggestions.

Several things you might try: I used to trash the whatever they came with rear axle and gears and use a standard AFX/Tomy set with a spacer to keep the mesh tight.

I could swap out the rear end, but using the speed shifter rear on only one working crown gear doesn't seem to be a problem. Might be a problem if the gear being used is the smaller of the two. I have to check, but I think the crown gear which engages is the larger (normal size) gear.

I also used to run larger tires to help control the down force, taller tire = less down force.

The taller tires was one of the ways I could think of to reduce the downforce. I used a pair of tires that are about as big as will fit under an unmodified body (JL Monte Carlo) and the downforce was still pretty intense.

For the pick up shoes, they are made from some pretty crappy soft metal and wear quick, with that small contact patch, so I always did one of the following, soldered a piece of a say Tyco 440 Magnum shoe to the super mag shoe or simply soldered some braid to the shoe. Always solder to the front of the shoe, not the contact area.

The front of the shoe is the contact area; that little step that's built in. If you don't put braid over that spot, what other "front" is there?

Lastly, get a real power supply, old stock power supplies or wall warts just don't cut it. I run my super mags on my track that is powered with Alan Galinko's power supply. I have no such problem with starts from a dead stop. There is plenty of clean power and the voltage is variable from 14 to 21 and it pumps out 10 amps. Hope this helps and have a good day!

I do have a new power supply which I have yet to wire into the track. I think it's 18v and 8 amp. I want to rewire with heavier guage wire before I hook it in.

Thanks...Joe

Joe, I have a few of these, and havent experienced these problems. The 'too-strong' pickup springs can be helped by using something of similar size like a lifelike M chassis part. I have swapped the rear axles out using tomy super G+ rear ends and pinion gears, works like a charm. I have a tyco track, so Im wondering if whatever youre using has too tall of a rail height? Or if youre using the stock sponge tires, or too soft of a silicone that might cause trouble.

Joe, I have a few of these, and havent experienced these problems. The 'too-strong' pickup springs can be helped by using something of similar size like a lifelike M chassis part. I have swapped the rear axles out using tomy super G+ rear ends and pinion gears, works like a charm. I have a tyco track, so Im wondering if whatever youre using has too tall of a rail height? Or if youre using the stock sponge tires, or too soft of a silicone that might cause trouble.

I originally had Aurora L&J track; these cars were completely unusable there. I then changed over to Tyco track and they ran better. There is a lot less downforce on Tyco track - I can feel this on Lifelike cars as well (although I don't like these on plastic track either - too much downforce).

I removed those (original) sponge rubber tires and replaced them with a harder, larger tire. That helped a lot. Still more downforce than I like, but that's how they are designed.

If and when I can get a routed track built with minimal downforce, maybe these will act they way I'd like. As for the springs, I guess there is no easy solution without modification - either replace the springs or cut them down.

Thanks...Joe

Joe, I thought of something else: Wonder if modding those little steel 'sleeves' that retain the motor magnets might help. They curl under the magnets facing the rails, which acts as flux collectors (which is how the traction mags on Tyco curvehuggers work) so maybe if you trim back the bottom part so they dont help increase the downforce? You cant delete them altogether since they locate and retain the magnets but maybe this will help.

Are you talking about THOSE black wing type things that are under the motor on c huggers,how important are they?can they be glued in place?

Well, theyre the only thing a CH has for magnetic downforce. You could glue them in place but if I have to do that, I glue them to the motor, not the chassis.