Axles, Axles, Axles….

Even the best car with the best wheels isn’t getting to the winner circle without a good set of axles.

If you’ve ever taken a close look at a regular BSA Pinewood Derby® scout nail axle you would see just that… a nail. Out of the box they are not quite straight and the shaft is oval not round. There are rather large ridges on the inside edge where the head meets the shaft and deep grooves where the machine grabs the nail shaft and then SMASHES the end to form the head. This alone is an excellent way to slow a car down, but unfortunately there are even more defects working against speed.

We offer a couple of very fast SPEED AXLE alternatives as well as standard scout axles for you to tinker with. Check your race rules to see what is allowed. STRAIGHT, SMOOTH AND POLISHED AXLES GO FASTER.

Luckily, the axles don’t have to rotate. The BSA axles (nails) are not straight and they do not have a circular cross section. So, as long as you have a straight, smooth and highly polished surface on the bottom of the axle where it contacts the wheel bore, you’re in good shape. Think about it – The axle can actually be FLAT on top as long as the bottom is curved to the proper radius and polished. I don’t spend a lot of time trying to make a nail straight with a perfectly round cross section. Rather, I opt to remove the inherent flaws and true up the surface before giving it a nice polish.

IMPORTANT: The products and construction techniques described are all developed to improve the performance of your pine wood derby cars. Please consult your local racing rules as some of the methods and / or products may be not be allowed.