flatsixforme

AX Junkies,

My PCA region is attempting to buy new cones for our AX program and we are running into some dead-ends. All the cone suppliers we used to use (it's been almost 5 years since we last bought cones) no longer carry the soft based cone we are all used to seeing. Many are an injection molded (stiff and thick) bottom where the soft PVC cone is then attached. The all-PVC cones we are finding still seem to either be glued to a stiffer plastic base or the base contains a much thicker amount of material. All this said, I wonder where other AX programs around the country are sourcing these old soft base cones from. Any leads would be great. (FYI...yes, several of us have done extensive internet searches for the right cone and unless you happen to know of a search function we don't we've probably already found and dismissed any cone you find on the internet. What we are looking for are actual references as to where people are buying AX cones.)

Thanks in advance!

sjfehr

It's been a while since my local club bought cones, and I'm not exactly sure who we sourced from. But we did have a discussion on this here a year or two back might help you:

https://rennlist.com/forums/autocros...buy-cones.html

Scootin159

Our (SCCA) region just buys them from the national office. Obviously doesn't do you any good, but if you contact them they may reveal their supplier.

flatsixforme

Good stuff, thanks guys!

cb911racer

At least in Wichita , Northern Tool sells cones that work.

Mussl Kar

Lakeside Plastics.
http://www.lakesideplastics.net/traf...y/products.htm
I managed to do a group buy with 3 clubs here. I bought a whole pallet of 500. If you plan ahead you can get an even better price if you buy seconds. You're just going to run the things over so who cares if they don't look perfect when you get them. Full pallet of 500 can also get you free shipping.

f4 plt

just bought some additional ones for our region from Home Depot

jpowers

Buddy up to someone in the industrial safety area. My company is the Gases/Welding/Safety business and we have access to cones.

sjfehr

You've got to be careful; normal road cones have hard weighted bases and can cause body damage when they're hit. You need to get special all-soft-rubber cones for autocross.

f4 plt

So far no one in our region has had body damage from the Home Depot cones, but the cones have had damage from being hit. Why is it they only hit and drag the new cones?

Seriously though, the point is well taken as in not having weighted bases on the cones.

sjfehr

My SCCA region just bought a bunch of cones from SCCA (order form is on the SCCA website for regional supplies); 20 cones for $100. SCCA is printed on one side and TIRERACK on the other; they're nice cones.

The other indie club I'm with bought a bunch of (near as I can tell) identical cones from a local construction supply company for about the same price with shipping and all considered. No markings, though, just bright orange.

Thought it might be fun to give some of our more worn cones a "viking funeral" this past event only to get complaints about people thinking we were intentionally doing it to get freebies when we solidly smack half the cone about 20' in the air, but incur no penalty because the base stayed entirely in the box. No, that wasn't the intent, but it sure looked that way. So, lesson learned: put them only where someone is assured of hitting a good cone, too, so it becomes a question of +1 or +2 for the run, which isn't nearly so divisive a conversation.