USAC Racing Forum

Where do you get the pads to cover like the nerf bar & such? Are they held on with velcro? Something else? And do you recommend them?

Most people use pipe insulation that you can get from home depot or lowes on their nerfs, steering rod etc.  It has a self adhesive strip in the slit that holds it together but you can also use electrical tape if youd like.  You can also use those colorful pool things from Wal Mart on your ramp door cables for safety and over the steering rod for extra protection because they are so thick.

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100552697&marketID=157&locStoreNum=3811&categoryID=531155

The pool thing I mentioned for the ramp door cables and steering shaft is called a pool noodle.

A-ha! Okay. And we have pool noodles. ;)

Pool noodles work great.

If you are going to put padding in the car you should try to use something that will not ignite and burn easily just in case of a fire. I dont know if pool noodles or pipe insulation would fall into a fire resistant catagory.

I don’t think the steering column padding would be as much of a fire issue as the foam padding under, behind and around the fabric seat they sit on which catches fire pretty quickly.

http://www.saferacer.com/longacre-protecto-roll-bar-padding-black-only.html?productid=614
 Here is a link to some very inexpensive fire resistant padding which is easy to use and is only $4.75 for a 36" long piece.

Thanks for the link. ;) Where does it say, though, that the Longacre padding is fire resistant?

Be sure to look at the tubing diameter, you will want something that fits good and doesnt just flop around.  You could always double up the steering column with the larger one over the smaller one, extra protection here for the knees wouldnt hurt.

Just in case anyone else with the same question stumbles upon this link, Noah & I went to Lowe's today & purchased pipe insulation. We got the 1/2" softer, squishier one for $3.97 (6'). There was also another kind that looked/felt more like those pool noodles for $1.97 (6'). The 3/4" and 1" diameter strips looked liked they'd be too big for the steering rod. Found these in the plumbing section.

Just to warn. We bought one of our cars last year. It had padding on the steering column that was zip tied on. At one of the special races we had, the steering column snapped in half. Upon further investigation it had rubbed thin where the zip tie was tightened down on it. So just be careful how you hold it on there.

This has adhesive strips along the open edge, where you just press the edges together. Doesn't have anything that I see would potentially cause friction to the steering rod, and should be pretty easy to rip off when needed.

Interesting situation with the zip tie, Burns. Thanks for sharing. ;)

In addition to the self adhesive, I wrapped with some electrical tape.

As for the zip ties, were they metal or plastic because it's hard to believe that plastic zip ties would wear through a metal shaft.  Also, was your shaft solid or hollow, one piece or two?  I am guessing two piece or hollow based on the snapping comment.

I recommend one piece solid, unless you’re at the track and bend yours and need one in a pinch, get a two piece adjustable to finish the day and then replace with a one piece and keep the two piece as a backup in the trailer.

Hollow. To be fair, that wasn't completely what made it snap. We were at a temp track for a special race and the track was a little rough. But you could see where it wore on the shaft, but I can speculate that the previous owner of the car probably never changed the shaft or padding and zip tie, so I'm sure it took a long time to get that way. We kind of scratched our heads about it too.

Yea, I used a two piece once because ours got bent and it was all that was available at the track.  It worked until I could order a new solid one.  Never did like it though, seemed cheesy to me.

That is good information...I was looking at one of the two piece adjustable length steering shafts for AJ's car, but I think I will stay with what we have after hearing that.  I couldn't imagine what it would be like for a kid to be driving that car and all of a sudden the steering wheel isn't turning anything.

One of our team mates last year actually tac welded his to get the slop out because the bolts just didnt do it for him.

Our drivers says it didn't scare him, but after seeing another kid's come out because it was loose, he sure yanks on it before every run.

I bet!

I never really thought about the slop that the adjustable steering shaft would have created.  I am really glad I read this thread, it saved me some money because I would have ended up welded that steering shaft together too.