Track making forum!

[SnAtZeRpAzOoKa]

This is it guys! all about making race tracks! (any kind!)

I am builing one and will have pics later...

[jdm3849]

all jumps and bumps hehe

[Nutter]

And cars, can't forget the cars.. :p


-Nutter

[Obi112]

Are we talking small backyard tracks or bigger, public tracks that are actually going to be holding races?

[Poolboy51]

I'm making a track too.:cool:

[jayskiia]

hey guys,
i think this forum could be great. we just lost our local track and now i am trying to find a spot to build a new one. i am thinking very technical, all turns with 1 long straight. lots of rollers, maybe a tabletop or triple.

[jdm3849]

this one hehe, www.twincityhobby.com well not really but it is lots o' fun!

[jayskiia]

ok people, i have a question for this forum:
in our area there were two hobby shops. one had a track and great customer service. the other were rude to rc ers and like the train crowd more. recently the rude place put the other one out of business, thus shutting the track down. needless to say the rude place wont even let us talk about building a track in their presence. there are lots of people in the area who still want an off road track. we have written the park dept in our town to ask about some land. nobody in the group has enough of a backyard to build a track. does anyone have any ideas about where else we could go to get some land for a track? any suggestions would be great, thanks

[Nutter]

I'm guessing the parks dept wasn't much help? You could try the local council/councils, there's always lots of council land around. :)


-Nutter

[tarheelquality]

I am looking into building a dirt track here in Durham and need to know how long and wide an area I will probaly need for a good offroad track that will handle electric and nitro. I want to build an old style track with good jumps and bumps and loose dirt instead of hard packed. Also thinkining about integrating a rally track on part of it or building a separate one. Please give me any suggestions you have.

[jayskiia]

you will probably need a space about 50x100 for the track and tons more for pits and parking and drivers stand

[jacknjul]

AT LEAST 100x50 for a dirt track; you need to be at least 8' wide for lane widths. I just finished an indoor carpet track that is 72x32, and I thought it would be plenty big for mod TC's but I am finding that it is not. You wind up with the big toss up. Less technical is a faster track, but is boring and pisses off the experienced drivers. More technical provides challenge, but limits top speeds. I would suggest both- have a very technical 3/4 with one long straight coming back.

[jayskiia]

looking at it through our old lhs's eyes he thought long straightaways followed by insane corners and BIG triple and quad jumps was the only way to build a track, turns out he found these to be the best ways to sell parts, when they were broken on the tough track. now that he is out of business we are trying to find a new track and make it what the RACERS want. we have had several meetings to discuss this, now we just need a place to have it

[tarheelquality]

Thanks for the info guys. My hopes just took a big step forward today and I am going to need more help!!

I need specifics on what you look for in an offroad track; what kind and how many obstacles, what type of surface, and what other facilities you would like. Probably would not be able to do it all at first but would like to know what to plan on so I don't have to tear something up later to put in a badly needed feature.

Pictures of good examples would help too.

Thanks,
Tom

[jayskiia]

lots of pit tables, nice mix of turns and straightaways, you dont have to go crazy on big jumps, just on big jump and lots of little doubles and triples. also have plenty of electrical outlets, and a nice friver's stand

[tarheelquality]

To start with electrical may not be available people will have to charge off their cars and pit at their cars but both are definitely on the list. This track is going in a local community center so we do not want to abuse their generosity too much. Electricity is a possibility but we will have to be able to give the community center some money towards it.

Thanks

[Obi112]

The track needs to have automatic lap counting, a nice pit area, and AC power available. You need a good frequency flag system, that is enforced. A tall drivers stand, and helpful, punctual race organizers are a must. Also, food and a hobby shop are very important, though it may be tough to start out with one (at the very least, buy some commonly broken parts, like a-arms).

Here is a picture of my old track (now closed, didn't draw enough people). It followed all of the above, except the race organizers were slow and never started on time. Also, there really wasn't a pit area, you kind of set up anywhere (there was electricity, though).

Hmm... the picture is uploading... it is giving me a timeout error. I'll try later.

[tarheelquality]

I thought about the hobby shop part and the only way to deal with that I can think of is to let one of the local shops set up a booth but I do not know how that would go over with the non-profit that runs the place we are building the track. Automatic lap counting is on the list but may not come till next year, those systems are very expensive and we are starting with 0! budget and are going to have to use sponsorhip by local buisnesses or out of pocket money to pay for everything. Right now we have to stick to essentials. The drivers stand comes under essentials and food does too. In fact I was thinking of using concessions to raise money for improvements.
Thanks

[Nutter]

Well I have to say a lot of the things people have listed as "must have's" aren't.. :p

You don't need an automatic lap counting system.. you can easily get by for now without it and just use one of those systems that you manually press buttons on as each car goes past. I've heard there's free computer programs around to do this, does anyone have some links to them?

For pit area, just having an area where people can set up their own pit tables is fine I think, and same with having no A/C power.

Enforcing frequency flags is a definate must however, there's nothing more anoying or frustrating than to be racing and then have someone in the pits turn their radio on who's using your frequency!

A hobby shop would be nice, so I would ask the community center if a LHS can set up a booth, or maybe even just one of the racers might own a LHS and bring some parts along with them.

A nice drivers stand is a definate must however, I hate ones that feel like they could fall down any minute or the steps up are so steep you might fall down them.. the nicest drivers stand I've seen was posted by someone on this forum, it was large with lots of space for the drivers, and there was a ramp up rather than steps and it went for the entire length of the drivers stand, so it wasn't very steep at all.

What would be nice is to have grass around the track, right up to the edge and in all the islands.. this way it won't be mud bog city when it rains.

As for track features, I find nothing more interesting and fun than elevation changes! Dig down in part of the track, then use the dirt you dug away to build up another part. Banked corners are great to allow high speed cornering. Subtle (I mean hardly noticable) changes in elevation along a back straight (any straight really, just not the main one) can also make it more interesting.
Have some long sweeping corners and some hairpins, in both directions. Sweeping corners are great to have elevation changes on too.

You can really just use the dirt that's there for the track, you don't have to use a 'special' clay. Just whatever you do, don't make it a hard packed blue-groove track.. that's not what off-road's meant to be! Remember when you're building the track that it *is* off-road and should have bumps. A soft, loamy surface isn't unacceptable either, and would definately make it a lot more fun to watch (and hence it'd attract a lot more people - so think about doing this!).

For jumps and bumps, table tops are cool, so are doubles and tripples, and of course lots of singles. Just don't make them too big, cos you don't want to be constantly breaking parts. Less than 1 foot high is plenty for a majority of the jumps, with most being closer to half a foot or so. A section with 5-8 small 'jumps' is also good as they have to be taken very differently to most jumps (I think they're called "whoop-d-dos" or something?).

Basically just be creative with the layout! What I like to do is look at roads, driveways, paths, etc while I'm walking around and take ideas from those that I find interesting.

How much room do you have for your track by the way?


-Nutter

[SnAtZeRpAzOoKa]

I am almost finished with my track! I goes like this...

From the Start, You go about 5-8 feet, then turn left, When you turn left you kinda go up on a strait (about 20-30 feet), and then a hair pin turn left, go down a lil bit for about 10-15 feet, and then turn right, go about 20 feet and then there is a jump, when you are over the jump, you go up the hill (about 30-40 feet) turn left and go strait for about 10-15 feet, turn left and go DOWN DOWN DOWN the hill, and then you turn a lil bit to the right and you are at the start/finish again. and BTW... When you are coming "DOWN DOWN DOWN" the hill, there is kinda a dip so you have to slow down. and also, when you come "DOWN..." the hill, when you hit the bottom of the hill, you turn sharp to the right and go down into the "pit". and I am going to put a table down in the pit too. And also (again) after you go over the jump and go up the hill and you turn left and go strait for a lil bit, you can stand up there and see the whole track so I don't need a stand.

I will have pictures tomarrow.

How do you guys like it? It is really neat. I have a RC10GT and my friend has a Nitro hawk, and they do really good on them. I think a monster truck would do good too.

SnAtZeRpAzOoKa

[tarheelquality]

I've talked to the local hobby shop and they have no interest in sending someone out or supporting the track except for maybe some prize gift certificates. Nutter, thanks for your ideas on making the track the elevation changes are a great idea. You are right about the things that are not really a must, If I had an unlimited budget of course I would have all those things to begin with but right now we are talking about a club track where all the equipment will have to be gotten from donatios and race fees, and since we plan on keeping race cost low it may take awhile to buy lap counting systems and other high dollar items. As far as space I think we will have as much as 5 acres for the track, pits and other uses we need plus parking area. Iwas thinking 100x75 or so for the track to start with and we may even do a separate rally hill climb track. keep the ideas coming and send me pics of what you really like.

Thanks

[Pooder]

I just raced on a 50' by 80' track, It was a great track,it had 7turns, one quad two doubles,one table top,and one straight up the backside after a double at the 90degree turn. Another small strait to get you throught the quads. It was a sortof fast track. I think the top laps in the 4 min. heats was 16 . That was stock, mods,and nitro included . surprisingly that was average for all the classes in the top drivers. Unfortunatly, I think my top laps were only 12. (But that was a good size track!)

[Nutter]

wow, 5 acres is a lot.. you're lucky! You should be able to build an amazing track with that much space, good luck with it & definately post pictures of its construction & final layout. :)

Oh yea, a few things I forgot in my previous post.. don't make the lanes too narrow, especially on the straights; you've got a lot of space, so use it. Also, if there's trees or other solid things like that around, try to lay the track out so that it keeps a good distance away from them.. trees hurt.. hehe :p


-Nutter

[CK9887]

Im building my own track soon, and was wondering if theres any alternative for pvc pipe for the edges of the track. Pvc is a little expensive. I know the black pvc is cheaper but to make my track its going to cost about 100$ just for the pvc. I know thats not alot but this track is just in my backyard for me.
thanks

[SnAtZeRpAzOoKa]

I'm done building my backyard track and I did most of it from scrach. I am making a table in the pit so that is the oonly thing. For the side, I didn't use pipes. I just put logs down and covered them with a lil bit of dirt. And it does good too. instead of having pipe to smash into you like go over the dirt. (you habe to leave a lil bit of the log showing so you can see it and also so you won't go all the way over. just my 2 cents. I will have pictures Mon. (if it don't rain)

[SnAtZeRpAzOoKa]

I have some Q's. What is a table top? and I asked this before in another post, I'm making freq. flags and I got all the Brown, yellow, and so on. but ut said somthing like 27mhz or somthing like that, and then it had 57 mhz. (I forget but somthing like that.)

can you guys help?

Thanks

[jayskiia]

ok a table top jum looks like this:


_______
/ !
/ !
/ !
it has a ramp, with a flat elevated part, and then a downsloping ramp. the other frequencies you are referring to are 75mhz. they have channel numbers. like 75.410 is channel 61 and so forth up to channel 90. the best places to get the full ist of these frequencies would be easy rc6 or tower hobbies.

[Obi112]

Nutter, that was my local track with the nice drivers' stand!

I already posted the image, so I can't post it again, so here's a link:
http://www.radiocontrolzone.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=500593

[SnAtZeRpAzOoKa]

Thats a cool track!

[Obi112]

You bet it was! Unfortunately, it closed after last season, so I have to go find a new one!

:(

[Racin Rev]

Better yet, get together all the people who raced, form a non-profit org., and rent that track. Then you aren't dependant on the fortunes of a hobby shop. :D

[ttweedle]

Tarheelquality, Hey as for track layouts, StoneyPoint Raceway here in HopeMills just got a face lift. Its pretty awesome. Today was actually the first race on the new layout. It has a long straight with a banked hairpin at the end, 2 table tops(one in a corner), one big triple, a rythm section sort of like supercross woops section, and a ruff section looks like a bunch of little dirt mounds you have to go across. There is also big holes dug at the end of another straight into the curve that you can either go around (the long way) or go through (the rough way) This track is set up really well, for ALL classes, from stock and spec electric to the big 1/8 scale buggies. Its pretty technical, but not so that the beginner needs a tmarshall at every 10 feet of track. We race every other weekend. Ill take my digi cam out and take some pics and post em later.

Travis

[CK9887]

im building my own track soon and i need some suggestions for the sides. Black PVC would be the best but im trying to cut cost.
Someone mentioned logs and then cover it with dirt but i dont have nearly enough logs.
Any suggestions are appreciated.
thanks

[Racin Rev]

Large diameter tileing works well and is cheap (I assume you are talking about off-road). It is black plastic and is sold in very large rolls then you will need the biggest nails you can find (i think ours are 10 inchers) to drive through the tileing into the ground. Then, if you need more reinforcement in places just pile dirt along the outside and inside edeges (Heck, you can cover it completely, that is what it is used for.).

[CK9887]

racin rev,
is that the same as the black pvc(comes in 100ft sections for 25$)
If its not where can you get the tileing, and how much is it.

[Racin Rev]

that sounds like the stuff. its corrigated plastic (ok, maybe pvc) with little slotted holes along the way. It is often used to drain water off of fields when the envoronmental wackos don't interfere. It can be had in home stores, hardware stores, and farm supply stores, where, I am guessing that it is cheapest. As far as price goes it doesn't get any cheaper than this stuff.

[SnAtZeRpAzOoKa]

Well you don't HAVE to have logs. just use dirt! I just used logs cuz I had then and you can see them a lil bit better.

[Pooder]

If you don't have any money for material like plastic piping or your trusty old logs....You could always just mark out your turns with some type of orange cones ,well I think Tower Hobbies has them for about $4.00 for six of them!! towerhobbies.com
I have a brother that used logs for his track,they are pretty unforgiving if you dont have the dirt on them!!!:) Good Luck & have fun!!!!

[Slick048]

i don't know if anyone has thought about this, but i think someone should stick a small video camera on a car and give like a cars point of view of the track.

[PJ2806]

I am building a track on some land i have. the track is going to be 100' / 50'. the lanes are gonna be 8' wide. i just want to run 1/10 scale trucks on it. i plan to get this done in about 4 weeks.
i was thinking about haveing a sand pit in one of the turns and 2 jumps on the track. i am going to use sand clay as the dirt. and pvc and the inside boundries. i'll post a pic when i get done.
:D

[Pooder]

PJ,
The 8 ft . lanes are a good idea. It sounds like it will be a pretty good track!!!! Keep up the good work!
Pooder

[PJ2806]

thanks pooder

[Pooder]

You're Welcome PJ.
Take it easy!
Pooder

[CK9887]

Does anybody have suggestions for my tracks surface?
Its already dirt but it has a bunch of little pebbles and rocks in it, Which isnt good for my belt drive. I just dont know what to do:confused: :confused: If i had dirt brought in it would take to much.(actually too much money)


(maybe I just need to build the track and not worry about it, Its not like its the local track:rolleyes: )

[jayskiia]

to get rid of the pebbles and rocks try using a leaf rake. use it on the surface of the whole track, to pick up most of the rocks. then use a lawn roller to pack it down, not only will this create a pretty rock free surface, but it will give you a smooth, somewhat loose surface that is great for practicing on, and to tighten it up, just add water

[CK9887]

thanks for the advice:)

[Nutter]

Nooooo.. don't use a lawn roller! C'mon guys, this is supposed to be off-road.. let it be bumpy, everyone loves it when your car throws up dirt in big roosters.. it looks cool, and unfortunately these days it'll be "something different". But yea, definately use water on it to give extra traction & stop it from becoming a dust storm.

Sorry.. I'm just a big advocate of real off-road racing, not that blue-groove, rock-solid, perfectly-smooth junk! :p :D


-Nutter

[jayskiia]

thats not how i intended it at all. i dont mean to make it an asphalt like surface, but rather just to push the left over rocks down so they wouldnt tear up his belt. i love a loose trach with lots of loose dirt on top, makes power slides more interesting:D

[dasmoose]

Does anyone remember seeing stadium truck racing on espn (or american sports cavalcade) back in the early/mid 90's? They would run the trucks in a stadium out in CA somewhere. The best part I can remember was where they had the trucks run up part of the track they built going up the seats, getting some air at the top of the stadium, pulling a U'ey and then jumping back down the same area on track right next to where they came up. Now that would be interesting to see on a RC track. Good uphill run with a jump at the end, hard left or right turn, then running back down the same area that you had just came up. What do ya think?

[SnAtZeRpAzOoKa]

Nahh, you might hit the other drivers when you come down.

Here is a pic of my track...

This is an early picture. it dosn't have the pit table, the extra jump, or the "new" track. the "new" track is instead of going up the hill and turning left, you just jump over the jump and turing left.



Hmmmm... it won't work. I'll have to make the pic smaller.

[SnAtZeRpAzOoKa]

Finaly! Got some pictures!

here is a pic of the track, but I have added stuff so it is not the full track...

[SnAtZeRpAzOoKa]

Hmmm... My pictures don't look good. so... I guess I have to find a diff. way to post them. Anybody know of a FREE place to post your pictures? (somthing like photo point only free)

[Scott H.]

We are building a track at our flying field. It's about 150'x60'. It started out as just an oval with bermed turns. But a couple of us have been working on building an infield section. So far we've got an over/under jump, short table top with a landing bump ~ 12' away from the table for the 1/8 class buggies. And a short section with three of six (eventual) whoops that can be singled, doubled, or trippled (maybe quad/double with 4WD buggies). We are working on getting water now.

A few questions:

How do you get rid of the rocks?
I've all ready tried the rake trick. We even hooked up a drag behind the lawn-boy tractor and pulled that around the track.

Is it worth roto-tilling and then rolling?

I've noticed that the 1/8 scale buggies make a smooth track rough pretty quickly. Which is fine by me. I like terrain changes, but how do you handle the drainage? last time it rained we had major puddle action. :rolleyes:

I'll try to post a picture tomorrow of what we have. Any and all advice is welcome and appreciated!

Thanks in advance,

Scott H.

[Nutter]

Big rocks I get rid of by hand, smaller ones a lot of rake-work.
Roto-tilling can be good and quick to get a flat track as it can be re-compacted flat. I'd hire a roto-tiller to work on our track if I could figure out who to speak to about the club hiring one (There's $AU300 for a track makeover.. but for the life of me I don't know how to get it!). The new section I was working on today is over an area that's currently grassed, so a roto-tiller would be a god-send!
The reason many tracks are a clay/sand mixture is because of the drainage problem.. the sand lets the water drain away a lot easier.


-Nutter

[SnAtZeRpAzOoKa]

so does anyone know were I can post (free) pictures?

[Scott H.]

Nutter,

Yeah I can relate. I spent $200 just to get things going. I figure there are a lot of old farts flying planes at the field. This being our spring, I'm sure they'd rather let me borrow their roto-tiller then help the miss's plant a new garden ;) . So I'm going to hit them up.

The infield track is looking pretty good other than needing to "face" a few jumps, and finish off the rhythm section. I'll try to get a couple of shots.
I'll keep up on the raking. It's slow and tedious, but it does work.
Good idea on the sand! Now if I can just get to the beach :D
Thanks!

--------------------------------------
Snatchapalooza <spl?>

You might try MSN communities. You can put an entire web site up including pictures. Yahoo.com has a site as well, but you've got to sign up to see pictures posted. There are hundreds of other "less known" places to post pictures for free. Do a search on "Free web hosting" or "Free picture hosting". That should turn something up.

Have a good weekend!

Scott H.

[jayskiia]

hey scott, good luck getting the neighbor's rototiller. his misses might come after you and ruin your new track..haha. you have to get pics of it up for us real soon ok? hopefully some action shots on it too.

[tama7881]

Originally posted by Nutter
I'm guessing the parks dept wasn't much help? You could try the local council/councils, there's always lots of council land around. :)


-Nutter :) hey try leaseing some farm land u can usualy get it just for the taxes im building a track in pa it cost me 100 an acre a month

[NoPepsiForYou]

ttt

[Got Speed]

Originally posted by NoPepsiForYou
ttt

???????WHY¿¿¿¿¿¿¿:D

[NoPepsiForYou]

cause I can:D

[Got Speed]

lol

[Nutter]

Well while it's up here near the top again, does anyone have any more questions/comments/tips/suggestions about building tracks? :)


-Nutter

[Ryche]

i thought this was a pretty sweet drivers stand...

[Ryche]

Here's one of my cars... in action..

[Ryche]

yeehaw...

[Ryche]

This is a good pic of the turns in the track..

[Ryche]

You can see a bunch of pics of that track at these links....

http://www.teamhoustonrc.com/June%20Invitational.htm


http://mbrc-racing.com/cliff_pics/2002invmbrc/index.htm


Here is another track in texas i visit..


http://mbrc-racing.com/inv_rockport02.htm



Those should give you some good ideas... I love the stepup pit area, where the cars come into pit, they pull up to waiste high.. very easy for the pit guy to work on car..

Hope you enjoy

[JohnCub]

I know the question about getting rid of puddles is a bit out of date, but I just found this thread and happen to have seen an interesting way to get rid of puddles and to give the track a good 'surfacing'.

I was at my local bmx course a while back and I saw a guy on a 4 wheeler pulling a wooden pallet with a guy hanging on to it for dear life. He was going slow of course, but on some of the jumps the guy was... well, having a rough ride. Anyway, when they were done, the puddles were all gone and the track was sort of smoothed out. I think it dug up as many rocks as it pushed down, but it gave the track the kind of surface that _I_ think off road tracks should have -- random rocks on a generally smooth and dusty surface.

Anyway, even though the original poster might not still be active with us, I thought maybe some of our other track owners and maintainers might either get a kick out of this or decide it is worth trying.

[GTracer22]

Are those pics from Johnny Cool Guys track?

[aspiringrcracer710]

one of my favorite obstacles are what I like to call "slalom mounds". These are mounds of dirt that are big enough to discourage racers trying to drive over them. Instead, they drive around them.


Also, here is one of my favorite offroad layouts (assuming they run counterclockwise):

From S/F line, long run to slight uphill to a short run over a double into a sweepin right hand turn 1, over the transponder line (the official start/finish line) into a slightly off camber turn 2, short runup to a triple, then into the uphill turns 3-4-5 and 6. then get ready, because you will hit a X-over jump with a 4 foot dropoff! after landing the X-over there is a set of 4 rollers leading up to a sweeping right hand turn 7. There is a short run up to a triple then a hard left hand turn 8. Negotiate the slalom mounds, then a switchback turn 9. two tabletops with a 9 ft run up before the second lead into another switchback turn 10. After another run up (about 15 feet) over a double, then a single, then a straight, then a hard right hand turn 11 (this includes a runoff area if you can't brake for that turn) into a short straight to a offcamber turn 12. After two rollers and an offcamber turn 13, the racers will his a double switchback (turns 14 and 15) another single followed by a double into the final right hand turn 16 over a rhythm section and the lap is complete

Whaddaya think?

[NoPepsiForYou]

Originally posted by aspiringrcracer710
one of my favorite obstacles are what I like to call "slalom mounds". These are mounds of dirt that are big enough to discourage racers trying to drive over them. Instead, they drive around them.

My place I raced at had these once, but you coulden't go around them:rolleyes: tore my buggy to shreads once

[Ryche]

Yes, that's from Johnny Cool Guy... i think a guy named Jason owns it.. I'ts in Euless texas.......................were you there too

[GTracer22]

No, unfortunatly I didnt get to make it out there.:( How did you do in the invitational?

[Ryche]

it went awesome.. great turn out.. great food.. great people... had a blast.. i got 3rd in my main.. so i was pretty happy about that...... the 4th race is in Oklahomo city on august 17 and 18th.. i'll be at that one too..

[Ryche]

heheheh. i said oklaHOMO.. ehhehehehe..

[Conman]

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

[aspiringrcracer710]

Personally, I think that if there was a track set up kinda like some of the CORR tracks, only scaled down for RC, that might bring out more racers who like off road "old school"

[Conman]

I agree that would be a refreshing change of pace. Death to dustless hard blue-groove tracks.

[aspiringrcracer710]

I posted a track description on Page 3 of this thread. Im lookin for opinions on it. Criticisms appreciated if needed

[psicomplec]

I am trying to make a track in my backyard out of the infamous black pipe. I used dirt and logs for the jumps and weed-b-gon to kill everything green. The weeds keep growing back (it's in the woods) and I can't seem to get the dirt to stay the same shape. I was thinking about either planting grass and cut it really short or maybe mulch. I don't know if mulch would be good because I'm sure it would get stuck in a lot of places. Maybe if it's shredded enough. Any resolutions to my problem would be greatly appreciated.

[Got Speed]

I think it would be cool to have it low cut grass maybe because I don't see hardly anything green here :p ! Just lightly water the ramps and stomp it or drop something heavy on it over and over until the ramp is really hard.

[racer6888]

hi all of yall i have a couple of tracks in my backyard. im building a second one because a pool is going where the first one is. for all of yall that want one in your backyard or anywhere its not hard to make it good and look nice. two of my friends and i made on ein my backyard in like a couple weeks.

[racer6888]

Does anybody have suggestions for my tracks surface?
Its already dirt but it has a bunch of little pebbles and rocks in it, Which isnt good for my belt drive. I just dont know what to do If i had dirt brought in it would take to much.(actually too much money)


(maybe I just need to build the track and not worry about it, Its not like its the local track )



about that if u still need advice u could use a tiller and till the whole track. it may not get the rocks out but it may get alot of dirt on them to were there isnt as many showing!
james

[aspiringrcracer710]

a layer of topsoil would help

[Ryche]

hey racer, what part of austin you in... I live south... do you run offroad.. what kind of car do you have..


Ryche..

[Kevin's Raceway]

Hi Guys,

This is my first post on this forum. I have a real nice, full service racetrack, but there is one problem. I can't seem to get enough people here at one time to have any races. I have a new AMB Lap Counting System, On Site Hobby Shop and etc.

Check out my track and let me know if any of you are close enough to want to have some fun here.

Site address: http://www.krcproducts.com/main_pages/track.htm

[danbrad2000]

HI
Soon i might be getting an old carpark to make a new track. I want to make it offroad but i cant really do that becouse the soil would proberly get washed away or it would flood im also thinking off making jumps but i dont no what to make them out off. I think im going to use old tubing for marking out the track.

Has anyone got any ideas on how to make jumps or other things that i would need.

Thanks


Dan








:confused: :confused:

[dgrobe2112]

Man, i checked out your site, and that is a nice track... Too bad your all the way up in NM, I am in Central Texas, and we got a pretty good turnout for our track, but not too much to really run a big class of cars, we got about 3 classes, The TMAXX class, the sportsman class (rookies) and the Mod Class, i think thats what its called, but i race in the sportsman class. Well Just wanted to give props on the track and the site... Looks nice, and if your in the NM area, stop by and check it out

[TMaxxMatt]

Hey all! I was just wondering, what do you think of Dirt ovals for off road vehicals? Or a figure eight with a tunnel going under the intersection? Also, any one know of good tracks around North Adams Massachusetts? Thanks

[Got Speed]

Ovals are alot of fun but their not to good for Monster Trucks.
I like figure 8s alot too. You can either make a tunnel wich would probably be kind of hard and it might cause alot of accidents, or you could make a bridge over the top, or you could make a tabletop jump. I like the bridge idea myself.

[dgrobe2112]

I like the idea of a figure 8, but instead of a trouble causing tunnel, which cars may get stuck it, or wreck with each other, and cause a big pile up.. maybe just a jump over the track... you know what im sayin right.. now as far as ovals go, i dont think that will be alot of fun, unless instead of a back strech, you break it off into the infield... Kinda like formula 1, in Indianapolis, they dont just run the oval, they run in the road course inside as well... Just a couple of ideas...

[Got Speed]

Or you can make an oval with two gates. One gate at one end on the right side and one gate on the other end on the left side. So you go around the ends of the oval and then either jump the middle section with a tabletop or make a bridge that acts like ramp.

[TMaxxMatt]

I don't understand the last concept... Maybe a drawn explination? Also, in the figure 8 track, the tunnel would go under the track at the intersection, I don't see how that would cause accidents... I would have it so that the opening of the tunnel (Where the people drive in) would be visible from the drivers stand. I think that having a jump over the track would cause more accidents than just going under it... what happens when a novice tries to jump, wasn't going fast enough, and ended up in the path of more novice's... BOOOM!!! Accident city...

[Kevin's Raceway]

Originally posted by dgrobe2112
I like the idea of a figure 8, but instead of a trouble causing tunnel, which cars may get stuck it, or wreck with each other, and cause a big pile up.. maybe just a jump over the track... you know what im sayin right.. now as far as ovals go, i dont think that will be alot of fun, unless instead of a back strech, you break it off into the infield... Kinda like formula 1, in Indianapolis, they dont just run the oval, they run in the road course inside as well... Just a couple of ideas...

I have done just that on my track and it works pretty good. I have a nice smooth jump with a raised landing and very few problems are involved with it. One thing that it does cause is a lane squeeze in front of it, but this happens after the rhythm section jumps on my track which slows things down in that spot. I have to make sure that I got people that can pay attention and corner marshal there carefully. Trucks get pretty good air in that spot and I am always afraid that someone is going to get hurt getting hit by one there some day.

Having a bridge on a track is not a good idea. No matter how you set it up, people are going to get hung up under it. Then you will quickly have a pile up before a corner marshal can hook and drag the stuck vehicles out of the tunnel. I am assuming that this overpass won't be so tall that a person could walk under it.

Kevin's R/C
We make racers here!
www.krcproducts.com
http://www.krcproducts.com/image/kevins5.gif

[Got Speed]

Here is a pic I drew with my wonderful ms painting skills:o .

You can make a bridge that is about 4 foot high so that you can see under it from a normal drivers stand. At the top of the bridge you would want to make it slope up to a sharp peak to act as a jump.

My track has the tabletop jump but if you don't get enough traction or power down before you hit it you smash right into the boards at the base of the other side. :eek: Which is just about like hitting a curb or tree. The T-Maxx class is crazy with this track though. T-Maxxs and parts and people flying everywhere!:eek:

[Got Speed]

Sorry here it is:o

[Got Speed]

Oh yea, all you have to do to make it into an oval is close the 4 gates. Which takes about 15 seconds with 4 turn marshals considering you are making it out of those corugated(sp) plastic boards(what are they really called?):confused: .

[TMaxxMatt]

That looks pretty cool.. We might try that
Thanks again!! Where to the Jumps you mentioned come in tho?

[danbrad2000]

HI
Soon i might be getting an old carpark to make a new track. I want to make it offroad but i cant really do that becouse the soil would proberly get washed away or it would flood im also thinking off making jumps but i dont no what to make them out off. I think im going to use old tubing for marking out the track.

Has anyone got any ideas on how to make jumps or other things that i would need.

Thanks


Dan

[Got Speed]

Here is a pic of the one with the tabletop. I like the other design better though because you can still get just as big a jump or bigger than a tabletop without worrying about smashing into the boards at the bottom of the tabletop. I hope that made since but the pics show what Im talking about.

[Got Speed]

Here is another of my masterpeices!:p :o This is the one with the bridge that comes to a peak like a jump. This one is my favorite.

[LEMMEDRIVEIT!!]

Hey everyone- i was reading this thread and i'm also making a track too!!!

The local track that i race at is AWESOME- it is indoor off road, and it is electric all year round, with gas only during the summer. There is also an outdoor on road track.

My track in my backyard is in the general shape of a cirlce, except with a small hairpin and about 4 jumps and some moguls- i have already built a drivers stand, and i am half done with the track- can't wait to finish! i will post pics soon. oops, i forgot- the whole track is loose dirt- IT is very off-road.

Also, i have two electric cars, a VERY hopped up rusty and a FT B3- soon i am hoping to get either a T-maxx or a XXX-NT sport, bnut i can't decide- PLEASE HELP

[James414]

www.easy-rc.com is a site that has one of those lap counting systems that you use to press buttons to monitor the lap times.

the site is down right now but will be relaunched soon so they say. You can download the software once it comes back up then you have the software to put on a laptop.

[GTracer22]

Im about to start building my track, but i cant figure out which jump should go where. So could you all help me figure this out?
Ok im gonna try to post the drawing i made:confused: Crap could some one tell me how to post it?

[Got Speed]

TMaxxMatt-Does that look right to you?

GTracer22-You have to either post a link to a photo hosting site or click browse at the bottom and find the name of the pic you want to upload. It has to be 64(I think) or less KB.

[danbrad2000]

HI
Soon i might be getting an old carpark to make a new track. I want to make it offroad but i cant really do that becouse the soil would proberly get washed away or it would flood im also thinking off making jumps but i dont no what to make them out off. I think im going to use old tubing for marking out the track.

Has anyone got any ideas on how to make jumps or other things that i would need.

Thanks


Dan

[TMaxxMatt]

Got Speed, so the bridge goes over the other track? And the jumps work together, Like /____\ Right? Thanks again!

[dgrobe2112]

I think the figure 8 is all nice and everything.. but if you want people to come back, you want to have a track that is gonna be more challenging... I mean what is hard about running in a fugure 8.. Why not have the jump over the track but not in a figure 8... You know what you all should do.. Go and find a little kid, who has a Super nintendo, rent the game MarioKart, there are some pretty good layouts in that game..

[TMaxxMatt]

Why a Super Nintendo? Why not Nintendo 64, with MarioKart 64?

[dgrobe2112]

Your right... my bad.. i havent played nintendo in a while.. i just play PS2... and XBOX... Thats the game though MarioKart...

[Got Speed]

Originally posted by TMaxxMatt
Got Speed, so the bridge goes over the other track? And the jumps work together, Like /____\ Right? Thanks again!

Yes the bridge goes over the track on the bottom.( I prefer this)

On the other kind of figure 8 the jumps do go like this / \ with the track going under them.

If the figure 8 and oval is not enough for you, you can also make gates inside the figure 8 area so you can switch from figure 8 to offroad, to oval.

Figure 8 and Oval arn't really challenging to drive. But it is just as challenging if not more challenging to win than offroad. I like offroad and oval and figure 8 about the same. They are all very fun just different. At my track we have a dirt oval with an offroad and a figure 8 inside it. More people race oval than anything else though. I don't know why but they do. I will see if I can find a pic of my car on the track.

[TMaxxMatt]

Yes please do, also do you have AIM? If so what is your screen name? If you don't want to put it on here, E-Mail it to me. Thanks.. bye

[Got Speed]

TMaxxMatt- Are you talking to me? If so my AIM is SuperMaxxer My MSNM is falcon_247@hotmail.com

Ill be online this evening again too.

[rc_racer269]

Originally posted by Got Speed

Figure 8 and Oval arn't really challenging to drive. But it is just as challenging if not more challenging to win than offroad. I like offroad and oval and figure 8 about the same. They are all very fun just different. At my track we have a dirt oval with an offroad and a figure 8 inside it. More people race oval than anything else though. I don't know why but they do.

Have you ever raced dirt oval with other trucks? It's quite fun and it can be challenging to master, especially with sprint cars. You must not have a very good oval track if it isn't any fun to race on. For example, passing in the corners is just plain fun doing while you slide through the turn.

[Got Speed]

lol What I was trying to say was. I like offroad, oval and figure 8 equally as much. I have raced all 3 with nitro. I think it dosn't take much skill to drive a car on oval but it takes just as much if not more skill to win oval races.

[rc_racer269]

Yes, I see that now. I sort of misinterpreted the original post.

[cjwrcracer]

me and a bunch of guys have a track. it`s really nice to. but nobody want to do the work on it

[TMaxxMatt]

Hey! Still deciding on what to do... I found out that we can get a loader to clear out all the stuff around us to expand alittle, so maybe an oval might not have to be.... Maybe.... I will keep you updated!

[Nutter]

cjw: That I simply don't understand! Sure working on a track is hard & takes time.. but don't you find it worth it when you can be the first to run your car over the new section of the track or be the first to break-in that new jump?
For me, what makes it so worth the time & effort is knowing that by doing the work I'm making something that will help others enjoy themselves more, which means that there'll be more racers to compete with!
Just say to everyone, "hey, our track's so sweet - but it won't be for much longer.. lets all go there next weekend and fix it up!". Bring a BBQ, sausages & steaks, and some beers along, and make a day of it. :)

danbrad: hmm.. yes, it'd be rather hard to make an off-road track on an old carpark as the dirt would probably wash away as you say. Is it possible to get a bobcat, bulldozer, or something like that in for just a few hours to break up the asphalt?
You wouldn't even need to have a truck to take the broken asphalt away - just leave it there and use it as filler to make jumps, bumps, elevation changes, etc! You could easily just add some dirt then and it wouldn't wash away (I'm assuming that the track area would've been dug down bellow the level of the car park).


-Nutter

[Pietak440]

Well, mine is more of a micro R/C track :)

[cjwrcracer]

nutter I don`t mind doing the work. In fact i do most of it. yes it is really nice to run on a fresh track we race 1/8 buggies &1/10 trucks the buggies are the best

[LEMMEDRIVEIT!!]

hey- no one really payed attention to my post, but i'm making a track too!! it has a few jumps and moguls.

My cousin just got a xxx-nt sport. i am hopefully getting a T-maxx for christmas- what would be some of the best SMALL upgrades for the t? i know that its off topic.

also my local track it at www.raceway.com

[Got Speed]

For racing? New tires, offset wheels, and some RC Raven dual rate springs.

[MicroDude]

I'm sick of waiting for people to make serious elevation changes on their tracks. like, by 7 ft+. I mean really, you could basically copy Laguna Seca for an on-road segment, lay down some tarps and dirt, and you've got yourself an offroad track... Anyways, heres how the local dirt track goes (50x20 indoor): Starting line is next to the driver's stand, 2 ft drop 4 ft long, back up to start elevation, 2 1/2 ft jump with 1 double and 1 single following, hard 180 degree right, 1 ft drop, moguls, rising berm around 180 degree left, hard right, 3 ft tabletop on which a 90 degree right lies, long straight with moguls and one 3 ft kicker (makes for good battles), 20 ft sweeper, 180 degree right, 1 ft drop, berm, 90 degree left, S turn with inverted berms, low doubles across the line

[NoPepsiForYou]

heh that sounds a lot funner than the track I go to. Tho I think they are changing the layout as we speak this is how it went:

10 foot straight away with a 90 degree right turn into a 20 foot straight away, another 90 degree right turn into about a 7 foot straight and another 90 degree right turn into a 4 foot straight(getting dizzy yet?) right hairpin turn into a 3 foot single followed by a left hairpin turn into another 3 foot single. 90 degree right into a 5 foot straight and another 90 degree right to the begening

Well if you choose not to read that it has 2 single jumps and a lot of right turn stright aways:rolleyes:

[LEMMEDRIVEIT!!]

mine is a great track- so far no one has replied to any of my posts.

My local track that i race at has about 2 feet of elevation change. the start is in the middle of the straight acroos from the drivers stand. from there u go about 20 feet and do a 170degree turn left, and then a 90 degree right, and a kinda tabletop jump about 1 1/2 feet high, u go up and then down, then another 90 degree right turn, a 4 foot long jump, then a 90 degree left, then about 3 feet, another 90 degree left, then a 4 foot long jump, then another 90 degree left, 15 feet of straight with a 1 1/2 foot elevation change up and then down, the a 90degree right, adn a jump with a 1 foot drop, then a flat section that goes like this(right after the jump) a 90 right, 10 feet, 180 right, 5 feet, a raised corner and a 90 left, bumps, then another 90 left, a long 4 foot jump, and then a 90 degree left, then a double tabletop, 90 left and ur done

www.raceway.com

[madman]

Here is an overall pic of our track in Central Pennsylvania.

http://www.penn.com/~madams/_uimages/OverallII.JPG

Later

[TMaxxMatt]

Hey, I was just wondering, how wide are the lanes of that track?

[Got Speed]

I wish there was grass growing on my track! Do you know what that big jump is called closest to the camera?

[madman]

The track is 120'X160' and all of the lanes are at least 12' wide with some up to 14'. The jump closest to the camera is called a step-up. You have to approach the jump let off of the throttle and then slam the vehicle into the face of the jump to pop you up on top. It turned out to be the most technical jump on the track. It is about 4.5' high and around 18' feet long.

We took a break from building the track and the grass monster showed up. We have some more dirt to add and pack in.

See this link for details on an event we are planning for September 20, 21, and 22.

http://pub13.ezboard.com/fmaxximumtraxxasfrm15.showMessage?topicID=1122.top ic

[NoPepsiForYou]

Wow that looks like a fun track, that big jump thats closest in the picture looks really awsome.

Just wondering, is that a bank curve in the back there or just a jump?

[madman]

The layout goes like this:

Step-up jump into a 90 right hander, this leads into the double on the left and goes down to a banked turn which shoots you back down the 140' straight-away. At the end of the strtaight 90 degree left over a small tabletop behind the step up. Left turn into a small jump then straight inot an off-camber 180 degree right into a 130 degree left through the whoop section. After the whoops back to the right into another banked left turn onto a downhill double. Then right and back up the hill over the table-top. Follow the picture and you kinda get it.

[sycotikskir]

where in PA is that track... i live in butler county

[cjwrcracer]

i live in snyder county whereis you track located

[sycotikskir]

I don;t have one yet.... I am prolly goin to make one in my backyard tho

[madman]

The track is south of Huntingdon near Raystown Lake. Look on mapquest for Calvin, Pa.

Later

[raymo24]

This one I built as a "backyard basher" track...it isn't as big and outfitted as a Hobby Shop track - but we get a lot of fun out of it!

http://www.r-man.com/newtrack.html

RJM Racing (http://www.rjmracing.com)

[sycotikskir]

they looks pretty darn cool....I think thats what i am goin to make is sumthing like that.

[Got Speed]

Yea. looks good. I wish I could build a track. But I don't even have 20ft of room left in my back yard!

[Got Speed]

Oh and how do you keep your jumps from falling apart?

[sycotikskir]

I am inot a lot fo biking. I've learned that if u use a lot of water when u build them it helps a lot. also try using a flat shovel to pack it relaly really hard...like smack it as hard as u can.


Hopefully this will help you

[NoPepsiForYou]

If you make yourself a wooden jump before hand and pack dirt over that for the big jumps they will stay together alot longer and save some time on building the jumps

As for my question. Do those water sweeps work very good because I have a drive way with a lot of small bumps in it with dirt and rocks in it. Sweeping it dosen't work too well because all of these rocks in between the bumps:confused:

[NoPepsiForYou]

ohhh and I forgot to add its for an on-road car;)

[sycotikskir]

from what i have expierenced making jumps outta all dirt is a lot smoother and will hold up better....haveing wood underneath tends to make them crumble and not pack as well

[b_madd]

trying to add to my track.not a real big track just one so i can practice on since i cant drive and the nearest tracks an hour away. addin a new section and tyrin to get a jump for big air. tryin to decide between a small tabletop with an extended steep face or a big double. any help or suggestions needed.

[LEMMEDRIVEIT!!]

there is a jump liek this at my track.

First just make a small jump, liek a trianlge liek thiss
/\
/ \
/ \

Then, add a small tab;e top right after it- this way, if u have lots of speed u can clear the whole thing, if not, u can go for the 1-2
Altogether, it will look like thiss


/\ /----------\
/ \ / \
/ \____/ \

Of course u can angle and slope the jumps for a better jump-

G-DOG

[LEMMEDRIVEIT!!]

I don't know why, but the stupid way of editing by my computer meessed up the post- i'll draw it- just wait a sec.

[LEMMEDRIVEIT!!]

Thanx to my expertiece in Paint, i can show you this jump. THe truck(the big red thing wil black wheels and a little turquiso rider) can be going at certain speeds- The fast speed(black dotted line) show that u can clear the whole thing- the slow speed(blue line) shows that you can do a 1.....2 jump. NOw, the work of art.

[aspiringrcracer710]

Hey guys, any one else got any ideas?

[xxxtMFE]

hey all! hopefully someone can help me. i'm building a track at home and i dont want to use PVC to mark out lanes. but i dont know what that expandable flex tubing is called????????? it kind of looks like dryer vent tubing, but all lowes and home depot carry is that aluminum tubing, but i dont think aluminum would work very well! so does anyone know the name of it or where i can buy some? please help!!!!!!:confused:

[Andy_7676]

the best/cheapest thing I could find to mark off the track is stuff they call soaker hose. It's not very tall, but you can get a cheap can of orange or yellow spay paint and paint the hose so it's easier to see, normally it's black or dark green.

you can get it for like 10 bucks for 100 ft

that's pretty cheap. It's wont keep cars from running of your track, but it will jar them enough to know they shouldn't be going off the track anyhow, and will prevent people from taking short cuts since most cars will hit thre hose and it can through them seriously off course. We are talking 1/10 scale vehicles. Bigger buggys and monster trucks will just run right over the hose without blinking....


the soaker hose should be available where you find garden supplies since they use it to water plants and flowers and stuff. It's kinda like garden hose that has little holes in it....

[OmegaRed]

xxxtMFE, I think the stuff your talking about is corregated drain pipe, most commonly used for R/C tracks in the 4" diameter size, or so it seems. You can get it perforated or not, I don't think it matters for the track border. ~$26/100ft roll from Home Depot (I assume Lowe's carries it as well). It's what I'm using for my backyard track, only I split it on my table saw, so I get double the amount from a single purchase of a roll. Looks like it will work well.

Bob

[geofroley]

friggin wasps that live in my basketball net are keeping me from racing my car and its pissing me off so much

[geofroley]

i get paid 10 bux a week to play with a dog and its pretty sweet.in about six weeks ill be able to get a stinger for my nitro stampede

[Nutter]

uhh.. thanks for the positive input geofroley. :rolleyes:


Here's an interesting question that I've been pondering lately - What is the maximum effective size of a track?
Things to consider are visibility, radio range, equipment being used by racers (cheap radio/recievers & expensive ones), etc. Of course things like visibility will be different depending on if it's a 1/8, MT, or 1/10 buggy.

The reason that I'm curious about this is that small tracks are kind of boring, you end up repeating the same lap over and over and over again. Wouldn't it be interesting & more fun to only get 4-5 laps in a race rather than 10-15 because the track is so large? Maybe, maybe not.. but still an interesting thing to discuss I think. :)

My vote is for somewhere between 75-100' from the drivers stand to the furthest point of the track. This would give a maximum track width of 150-200', and a maximum depth of 75-100'.. but is this too far for cheap/low quality radios with possibly low batteries, and with small 1/10 buggies?


-Nutter

[geofroley]

nutter dude go to www.rccaraction.com and go to the articles section and look for the thing about track making

[xxxtMFE]

OMEGARED, thanx for your help. home depot will be my first stop tommorrow. hopefully they will have the drain pipe and i can get some lanes marked out! i'll let ya know how it goes. thanx again!

[TheCowKing]

my dad and i built a track in our backyard and it was great but i was too lazy to switch gears when i ran and i went through too many motors so i tore it out soi wouldnt be tempted to ever drive again in my backyard

[geofroley]

dude,didnt u have any straights?

[Crashbot2001]

Nutter, I've contemplated the same issue. I think 100' deep would be max. The taller the driver's stand the better the visibility would be, so if you went 100', I would say go about 10' high on the stand. So that would give you 175-200 wide by 100 deep. That's friggin huge. I too would prefer a longer run at times. At most tracks, I find the size restriction is space, not visibility.

I don't think radio range is really an issue. Any radio with weak batteries can loose signal at less then 75'. No one should be on the track with worn out batteries. I used a Futaba Magnum Jr(60 dollars) radio for the longest time and the truck would get to visibility threshold long before it went out of range.

I think the best design would have the best of both. Have the option of swinging a bit of pipe around to close off sections of track, allowing a shorter layout for kids to run on, etc.

The track we built has this capability. The length can effectively be cut in half by moving one piece of pipe. This closes off the interior of the track and effectively converts it to an oval(well, really more of a rectangle..lol) and takes the deadly triple out of the layout.

Our Track (http://dands-speedway.50megs.com/)

[geofroley]

what is the cheapest material for making borders.what kind of dirt should i use also

[Crashbot2001]

geofroley, the very cheapest you can use is free stuff. Get some thick tree branches and use them. It's gonna take a lot of playing with that dog to buy even one load of dirt, so I would use whatever is under your grass. Just run on the grass.. sooner or later it will be dirt. If it's not fast enough for you, get some weed killer like roundup and spray the grass.

[Widdy]

Track is built and its a Dirt Oval with banked turns 163 ft drive line and its a challenge because all 4 corners are different and the straights are also take a look:
http://home.stny.rr.com/widdy/

[GreenArrow]

Ok, I've got a 17x42 foot section of my yard I'm gonna turn into a small track. I need some help though. How do I go about making whoops and, well, jumps all together?
Make them out of wood, pile up dirt, how do I get them from washing away in the rain?
Thanks

[aspiringrcracer710]

HEy yall, if you want to design some real good tracks for your LHS or parking lot or what have you, go to any full scale racing website, and print out the street course track maps. THat is a good place to go

[danbrad2000]

xxxtMFE

I use plastic cones (the 1s that u get in a pack of 50 that stack on top off each other like wat schools use)which u can take anywhere and make a track anywhere u want.
:D :D . For me its a good option becouse i havnt got my own permenent track.

Hope this helps

Dan

[Widdy]

I cut my track with a sod cutting machine. I then used the sod to build up my banked turns. You could also use the sod for making your jumps and mogels. I suggest that if you do use the sod to lay it grass down (dirt up) if you go the sod cutting route. Its a lot of work moving all that sod, but the end result is a smooth base. Cuts way down on bringing dirt in. The dirt i used was screened topsoil mixed with clay and a little sand for drainage. Hope this helps geofroley

[aspiringrcracer710]

When you design racetracks, use a notebook so that you will have a record of them. Then you can send your entire notebook of designs to your LHS and then you could turn a hobby into a regular gig

[rocknbil]

Three things: driveability when you crash, multiple configs, and materials.

Originally posted by Crashbot2001
geofroley, the very cheapest you can use is free stuff.

YES but . . . .

Get some thick tree branches and use them.


The only problem here is that most of the time there will only be a few people on the track and most of you will be racing. There's going to be a lot of car chasing when you get stuffed on the pipe . . .errr . . .tree branch . . .

. . . . Just run on the grass.. sooner or later it will be dirt.

This is a very VERY bad idea. In addition to the drag that will overheat your motor, the blades get stuffed up in your mechanics and can create all kinds of havok. Grass is a bad idea.

This starts off right though: USE FREE STUFF. The best track is one that a) doesn't cost an arm and a leg, b) has MULTIPLE CONFIGURATIONS without re-working it, and c) has few places where you can get stuck.

Most of you will probably be making a track so you can bash it up with your friends. Unless you're buliding an official track, plan to have regular events, and can guarantee there will be actual races in which you'll have turn marshalling, etc., the simplest thing is to make your track with simple dirt burms so you can just drive out if you bite it. Think about it, if you spend half your tank/battery time pulling it off the pipe, what fun is that?

The second item addresses multiple configs. Sure, it's going to get boring after a while, the same track over and over. Instead of a simple oval, dig in some concourses in the INSIDE of the oval. Dig it so there are actually SEVERAL tracks in one so it doesn't get boring for you. Our track actually has four courses in one.

The third: materials. You really only need two things to build a track (well three, if you count lots of energy to do the work!) A roto-tiller and a lawn roller.
Till it up, rake it off, smooth it out, then make multiple passes with a lawn roller, preferably attached to the back of a riding lawn mower. You can rent al this stuff for the job for about $50 and do it in a day.

As for materials: use what is on site, being as careful as possible to rake out any large rocks. A good hard pack results from a clay base, which makes for a NICE off-road track, but optumum is a clay-sand mix. Not too loamy, and always water before running. :)

I suppose I should get some pics of our track, it's pretty kewl . . . .

[Widdy]

I suppose I should get some pics of our track, it's pretty kewl . . . .


Like to see them.


We were thinking of doing something in the middle with ours. Not sure what yet. We haven't gotten board with the oval. It changes day to day by itself. Of course the track owner, ME :D , does all the watering of the track. Sometimes i'll soak it, other times i'll just wet it down.

[cobraboy]

Is there a website on the net with track layouts???

[jkerr0043]

Here's a question and I want to know what everyone thinks. How difficult should the track layouts be at club level races? This is my take on it. Club level racers want to race eachother, not race the track. If the track is so difficult that there really can't be much racing between each other and the only passing going on is when the guy in front of you catches the wall or flips on a corner dot because there's three switch backs and two schicanes in a ten foot section of the track, that's not fun. I bring this up because it seems like every track I go to lately, they're just trying to make the layouts harder and harder. Challenging is one thing. But when the only place to make a clean pass that's not going to clean out the other guy is the straight away... I went to watch the Reedy race @ Tamiya this year. The track layout was not that difficult, much easier than alot of the parkinglot tracks we race on weekly. Some of the guys I race with that were in the spec class even said it was much easier than we run on normally. That was some of the best racing I've ever seen! Now I'm not saying make the track a big oval with two dog legs down the straight, but when you have a big parking lot and plenty of room, use it. make the track wider so we can race two wide into a corner without ripping the front end off the outside car.

That's how I see it.

Any other opinions?

[aspiringrcracer710]

Originally posted by cobraboy
Is there a website on the net with track layouts???
probably not but go to "virtually" (no pun intended) any full scale racing website (except NASCAR, they race only two road course a year).

Here are a few to get you started:


CART (www.cart.com)
American Lemans Series (www.imsa.net)
AMA Pro Racing (www.amaproracing.com) SCCA Trans AM Series for the BF Goodrich Tires Cup (www.trans-amseries.com)


Hope these help cobraboy!

[sosidge]

I totally agree with you.

People have the misconception that a track needs to be narrow to be challenging.

When really, a narrow track is just frustrating, cos you can't overtake - and the beginners can't even get there cars around it.

[aspiringrcracer710]

Here are a few other series that could give you inspiration:


MotoGP (www.motogp.com)
World Superbike (www.worldsbk.com)
Australian V8 Supercars (www.v8supercars.com.au)

[OmegaRed]

That would be awesome to race R/C on a replica of Laguna Seca, or Spa or any other full scale road course. The difficult things would be the width of the track, as I'm not sure of the typical race track width (3 full size cars wide often comes to mind) would be conducive to good R/C racing once scaled appropreiately, especially since our scale speeds are often so skewed. Using the 3 cars wide approximation, and the width of a CART car (78.5") and adding in at least 3ft (36") between cars and the edge of the track, gives you a total of 379.5" (31.625'). Using the 1/10th scale number as gospel, you get a track only 37.95" wide (please excuse the significant figures excesses ;) ). If you look at the maximium race lap record average speed for that track (102.690mph), you end with an average speed of 10.269mph. 'Course the max speed is likely around 150's for that course, so I would guess most cars (electric) are capable of running twice what the scale speed should be. The neat thing about making and exact replica course and running true to scale speeds (relative to the cars that race on the real course) is that you could compare you times to the actual times, and if your close to their times your as good a racer as them. ;) :D Neat huh?

Bob

[rocknbil]

Originally posted by OmegaRed
That would be awesome to race R/C on a replica of Laguna Seca.......you could compare you times to the actual times, and if your close to their times your as good a racer as them. Neat huh?

Actually Bob . . that's so scary it belongs in the "you obsess" thread! :D

The problem with the whole scale issue is that momentum, weight, and g-forces just don't seem to scale very well. Plus a little jiggle on the stick does not equate to the same jiggle on the steering wheel. Oddly enough though, your scaled-down speeds seem about right . . .

I generally go minimum 6' width all around.

[OmegaRed]

I don't know that it belongs to the "obsess thread", more to the retentive engineer thread :D. Your correct about some of the dynamics not scaling correctly (take aerodynmics for instance), but it would be interesting to see how close some things are coming. You could always quantify the R/C cars performance (handling, braking, accelerating) with the known performance of the real cars, making adjustments to the R/C as necessary. I also agree that driving from a ~3/4's view is much more difficult than driving from the inside, especially with a scale width track. Still if you slowed them to true to scale speeds it might work out. I know I'm a hell of a lot better at placing the car at a certain point on the track when I'm moving real slow. :rolleyes:

Bob

[yeeehaw]

I am having trouble desgning the track in my back yard so can you guys help me and please tell me what needs to be included. the jumps need to be mostly made out of wood. I can't tear up the back yard so I can put down boundries but it has to be paint or the plastic draining pipe. I am definately going to have to buy a saw and stuff but thats ok i will use it for something else. what kind of saw should I would I buy and what kind of tools should I buy??? The yard is 2000 square feet and there is a tree and a swing set by the right fence. And the neighbors grand son is a jerk and he jumps our fence and messes with my puppy and then he met my other dog. he he he he didn't get hurt but I have never seen that kid jump a fence that fast. Then he was stupid enough to do it again. so I will be very mad if he jumps the fence and messes up something or lets my dogs out and they mess up something. see ya some time Matt:D

[Nutter]

2000 sq feet? So that'd be about 50x40 I presume, or is it more rectangular? The shape of it will depend a lot on what you can do with it.
If it's a more-or-less square, it'll end up being a tight & technical track, so you probably won't want to go for too large jumps - 6-8" high would do I'd think. After all, you don't want to go shooting over the boundaries!
If your yard's closer to a rectangle, say 80x25, it'll give you enough room to put in a pretty good straight to open the track up a bit - but you won't have much room for technical areas.

You'll definately want some kind of elevated area to use as a drivers stand, otherwise it'll be a bit difficult to navigate the far side of the track, even if it's not that far away. A solid bench would be good for this.. basically you'd want to be about 2' off the ground.

For the outline of the track, the plastic drain pipe would be overkill - just get a cheap garden hose & paint it a bright colour so you can easily see it, such as white.


-Nutter

[cobraboy]

Thanks for the websites dude!!
I also like the idea of using cones...

[aspiringrcracer710]

glad to help. I figure that since your in New Zealand, the Aussie V8 Supercars circuits would be familiar to you anyway

[thunderbird]

Hi all you r/c Gurus,

I want to set up a small indoors r/c racetrack in a joint that is used for family gatherings, get togethers, parties etc. The space I have is 16' X 16' (yes thats all). I just want to bring the fun of r/c (to which I'm new) to the public at large. The track I have in mind can be of plastic/carpet etc.

I want the racetrack to do all this :
1. keep track of how many laps each car has done
2. a timer for each car that will simply stop the car when the times up.

Can you gurus tell me ALL the equipment I will need to put this together. Can you recommend materials and parts that I can use. What kinda cars (brand names) would you recommend ?

TIA for you inputs,
Regards.
Drey.

[yeeehaw]

The yard is 50*40 so its pretty much square. the yard has a slight incline in elevation at the farside of the yard. the garden hose is a great idea so I need to buy a few of those, paint,a saw, and some wood. Then I get to builden:D
Thanks Matt

[Kodiak31415]

I have a problem that you guys might be able to help with. Some people i know have been working on starting up a dirt rc track but have encountered a peoblem. The track has a very large boulder(about 3 feet tall and 5 feet wide) in one of the corners. To get it removed would take alot because the entire aera is pretty much fenced in. We decided to just turn it into a jump and after it was burried we turned it into somethig of a major jump. Every thing was fine with electritc cars but there is a problem with nitros. There is a 4 foot tall concreate retaning wall shortly after the jump and the nitro cars have a tendency to kill themselves by flying into the wall. It has allready been decided not to change the track but we still need a solution any advice would be much appricated.

[aspiringrcracer710]

Originally posted by Kodiak31415
I have a problem that you guys might be able to help with. Some people i know have been working on starting up a dirt rc track but have encountered a peoblem. The track has a very large boulder(about 3 feet tall and 5 feet wide) in one of the corners. To get it removed would take alot because the entire aera is pretty much fenced in. We decided to just turn it into a jump and after it was burried we turned it into somethig of a major jump. Every thing was fine with electritc cars but there is a problem with nitros. There is a 4 foot tall concreate retaning wall shortly after the jump and the nitro cars have a tendency to kill themselves by flying into the wall. It has allready been decided not to change the track but we still need a solution any advice would be much appricated.


Well, I would recommend getting a metal spike, and a sledgehammer and trying to split that rock. otherwise, your gonna have to move that retaining wall back about 5-10 feet

[aspiringrcracer710]

Originally posted by Kodiak31415
I have a problem that you guys might be able to help with. Some people i know have been working on starting up a dirt rc track but have encountered a peoblem. The track has a very large boulder(about 3 feet tall and 5 feet wide) in one of the corners. To get it removed would take alot because the entire aera is pretty much fenced in. We decided to just turn it into a jump and after it was burried we turned it into somethig of a major jump. Every thing was fine with electritc cars but there is a problem with nitros. There is a 4 foot tall concreate retaning wall shortly after the jump and the nitro cars have a tendency to kill themselves by flying into the wall. It has allready been decided not to change the track but we still need a solution any advice would be much appricated.


Well, I would recommend getting a metal spike, and a sledgehammer and trying to split that rock. otherwise, your gonna have to move that retaining wall back about 5-10 feet


Oh BTW, a good website for you offroad track designers would be:


Championship Off Road Racing (CORR) (http://www.corracing.com/)

[yeeehaw]

what do you guys prefer a tight and technical or a open track please give pros a cons and what you like about them. Matt

[aspiringrcracer710]

Id like wide open because there are more chances to pass under acceleration. Although tight and technical is good because there are lots of brake passing areas. So really for me the pros and cons of either have to do with passing. THe cons of wide open is that laptimes arent QUITE as impressive. And the cons with tight and twisty is that there are more places for accidents


My $.02

[Joker Boats]

Hello I am prepairing to build an indoor carpet track and I am wondering what is the best type of carpet to use. I am thinking a good marine water proof low profile turf not the green kind of fake grass but the really tight smooth carpet.

Any help here would be great!!!!

Thanks in advance,
The Joker

[aspiringrcracer710]

I'll say this and I'll only say it once:


OZITE (TM) is a good carpet to use. I THINK its the industry standard

[Joker Boats]

Thank you!!!!!

[aspiringrcracer710]

Glad to do it. BTW, I dont have a website that I would like to advertise, but Im looking to start a small business designing RC tracks for hobby shops. I can do onroad, offroad, downhill, I can even design courses for RC boats. The business will tentatively be called BJ's trax. Just as a matter of asking, would there be a market for a RC track designing business?

[97FordRanger]

Hey everyone whats up?
I have been reading here and see some great ideas the topic is gettting alittle big thought. I am about to be working on a custom private dirt track for myself as in saying that it is not a club might let some others race on it here in AL is somoen asked. We hav several pasteues but what I am thinking about using is this small triangle piece of land up next to the road and by the gravel road an 2 ditches. We have 2 tractors but I will mark it off and start w/ the yanmar tractor and then Roto-Tiller it up. We have reg. roto-tillers but I think this would work better and would be a great width. This land also has a good bit of water in sections at times. It just don't drain good in places so this track will be made for extreme off-road racing. If it is dry then I can dig down more an hit water and in places build it up. We have posts wire and wood but what I am thinking about doing is paingint the post orange or sometihng and tying ribbon wrap and in places have Concrete Blocks covered with dirt on the sides. This track will be extreme and I will be posting pics every step of the way.

[yeeehaw]

aspiringracer710 good luck in the rc track business if you are ever in good ole Oklahoma (Tulsa) shoot an E mail or if you have any track designs for a square 2000 square ft yard. and I am going to college to be a mechanical engineer to design rc's and start a buisness called M.S. --Racing--. The M.S. stands for Matt Simonton
wich is my name but I ahve a few years until then, I am only in the 8th grade. Well good luck to ya.

Matt:D

[Nutter]

aspiringracer710: I don't think that'll be very popular unfortunately as if someone's going to spend the time building a track, they'll generally want to build it how *they* want it.. they'll want to be the ones to say where the jumps are, where the berms are, etc - basically, the track is theirs, and they want to make it theirs.

97FordRander: The track sounds good - the more extreme the better! Just make sure your RC can handle it; for instance, a 2WD electric buggy wouldn't be a good choice for a track like that, while a stadium truck or monster truck would probably handle it much better.


-Nutter

[97FordRanger]

You never know until you attempt.....Even if your positive you have an RC that want handle it well go ahead and at least attempt it.........

[k_sw31]

Heys guys, i'm interested in building a track too, I have a few questions, First, how big do i want it, like how long should the back stretch be, how wide, etc. Second, what should i make the jumps out of? I'm thinking either mounding up dirt, or useing plywood, suggetions?

Ps, im running a brushless t3 that goes about 35-45 with 16/87 gearing, so its pretty fast, so i want to err on the side of too big.

I'm thinking something like this,

[97FordRanger]

I was considering a table top like a ramp continuing the path and yet you have another part of the course crossing under it? That is my definition but on your plan noone of the course crosses? It looks great!

[k_sw31]

thats an interesting idear, i might try that, but i was thinking more like a regular jump. Any ideas of dimensions i should use?

[Tstalion79]

Make sure that your jumps are as wide as the track itself or you will have trouble hitting them straight on. As for track dimensions-the track has to be at least 8 feet wide or you will have huge problems hitting barriers. The jumps should me made with plywood and blocks of some sort (cynder blocks work well) then you should cover it with dirt.

[k_sw31]

thanks, how long should the back stretch be, 25 ft? 50?

[aspiringrcracer710]

Id go for 50-75 for elec, but if it runs exclusively nitro Id go for about 100 feet. If its both, Id say around 80 ft

[97FordRanger]

Mine will probably have pretty good mile markers to measure dist. like a 5 ft. marker and then maybe 15 ft. also that will help in building but your diagram you had looked great. Is your track going to have mud/water there is a part in the land I am using that is covered in water I am going to have a sand pit leading into it and out of it and possible and sand and dirt into the water and try to build it up alittle and take care of some drainage. My track probably will bypass the mud/water issue and modify that after the track is completed in phase one. EnJOY YOUR BUILDING OF YOUR TRACK!!!

[k_sw31]

thanks, i think i'll go with 75-80 ft.

What do u think i could use for the surface, just dirt?

[aspiringrcracer710]

Try some topsoil, sand and some clay.

[yeeehaw]

or just run it on the grass and eventually you will wear it down

[Tstalion79]

Dont run it on grass. Grass overheats engines because there is so much resistance. Cut out all the grass.

[k_sw31]

yeah, we got a sprayer, that'll take care of it.

[yeeehaw]

oops don't listen to me
I be the cause of all engine problems he he he:D
take care all
Matt

[k_sw31]

well, grass really isn't an option for me, cuz the grass is more like pasture grass where its 6-12 inches tall, and really thick, its not like lawn grass.

[aspiringrcracer710]

I just finished replicating about 6 or 7 different full scale road courses on paper. I dont have a scanner here at school but if anybody knows of a shop that is lookin to change their layout soon, they can email me @ : bjwilliams@liberty.edu (btw, if this is spam please let me know and it will be removed summarily)

[aspiringrcracer710]

Yo, what happened here? Guys post pics, ideas, opinions on Nationals- level tracks, drawings whatever, thats part of the point of this thread

[teamanarchy]

what do you think about this?

[teamanarchy]

could someone give me some dimensions for the turns and add jumps and then re post the file?

[aspiringrcracer710]

Hey, anybody got pics of tracks from major events that they went too?

[Kiiski]

Here is the URL for the website for our track in the Seattle area.
http://web3.foxinternet.net/kiiski/maxxland.htm
It is about 520' overall with the average track width being about 12'
Kiiski

[yeeehaw]

Teamanarchy, depends on where your track is located, how big your budget is. mine has 5' lane that goes up to 6' but I would make yours at least 8'. my jumps are 8" high it depends on how much air you want or if you want to make a track in your neighbors yard. you need to incorporate banked turns, Table tops top make it interesting make short cuts, mine has a ramp to cut a turn. well I hope this helped
Matt:cool:

[aspiringrcracer710]

Question yall, when is a big track TOO big?

[Tstalion79]

A track can really never be too big. 20 foot wide lanes make it too easy to go fast, but other than that you are really limitless. Also, having an enormous straight that can damage your engine isnt a great idea. I like a straight that allows my engine to wind up to full RPM for about 5 seconds but no longer.

On another note, my freind and I are in the process of building a track in his backyard. We are basically just going to have it be an oval with a chicane but it will have a sick tabletop made from plywood and top soil. We will post pics soon.

[JKA]

Originally posted by aspiringrcracer710
Question yall, when is a big track TOO big?

I would say only when vision becomes an issue should a track be deemed too large.

[coasterfreak]

here's my track, it's about 95' x 55', the green is the jumps. all the turns are banked, except 4 the big sweeping 1. i plan to cahnge parst of the layout soon. i totally forgot to spray it down though:rolleyes: that would really hepl it's texture. right now it's kinda got little dirt clods in it. :rolleyes: thx all!:D

[aspiringrcracer710]

Im looking up some international racetracks for track designs, any ideas (Im running out of US Tracks)

[yeeehaw]

have you looked up bmx tracks you can scale them down. i DON'T KNOW what the track is called but it is in afrca they held the WORLDS race there.
Matt:cool:

[aspiringrcracer710]

BMX Tracks would be fun to scale down. I mean it would open up a whole new aspect of RC (RC downhill). Any other ideas

[DCLXVI]

Originally posted by aspiringrcracer710
[...] ANy other ideas

Downhill?

[k_sw31]

Hey guys, I was measuring out dimensions, so it'll be 75 by 40. Sounds good?

I'll start clearing grass soon.

[aspiringrcracer710]

Originally posted by DCLXVI
Downhill?


Well, BMX, for those who have seen it before is essentially a downhill race(check out the way the X Games downhill BMX works and youll have a real basic idea). If RC had a "BMX-style" discipline then that would add a whole new aspect to the sport. Know what I mean?

[rocknbil]

Well here's ours, we are very lucky to have property that has a place for it. It's the "lower end" of the property; too much moisture to build, too much shade for a garden. It measures about 130' X 40'. The base is all hard packed clay - PERFECT - wet it a litle bit and we get awesome traction with step pins, we come off the track with just a little dirt in the tires and nowhere else. jumps are 4", 12", 9", and a whopping 14", giving us airtime of 36" - 48" high X 20' on the nitros with good flight patterns! See more pics (without the track lines) at

http://www.nytebyte.com/personal/track.html

[eman88]

i dont have a local track near me.
I need some input on this track layout.
it would be for racing 2 1/8 scale buggies, and 1or 2 1/10 scale trucks.
it would just be for fooling around with friends.
do you think it is too complex?
should i take out some of the corners?
http://pic1.picturetrail.com/VOL132/653108/1057547/14547039.ptp
http://pic5.picturetrail.com/VOL98/730906/1252016/14572829.ptp
this second picture is an updated design.
i make the upper right corner slightly less technical, and the left side straight was moved in to the right
i was figuring that we could stand somewhere in the middle, around where that hairpin is, and i could change the track alittle to make room for us to stand. maybe we could put a bench or something raised a little to stand on in that big space on the left
so what do you guys think of that layout?
I was thinking the table top could be 2ft tall or so, and the rest of the jumps about 1 ft tall.
btw- the red things are jumps
i know you guys know a lot about tracks
what do you think of this one?

[aspiringrcracer710]

ITs not bad eman, might wanna invest in some PVC to outline the area, though

[grewst]

Off road has a lot of diffrent aspects. Being new to rc some of what every is saying doesn't make sense.

My question is in the design of jumps.

Some jumps are nice and graded for a real smooth jump, cathing lots of distance. (My doubles are 2 ft high, with a 4 ft gap,, sweet)

Some jumps are built like a ski ramp, with the lip of the ramp pointing straight up. you get lots of air, but dont go far.

I drive electric(a FT T3, and a junk evader),, so I was wandering if this was a gas vs electric thing? Or just track builder preferance?

My 2 cents: An off road track should have elevation changes, big air jumps, fast spots, s-curves, lots of bumps and jumps. When I go to visit a track I want to see a mini CORR or Motocross track. something fun. If I wanted to drive on an oval I would own a sedan.

[GreenArrow]

Here's a pic of my little backyard track that is under construction. Hope's ya like! :D
http://redbird.net/madness/track1.jpg
and another
http://redbird.net/madness/track2.jpg
I'll have to watch out for those trees!

[jayskiia]

hey guys, after 6 months of arguing, whining, then building, our clubs track is up and going. we got the city to let us use a very overrun piece of land in a creek bottom. we cleared out many trees and underbrush, then started construction. it has an elevation change of 12 feet, and at one point, this change is pretty much a hill climb, about 45 degrees. it also has a cross over bridge, but it is on an incline so you can look right down inside of it from anywhere on the drivers stand. the lanes are 8 feet wide, which seem perfect for anything, as our tmaxx class can run 10 maxxes at a time. the area we are in is about 100x100, with a max. distance of about 150 feet from the drivers stand to the most distant point. it has nice tree cover and a double black pipe wall around the outside, with a gap of about 3 feet between the two. i will try to get pics asap

[aspiringrcracer710]

I got to my dorm yesterday, and there was a message in my voicemail, so I listen to it, and its an Onroad director from CAMARILLO, CA!!!! I think to myself (wow, this is great, I just included the number on a lark, I didnt actually expect somebody to call), Now I have a chance to finally make a few bux for myself with this track designing thing.

[eman88]

hmm
my pics arent working now
they should be up later
we plan on getting some pvc, and if it is at least 4in diameter we are going to cut it in half and spray paint it a bright color
that idea was mentioned farther back in this post
btw-here is the newest layout
http://pic5.picturetrail.com/VOL98/730906/1252016/14589574.ptp
http://pic5.picturetrail.com/VOL98/730906/1252016/14589574.ptp
we would stand at the bottom probably, under the quad, so it is easy to see that jump

[eman88]

this is the website to my photo album with the pics

http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=999&gid=1252016&uid=730906
i dont know why they arent working