Pinewood Center Gravity Mass Test Stand

Say good-bye to single use tools with Derby Dust’s Pinewood Center Gravity Mass Test Stand.  As always Derby Dust tries to make the best of a tool to make it do more than one thing.  We first came up with a jig to allow you to install wheels without damaging the wheels you just put on.  I printed it and as soon as it came off the bed I was like I’m going to add a COG Mass Balance stand to it.

Pinewood Derby Wheel Install Jig

Age old problem solved with one tool.  The Center of gravity stand first started out as just the wheel install JIG.  We designed this to be able to  Install your wheels on one side, flip the car over and place the installed wheels inside the holes.  It was made square, but could not fit on our print bed, so we had to round the edges.  Now you can apply some force to install the second side of axles, without breaking things.  Use our axle pusher / remover tool to get a perfect gap every time.  This is for “standard wheelbase” cars where the slots are being used. It won’t work well on cars with fenders, though.

Pinewood Center Gravity Mass Stand

This balancing point (COG) will differ from car to car due to design, type of weight, type of wood, etc.  Knowing at what point your center of gravity will help you determine how aggressive your steer will need.  It will also need to be adjusted according to what type of track you are racing on.  Center of Gravity Mass matters if you want the best setup.  With a completely assembled car,  start balancing with the rear of the car hovering over the numbers.  Once you balance it, look down at the witness marks and locate where your rear axles are.  This will tell you your COG.  Learn the whole process here

Why is Center of Gravity Mass so important?

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