Front End Alignment - Kartpedia
Front End Alignment - Kartpedia
Front End Alignment - Kartpedia
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This is because the combined grip of the rear tyres would simply push
the front wheels straight ahead. To overcome this problem, karts have
steering geometry designed to lower the inside front wheel and raise
the outside front wheel in relation to the chassis at corner turn-in (know
as jacking effect).
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This change of front wheel heights causes a weight transfer from the
inside rear wheel to the outside rear wheel and the inside front wheel.
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This mechanically lifts the inside rear wheel off, or nearly off the track
surface at the moment of turn-in. Once the kart is turned into the corner,
this mechanical weight transfer becomes less important and is largely
superseded by weight transfer due to cornering forces. Because of this
weight transfer to the inside front tyre, most of the initial turn in front grip
comes from this tyre. However, most of the mid corner and exit grip
comes from the outside front tyre.
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steering wheel too gently at turn-in, the kart may behave in a similar
manner as if it won't transfer weight from the inside rear wheel. But this
article is not about driving skills!
So let's have a look at what these various settings are and how they
work:
Toe is the degree to which the front wheels point toward or away
from each other. Front wheels pointing toward each other is toe-in
and toe-out is the opposite of toe-in. Toe-in makes a kart more
directionally stable, but can contribute to poor turn-in to corners.
Toe-out can cause the kart to be directionally unstable, but can
assist the kart turn-in to corners well. With toe-out, the inside front
wheel moves down in relation to the chassis more than it will with
zero toe or toe-in.
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Try thinking about it this way, if you're losing only % per lap to the kart
in front due to poor alignment (or any other reason) then in ten laps, on
a 700 metre track you will lose 35 metres. It doesn't even take a kart
length to lose a race!
So what is good alignment? A well aligned kart will have the toe and
camber settings at, or close to zero toe and camber. This will ensure
that the tyres are being used as they were designed, not slowing the
kart on the straights and also maintaining a wide patch of rubber on the
track in corners. It should also have enough scrub radius and caster to
adequately transfer weight from the inside rear tyre at turn in (a kart
should effectively be almost a three wheeled vehicle in corners).
Most karts, most of the time, will probably handle and accelerate better
with toe set to absolute zero. Sometimes slight toe-out will help turn-in
to corners, but rarely more than two millimetres (except in wet
conditions, when larger toe-out settings can be helpful). Setting camber
to zero will nearly always be the best starting point, and can be fine
tuned using tyre wear as a guide, or tyre temperatures across the tread.
A very general rule of thumb is; the less available grip, the more scrub
radius, caster and tyre pressure should be used. So how do I achieve
accurate alignment? There are several wheel alignment methods and
tools available for this purpose.
Methods not requiring special equipment:
The cheapest way (free!) and most commonly used to set toe, is
the old scribe a line around the tyre method. This involves (oddly
enough) scribing a line around the circumference of the tyre,
setting the steering straight ahead (or as straight as you can
guess), then measuring between the scribed lines at the front and
the back of the tyres with a tape measure. Any difference in these
measurements (in mm's) is the toe setting (more or less). The
downsides of this method are that it is not good for measuring
camber and can be somewhat time consuming and awkward. It
does not set the front wheels equally with the kart's centreline or
rear axle and the effect of Ackermann geometry can throw the
alignment off.
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settings can be read. These plates are clamped to the stub axles
using four bolts and are connected to each other by means of a
separate straight bar. It is this bar which provides the reference by
which the alignment is measured. Their operation is easy to
understand and settings can be measured and adjusted fairly
quickly. This tool sets both stub axles equally to the kart centreline
so Ackermann geometry cannot affect alignment. The downsides
of the 'Exac-Toe' are that it must be removed and replaced on the
kart between measuring toe and camber and it is not designed to
measure dynamic settings.
Sniper Laser Alignment System uses laser beams for easy and
quick alignment. They can be fitted and removed without having to
remove front wheels,
At the stratospheric top end of the market, is the 'Pro-K Laser
Toe Gauge'. This device is also produced by an American
company, 'Advanced Racing Technologies', and is designed to
measure toe only. It utilises a laser beam passed underneath the
chassis to a second unit that reflects the beam back to the first
unit. This is an extraordinary piece of gear, accurate to a claimed
2000th of a degree. This, I'm sure is accurate enough for anybody,
as you would expect from a company that makes larger versions of
this tool for measuring Indycars and a product costing in excess of
$1,200.00 (Australian $). The ability to measure toe to such a
degree of accuracy, does not mean that it is necessarily easy to
set the toe this accurately. This is because the toe setting will
slightly toe in when the tie rod end lock nuts are tightened. This
change must be allowed for, and is basically something of a
guess regardless of the means used to measure it (and will be
different from kart to kart). The "Pro-K Laser" is perfect for
measuring dynamic toe settings. A.R.T. also produce the 'Smart
Camber II", an electronic tool for measuring camber / caster
settings, and the "Rear Axle Alignment Fixture" for accurately
measuring wheelbase (used with a tape measure). The
downsides of the 'Pro-K' are cost, and it is not designed to
measure camber.
The newest product available is the Zero Toe Bar (ZTB) kart
alignment system from 'J.L. Racing Products'. This Australian
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