Slot.it Axle Blocks

Since taking the magnets out of the car, I was struggling with keeping the front wheels on the track. I first checked the braids, keeping them flush with the chassis so they couldn't spring the front end. Then I tried making an axle adjustment to get the wheels down, and discovered that the axle blocks inhibit the amount of downward movement to the axle and wheels.

So I removed them.

The #8 Ford front end after the axle blocks have been taken out. Upward movement is still the same and controlled by the grub screws on top of each side of the axle, while downward movement has improved, bringing the wheels back to the track.

I spoke with a few other people who agreed with me that the axle blocks weren't really needed, and in fact they sometimes caused problems due to binding.

The axle blocks. Small as can be. In fact, the first time I removed them was through a violent accident while taking the front axle assembly apart. They flew away and weren't located until the next day.

The Alfa is of slightly older construction and uses an oval-shaped insert to keep the axle in place. It has a limited upward movement, and when the blocks were taken out, the downward movement improved.

The Alfa front end. It has lower profile axle blocks, and the axle sits well in place without them. This is in the most downward position, which is not making any contact with anything.

This morning I was going back to the boxes the cars came in to retrieve an M2 wrench that is taped on the bottom. As I grabbed the wrench off the box for the #11 car, I noticed it contained two small grub screws. I put them into the Alfa's front end.

Taking out the axle blocks gave me just the right amount of room to bring the wheels down, and all three cars sit perfectly now, without magnets. Here's pics of the post-extraction:

Ultimately, I will be buying the necessary grub screws for the bottom of the axle. I'll have more adjustment possibilities with them than without them. However, I now have the movement that I wanted in the front and can live with it for the time being.

If you're reading this, I would suggest you try removing the axle blocks if you're having difficulty keeping your wheels on the track. Best slight improvement I've made so far.