| I went looking for the Front Range HO website to refresh my memory on a T-Jet armature only to find that the site no longer exists as of this writing. Fortunately several years ago I had copied that information. After a considerable amount of effort in searching my file archives I found it. If you are looking for some great armature information courtesy of Front Range HO then click the read more link. |  |
Early Thunder-jet 500
OHM Range: 17.5 - 21+
Gold, Red, and Green Wire with Gray Tips
Know as the "Christmas Tree" armature - the Model T of pancake slot car arms...
OHM Range: 17.5 - 21+
Gold, Red, and Green Wire with Gray Tips
Know as the "Christmas Tree" armature - the Model T of pancake slot car arms...
These were usually found in the earliest Thunder-jets, the type with the solid rivet, or "button" chassis
They typically OHM pretty high, fairly uneven and tend to run hot when used with stronger magnets. If you have some of these, you may be better off putting them in your older keepers along with a solid rivet chassis and set of matched black magnets to retain their originality and value.
However, if you can find that rare one with equal resistance winds, a good pair of weaker matched magnets can make for a fairly responsive racer.
There were some variations of this arm; You may find some with (Green|Red|Green) colored poles or even (Red|Green|Red).
Typically, arms with 2 similar colored poles seem to have steel instead of copper center shafts; they also seem to have fairly decent ohm tolerances as compared to thier tri-colored brothers.
Performance part? Rarely, but they could be readily found in the early days of the Fray...
They typically OHM pretty high, fairly uneven and tend to run hot when used with stronger magnets. If you have some of these, you may be better off putting them in your older keepers along with a solid rivet chassis and set of matched black magnets to retain their originality and value.
However, if you can find that rare one with equal resistance winds, a good pair of weaker matched magnets can make for a fairly responsive racer.
There were some variations of this arm; You may find some with (Green|Red|Green) colored poles or even (Red|Green|Red).
Typically, arms with 2 similar colored poles seem to have steel instead of copper center shafts; they also seem to have fairly decent ohm tolerances as compared to thier tri-colored brothers.
Performance part? Rarely, but they could be readily found in the early days of the Fray...
Later Thunder-jet 500
OHM Range: 15.0 - 21+
Copper, Green, or Red Wire with Gray Tips
This is a Slot Car Racing Armature?
OHM Range: 15.0 - 21+
Copper, Green, or Red Wire with Gray Tips
This is a Slot Car Racing Armature?
You bet. At first blush, you probably would't choose one of these for a racer (due to the higher OHM ratings) however these are actually pretty good arms and just happen to be the type of arms found in T-jet fray-style racing, try to keep pole-to-pole ohm tolerances to +/- .1 and use matched magnets for best performance.
There is an article on the VHORS site reviewing magnets; it suggest that stronger Super II and JL magnets didn't provide any better performance than medium strength matched magnets.
Current fray rules allow for Johnny Lightning magnets, due to the strength matching being very consistent. You might be surprised at what one of these will do! These will still yield better "Seat of the Pants" results in a T-jet than a lower ohm magna-traction arm in most cases.
There is an article on the VHORS site reviewing magnets; it suggest that stronger Super II and JL magnets didn't provide any better performance than medium strength matched magnets.
Current fray rules allow for Johnny Lightning magnets, due to the strength matching being very consistent. You might be surprised at what one of these will do! These will still yield better "Seat of the Pants" results in a T-jet than a lower ohm magna-traction arm in most cases.
Wild Ones and early A|FX (except magna-traction)
OHM Range: 5.0 -8.0
Green Wire with Gray Tips
What Gives?
OHM Range: 5.0 -8.0
Green Wire with Gray Tips
What Gives?
At first glance these arms seem to have the characteristics of potential, but for some reason fall short. We've never taken the time to pull one apart, but it can only be due to the wire thickness, amount of winds or a combination of both.
They seem to run hot and don't respond as readily to stronger magnets. Easily confused with higher resistance early T-jet Arms due to the color combination.
They seem to run hot and don't respond as readily to stronger magnets. Easily confused with higher resistance early T-jet Arms due to the color combination.
Speed Wind (Wild Ones)
OHM Range: 6.9 - 8.0
Green or Green Wire with Green Tips
OHM Range: 6.9 - 8.0
Green or Green Wire with Green Tips
As the predecessor to the "Mean Green", this arm was intended to be used with the 12t pinion contained in the original Aurora Hop Up kit and could be found in some of the Wild Ones cars.
Also available as a separate item for a limited time through Auto World. Like its "Tuff Ones" big brother I demonstrates good top speed with jus a slightly lower torque profile. Best suited for cars that have been lightened, or use some of the lighter bodies and wheels
Also available as a separate item for a limited time through Auto World. Like its "Tuff Ones" big brother I demonstrates good top speed with jus a slightly lower torque profile. Best suited for cars that have been lightened, or use some of the lighter bodies and wheels
Tuff Ones
OHM Range: 6.0 - 7.5
Green or Copper Wire with Green Tips
OHM Range: 6.0 - 7.5
Green or Copper Wire with Green Tips
Available on the Aurora Thunder-jet Tuff Ones series of cars, these were the fastes armatures produced by Aurora for the Thunder-jet style chassis.
Tuff Ones were produced after the Wild Ones and offered increased performance (advertised at 760 scale MPH!) and a few new body styles. The Tuff Ones also introduced the 14t Cluster Pinion which is probably why these arms produce a fairly good mix of top speed and low-end torque. When run on 20V with the proper amperage, these can really come alive... tuff Ones arms were also available on some of the earliest AFX cars as Aurora transitioned from "screw-on" T-jet to "snap-on" A|FX bodies and chassis. The early Tuff Ones arms had copper colored wire with later models having green wire. Unfortunately Aurora decided to re-introduce the copper and red color combination on most of the AFX magna-traction cars throughout thier production runs.
Use the ohm meter as your guide, because you don't want to confuse the earlier Copper|Red Tuff Ones arms with the later Copper|Red magna-traction arms if performance is your goal
Tuff Ones were produced after the Wild Ones and offered increased performance (advertised at 760 scale MPH!) and a few new body styles. The Tuff Ones also introduced the 14t Cluster Pinion which is probably why these arms produce a fairly good mix of top speed and low-end torque. When run on 20V with the proper amperage, these can really come alive... tuff Ones arms were also available on some of the earliest AFX cars as Aurora transitioned from "screw-on" T-jet to "snap-on" A|FX bodies and chassis. The early Tuff Ones arms had copper colored wire with later models having green wire. Unfortunately Aurora decided to re-introduce the copper and red color combination on most of the AFX magna-traction cars throughout thier production runs.
Use the ohm meter as your guide, because you don't want to confuse the earlier Copper|Red Tuff Ones arms with the later Copper|Red magna-traction arms if performance is your goal
Again this information was provided by Front Range HO on their website called Slot Monsters
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