IS YOUR ISAAC SYSTEM TOO LOUD? HAVING TROUBLE HEARING VAN HALEN’S “I CAN’T DRIVE 55” AT FULL THROTTLE? WELL, WE’VE FIXED THAT LITTLE PROBLEM.
When we first heard this complaint from some racers we thought it was amusing. It prompted smart-aleck remarks--which we were too polite to utter--like, “So, start your engine,” and “Get a bigger motor.” All racers said they didn’t notice any noise when on track, so we figured it was no big deal, although it was something we kept in mind for future improvements. We’ve been considering some type of coating (and ignored suggestions that we make the system out of rubber) to cut down the noise, but hadn’t made much progress.
Lately, however, the product has become well received in the HPDE environment with much quieter cars and instructors who are in radio communication with students. We spoke recently with an instructor/customer who claimed the noise issue was his only complaint. Now we had a problem.
We told him that we had considered dipping the spherical rod ends in hot wax, but knew the wax wouldn’t hold up. He said, “Why don’t you use Plasti-Dip?” to which we replied, “Huh?”
If you want to turn down the volume on your Isaac system, disassemble everything and dip the rod ends in some Plasti-Dip. It is made by Performix and is available at places like Home Depot for either $5.98 or $6.98 depending on the color (honest). Don’t forget to reassemble the rod ends with Loctite Blue.
The only problem we see is that the stuff is a bit thick for the machining tolerances we use, so you will have to apply mild pressure to stuff the rod end back into its receptacle. It can be diluted up to 20%, so we may go that route if we put this feature into production. If anyone knows of an alternate durable, thin coating, please let us know.
As an aside, noise is lower when the mounts are glued in place, rather than bolted.
Thanks to another customer for yet another great idea.
------------------
Gregg Baker
Isaac, LLC
[email protected]
