Doc Fizzix Products
Doc Fizzix - Logo

MOUSETRAP POWERED CARS

Lock-Tight: mousetrap car kit Lock-Tight mousetrap car kit: parts High-Tech Braking System Mousetrap car gearing and pulling distance Lock-Tight mousetrap car kit: packaging

Lock Tight: Mousetrap Car Kit

Item number: KMTV375DF

Availability: ready to ship





Online Sale Price:  $34.95

safe-shopping-badge
Safe and Secure

Rest assured, our checkout system is powered by Shopify. The easiest and most secure online checkout system available.

amx apple pay discover google pay mastercard paypal visa
Same Day Shipping
Same Day Shipping

All orders received before 12:00 p.m. CST are processed and ship on the same day for all in stock items.

Free Shipping
Free Shipping

All orders over $100.00 USD ship domestic ground for free. Expedited shipping options also available at checkout.

Fast Delivery
Ultra Fast Delivery

All domestic shipping options available at checkout including UPS Next Day so you will have your order when you need it.

Talk to a Real Person
Talk to a Real Person

You will always get a real person when you call or email Doc Fizzix who knows our products and is excited to help you.

Product Description

Lock-Tight comes with our the most advanced and easiest to operate braking system available for a mousetrap powered vehicle. Lock-Tight uses our unique wing-nut locking bar braking system that can be set to stop at any distance from 0-20 meters. As the front wheels rotate a wing-nut travels along a threaded axle held from spinning by a locking bar until the wing-nut wedges tight against the frame of the vehicle causing the vehicle to come to an instant stop. Setting the braking system is as simple as placing your racer at the finish line where you want your vehicle to stop with the wing-nut in the locked position. Then the car is rolled back to the start line setting the wing-nut to the exact stopping position. Lock-Tight comes ready-to-assemble with pre-cut and pre-drilled parts so you will be ready for action on the same day. Lock-Tight also comes with two rubber traction treads that are designed to increase the stopping traction so your racer will come to an instant stop without skidding. As with all our kits, Lock-Tight comes with our complete step-by-step instruction guide that is written the for the visual learner filled with tons of top secret performance tips and tricks that have been developed exclusively by Doc Fizzix, with over 30 years of experience, so you will have all the information you need to make Lock-Tight a winner.

Travel Distance:

0-20 meters (0 - 65 feet)* Adjustible stoping distance

Top Highlights:

  • Top secret, high-tech mousetrap car braking system that can be set for any distance up to 20 meters.
  • The perfect mousetrap vehicle kit designed and engineered for your success. Comes ready-to-assemble with pre-cut and pre-drilled lightweight balsa wood frame.
  • Comes with Doc Fizzix's flexible rubber CD/DVD wheel spacers that are designed to act as tiny shock absorbers to damper small bumps and imperfections on the floor's surface providing for a smoother ride with an increase in both the speed and the travel distance of your vehicle project.
  • Includes Doc Fizzix’s Ultra thin, low-inertia wheels that are half the thickness of a normal CD/DVD and have only half the rotational inertia. Less rotational inertia means your vehicle will travel further and faster when compared to a normal CD wheel.
  • This mousetrap car kit comes with lightweight, 3/16" inch diameter brass tubing axles that spin freely with less friction for an increase in both speed and distance. Brass tubing axles do not warp like wooden dowels and provide for a much smoother ride without wobble.
  • Features Doc Fizzix's "easy-wind", "snag-free" propulsion system designed specifically for mousetrap powered racers.
  • Comes with our complete step-by-step instruction guide that is written the for the visual learner filled with tons of top secret performance tips and tricks.
  • Finished vehicle measures approximately 5 x 6 x 21.5 inches (H x W x L)
  • All our products are 100% made in the U.S.A by Doc Fizzix in Spicewood, TX.

Assembly Time:

Lock-Tight Kit can be assembled in less than 60 minutes for most first time builders and when finished, it's braking system can be set from 1-20 meters.

Skill Level:

Required Skills

  • Some knowledge of how a mousetrap car works.
  • Able to measure with a ruler in both inches and/or centimeters.
  • Experience working with wood glue and/or Cyanoacrylate glues (Super Glues).
  • Able to glue two pieces of balsa wood together.
  • Able to tie a loop knot in string.
  • Able to use needle nose pliers to cut wire.
  • Can problem solve during construction and make adjustments.
  • Can determine how to make adjustments to improve performance.

Recommended Skills

  • Able to sand parts to make them smooth.

Tools Required:

  • Needle-nose-pliers
  • Wood or Super glue

*Kits require assembly, actual results will vary and depends on the constructions skills of the builder, glue and tools not included. Lock-Tight does requier a little more work than our other mousetrap vehicle kits.


Parts List

Includes the following:

  • 1x - Victor mouse trap
  • 1x - Top secret high-tech braking system
  • 2x - Pre-cut and pre-drilled balsa wood frame
  • 1x - Pre-cut balsa wood deck top
  • 4x - CD wheels
  • 2x - Tire treads (balloon)
  • 2x - 6" inch Brass tubing axles
  • 8x - CD/DVD flexible rubber wheel adapters
  • 4x - Thrust washers
  • 1x - 12 inch lever arm
  • 1x - 18 inches Kevlar high-tech string
  • Doc Fizzix's easy-wind, snag-free propulsion system
  • Step-by-step plans with performance tips and tricks

Special Features

Breaking System

Lock-Tight comes with our the most advanced and easiest to operate braking system available for a mousetrap powered vehicle. Lock-Tight uses our unique wing-nut locking bar braking system that can be set to stop at any distance from 0-9 meters. As the front wheels rotate a wing-nut travels along a threaded axle held from spinning by a locking bar until the wing-nut wedges tight against the frame of the vehicle causing the vehicle to come to an instant stop. Setting the braking system is as simple as placing your racer at the finish line where you want your vehicle to stop with the wing-nut in the locked position. Then the car is rolled back to the start line setting the wing-nut to the exact stopping position.


High-tech mousetrap car braking system

Traction Treads

The biggest challenge with all high-speed and stopping contest is wheel traction. If wheels do not have enough traction your racer can spin its wheels and/or skid past it stopping point at the finish. Lock-Tight comes with traction treads to go around the stopping wheels that are designed to grab the road and bring your vehicle to an instant stop without skidding. With our traction treads your vehicle will come to the perfect stop each time you test your car so you can dial in your vehicles performance to perfection. While the rest of the field is skidding past the stopping point, Lock-Tight will be be coming to the perfect stop.


CD/DVD wheel traction treads

Pulling Distance and Travel Distance

When it comes to building a top performance mousetrap powered vehicle gearing is probably the most important concept every builder will need to understand. Gearing is how you control both the speed and the pulling distance for any mousetrap powered car. In order to understand gearing you will need to understand the following three terms:

  • Gearing.
  • Pulling Distance.
  • Total Travel Distance.

The gearing of a mousetrap vehicle is determined by three components, the length of the mousetrap's snapper lever arm, the diameter of the drive axle, and the diameter of the drive wheels. By attaching a lever arm to a mousetrap's snapper arm you can control both the pulling force and the amount of string that can be wound around the drive axle. The amount of torque delivered by the mousetrap's spring does not change but you can change the amount of pulling force delivered to the drive axle by changing the length of the mousetrap's lever arm. A longer lever arm decreases the pulling force but extends that pulling force over a greater distance. Shorter lever arms deliver a larger pulling force to the drive axle but have a shorter pulling distance. If you want to build a good long distance traveling mousetrap car then you will want a longer lever arm that has a smaller pulling force but that force acts over a greater pulling distance. Longer lever arms will give your vehicle more wraps of string that can be wound and unwound from the drive axle. If you want to build a good speed-trap racer then a shorter lever arm will generate more force for a greater acceleration but over a shorter pulling distance. The ratio of the drive wheels diameter to the drive axle diameter also play an important part in the gearing of a mousetrap racer, but the most common way to control both the speed and the pulling distance for any mousetrap powered car is by changing the length of the lever arm.


mousetrap car leverarm length and gearing

Lock-Tight Kit coems with a 12 inch lever arm for a maximum of 24 inches of string that can be wound around the drive axle. If needed, you can adjust the length of the lever arm by cutting with a dremel tool to increase the pulling force and get more speed out of your racer. Based on the overall gearing, the maximum pulling distance for the Lock-Tight Kit is 14 meters (47 feet) with an average total travel distance of 20 meters (64 feet) after the pulling force is spent and before the braking system is applied for most first time builders.


Mousetrap car gearing and pulling distance

Easy-wind, snag-free propulsion system

As with all our top mousetrap racer kits, Lock-Tight includes our "easy-wind" and "snag-free" string release system that will not tangle and/or snag on release for increased performance, a technique developed exclusively by Doc Fizzix for mousetrap and rubber band powered racers. Our snag-free propulsion system is designed to release from the drive axle once the pulling force is complete in order to maximize the coasting distance.


Mousetrap car easy-wind, snag-free propulsion system

Low inertia axle system

One of the design secrets that make Lock-Tight a guaranteed winner is it's low inertia axle system. Our lightweight, 3/16" inch brass tubing axles spin with less friction than wooden dowels for an increase in both the speed and the travel distance of your vehicle. Lightweight brass-tubing axles will not warp like wooded dowels and have a lot less mass than steel axles used in many of our competitors kits so your mousetrap vehicles will travel smoother, with less wobble, and less wasted energy for an increase in both speed and travel distance.


Low inertia, brass axle setup

Flexible Rubber CD/DVD Wheel Spacers

Lets face it, even the smoothest hallways and surfaces still have some small imperfections and bumps that can steal energy from a moving vehicle causing a decrease in performance. Our CD/DVD inserts are manufactured from a flexible rubber that is engineered and designed to act as tiny shock absorbers to damper small bumps and imperfections along the road surface providing for a smoother ride with less wasted energy increasing both the speed and the travel distance of your vehicle. Our CD/DVD Inserts are designed to fit perfectly inside any standard sized CD/DVD opening in order to converts the hole size down to fit a 3/16" inch diameter axle.


Flexible rubber, shock absorbing, CD/DVD wheel inserts

Easy to Follow, Step-by-Step Instructions

As with all our mousetrap vehicle kits, Lock-Tight comes with our complete step-by-step instruction guide that is written the for the visual learner filled with tons of top secret performance tips and tricks that have been developed, tested, and perfected exclusively by Doc Fizzix, with over 30 years of experience, so you will have all the information you need to make your mousetrap vehicle project a success. Our easy to follow, step-by-step instructions are filled images and diagrams designed to eliminate the guess work. You will feel confident and feel like a professional builder as you follow our detailed step-by-step instructions.


Reversible

A common mousetrap vehicle challenge is to build a car that travels forward and then comes back to the start. The reversibility of a mousetrap racer is just how you wind the string around the drive axle. Because of the unique design of our snag-free propulsion system, this kit can be used for all reversing mousetrap car challenges.



Shipping Information

Same Day Shipping!

All orders received before 12:00 p.m. CST are processed and ship on the same day as long as the item(s) are in stock; orders received after 12:00 p.m. CST will be processed and shipped on the following business day as long as the item(s) are in stock. Online orders take priority over phone and mail orders and therefor ship with a priority level of Burning-Red-Hot. Because of the extreme popularity of Doc Fizzix Products, items can go out of stock without warning. If an item goes out of stock, it will ship as soon as the item is back in stock with a priority level of Super-Duper-Burning-Red-Hot.



** OUR SERVICE PROMISE TO YOU **

** All in-stock orders placed before 12:00 p.m. CST ship same day **

** Shipments are Monday through Friday **



Why buy Doc Fizzix

We are so glad you found us!

At Doc Fizzix Products, we have been designing and making record setting mousetrap powered cars for more than 30 years. Doc Fizzix set both the speed and distance world records for a vehicle powered by a standard sized mousetrap. Unlike other mousetrap vehicle kit you may find on the market today, each of our kits has been designed through the engineering process from start to finish in order to guarantee your success. We use only the best quality parts and components in our products. Each component used in our kits and/or products is selected based on solid physics principles and proven performance results. All our kits and products are 100% made in the United States of America, we do not out source any of our components. When you buy from Doc Fizzix Products you are supporting an all U.S.A. family owned business. We have been featured multiple times in books, magazines, and on national aired television programs. Publications include The Science Teacher, Boys Life, Physics Today, National Hobby Distributer, and more. Our kits and products have been carried by more than a thousand hobby and craft stores across the country including Hobbytown USA and Hobby Lobby chain of store. Our kits are used in more schools across the country than any other brand. Be assured that when you buy a Doc Fizzix mousetrap racer you are getting the best mousetrap powered vehicle kit available on the market anywhere. We are Doc Fizzix...and we build record setting mousetrap powered cars!



YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

build your own mousetrap car kit

Build Your Own Mousetrap Car Kit

$16.95 USD

High-Tech Braking System

High-Tech Braking System

$9.95 USD

CD Wheels with Traction Control and Axle setup

CD Wheels and Axles with Traction Control

$9.95 USD


Shop by Category

top secret vehicle plans and book

Books and Plans

supplies in bulk

Supplies in Bulk

vehicle kits in bulk

Class Packs

hard-to-find parts and supplies

Supplies

Essential itmes, glue and graphite

Essentials

mousetrap, rubber band, and balloon powered racer kits

Vehicle Kits



We are Doc Fizzix...and we build record setting mousetrap powered cars!



fizz-O-matlightning