First weekend at the track

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Provff26

New member
Sorry for the long read but i just spew now when anything about karts comes out of my head haha

So last weekend was my first weekend at the track. Nice little hometwon track that runs mainly for fun but does organized "races" thoughout the day. it was my brothers second week in his kart. With his adjustments he went from being last and nearly undriveable last week to second in the feature in his predator powered flat kart, being narrowly edged out by a champ kart with an animal and a very reputable driver! Good work lil bro! (This time pf year they run most motors and champs and flats together for "features")

My first weekend was much like his first. I didnt know what to expect and only had enouhh time to do an engine change(predator) get a new seat and just get the thing together to race. WOW although i was called "quick" by everyone, especially for my first time, i thought i was driving a 30hp 1978 craftsman lawnmower around the track. It bucked and hopped and kicked like it had a lanyard tied round its testicles. Into the pit... Some pressure adj. ok it doesnt kick as bad now but its pushing like its in hour 20 of labor. Good god. Few adj here and there widening the rear stance it is able to go around the track now albeit not well. Feature time! The kart no longer pushed yet felt like front and rear were both being "pulled" to the outside of the track as my tires came in. And running with others i notice this thing has an anchor on the rear bumper. I was able to edge people through the corner but upon acceleratong out my doors would get blown off! im thinking damn i need to lose some weight my 230 lbs is really a hindrance! The kart was also the only one that was making considerable noise in the corners. Quite a little howl to her.

Through all this i still had a blast and am totally hooked. Especially after our findings yesterday!!! we found the kart 15 lbs down on compression compared to our other two. Quick valve adj and were back up to power. Anchor gone weight lifted. Next we check the suspension.... Why would anyone who supposedly ran the kart last at the dunking donuts race in providence have the entire kart set up to go right!! Can someone explain this?? My outside wheelbase was shorter than inside, and my inside wheel had negative camber in it, a considerable amount! Now i know why i had a four wheel "pull" to the outside. The inside wheel angle while in a turn was also so drastic it was basically dragging my inside tire through the corner. Hence the good squeal she was making. So after messing with camber caster ackerman toe and every other darn thing we could i should have a bramd new kart next weekend!! And am very excited

Any tips for the beginner would be greatly appreciated and i would like to know if that setup is what is used to run coke syrup? Cuz im at a loss the way it was set. More updates after this next weekend and thanks for help along the way
 
Just dial it up and keep on singing! That sounds like you have most of your key stuff up on the rails. I wouldn't change anything except the interior coating - which you can find just about anywhere these days. Also look at the sealant rules - that'll get ya every time! Take a look at one of the guides that the salvage crews put up. You will learn a lot about the game and will be a better driver for it.
 
Hmm alright i guess being in a flat concrete track it wouldnt be that bad. Its running on a slight banked 1/12 mile asphalt now so im hoping a little positive camber will help out. I just really couldnt understand the outside wheelbase being shorter than the inside. Its gona be a lil trial and error i guess. I cant believe how touchy these lil bastards are
 
Sounds like you are getting things figured out but one thing I would change is having champ karts running with flat karts...If one of those champs flips over on a flat kart you'll know what I'm saying.
 
Quic Raceway is a great place to learn. Enjoy your laps before the now flies. We'll be there this weekend but it will most likely be our last outing for the year.
 
Haha howd u know i was running quic? I love it and everyone there, so helpful! what karts are you running ri racer? ill be running until they say no more just to get more and more laps under my belt.
And I understand what your sayin about running the two together but if u were there its not too bad. Everyone is there for a good time and courteous. Its awesome and so are the people. Im sure it can happen but its such a small track itd be pretty tough.
 
You might be able to get a practice day during the week if you ask the owner, they may let you and a friend go to the track while nobody else is there and give you a chance to get some seat time and learn what adjustments do what for your kart. I know the tracks around here will let people do that sometimes if we ask, especially for a beginner. That is what i would do, one thing i would advise is to play around with air pressures in your tires and write down what air pressures worked with what kind of track conditions. What i mean is, if the track is wet start out with say 5 and 6 for air, keep working your way up and find out what the ideal pressures are for you to be able to handle the kart good without being all over the track or sliding around everywhere. Another thing, if your tires are making noise in the turns or howling, you could also be too soft on tires if you know your setup is right. Also, when you make changes to your kart, only make one change at a time then see how the kart responds, especially when your trying to fix a problem on the track, if the kart is too tight and you make several changes trying to fix it, then your next time out the kart really takes off and is fast, how will you know which change was the one that made the kart fast? See where im going with that?

Good luck with learning and dont be afraid to ask questions while your learning, the good people here on 4cycle will usually help with anything they possibly can if you just ask.
 
Thanks weddle. Its a little asphalt track so luckily we only have to deal with track temp. Were really just trying to find a decent starting point. I think the kart may have taken a good lik hence some of the things that are off. We are keeping details on pressure and weight religiously. Weight seems to be one of the biggest factors and our track seems to like a lot of stagger. Its fun and amazing how much you can mess with these things and change stuff up. I will keep in mind the one change at a time thing. The kart was just so far off last weekend we just wanted to get it back to a "classic" circle track setup and start from there. We only have maybe this weekend possibly next to run and would like a good solod starting point in the spring
 
Have you scaled the kart?

I wouldnt get too wrapped up in trying to dial the kart in right now before winter....your going to be better off going through the chassis over the winter, re-aligning everything, checking bearings, and scaling it to the correct numbers for your height/weight.
 
Yea we scaled it, i know im off on my weights. Scales are coming to the track with us on sunday the guy who used to work on the kart will be there. My right front is real light but seems to load well being such a short track so im gona try it and start from there. Ill have my father text me the numbers today, ill throw em up here for everyones input, and im gona do some number crunching while at work. Maybe make a few adjustments before i get to the track depending on te replies. Im def not worried about dialing in the kart perfect now. Its too cold and im too new. My main goal is just to have a good sarting point in the spring
 
Ok ive got some numbers for you guys rf 52 lf 120 rr 120 lr 125
I know changing the caster in the lf added weight to it and took some off the rf and lr. What would be your suggestions to changin weight? Dropping spindle height on the rf? Im 230 btw. And we moved the seat forward after last week
 
Provff26 said:
Ok ive got some numbers for you guys rf 52 lf 120 rr 120 lr 125
I know changing the caster in the lf added weight to it and took some off the rf and lr. What would be your suggestions to changin weight? Dropping spindle height on the rf? Im 230 btw. And we moved the seat forward after last week
Click to expand...

Right now your numbers are:

41.2% Nose
58.7% Left
42.4% Cross

Do you know what your camber is? Castor? Stagger?

The thing you have to understand, is that every single corner of the kart effects every other corner when you make a change...there is no magic adjustment, and each one is a balance to achieve the minimum amount of grip needed.

Without knowing ANYTHING else other then what I know about Sr. Champs on asphalt, ill point out a few things:

Your nose is WAY too low...you need to be up around atleast 44-45%
Your left looks pretty close...maybe a tick more, up around 59%
Your cross is WAY too low...you need to be up around 52-54%

With such low nose and cross, the kart is BURYING the RR tire in the track, hence the bouncing and hopping.

If I knew your cambers I could tell you alot more
 
We dont have a camber castor guage yet. Just did it the old way with a level for camber. Positive in the rf negative in the lf. And used castor adj to get the left side wheel base shorter than the right which i know threw off my weights. Were running around 18 lbs in the right side. 8 lf and 5 lr. Ls tires are 33 1/2 invh dia and right side right about 35" dia
 
Provff26 said:
We dont have a camber castor guage yet. Just did it the old way with a level for camber. Positive in the rf negative in the lf. And used castor adj to get the left side wheel base shorter than the right which i know threw off my weights. Were running around 18 lbs in the right side. 8 lf and 5 lr. Ls tires are 33 1/2 invh dia and right side right about 35" dia
Click to expand...

Castor doesnt effect your wheelbase...castor is used to control weight transfer and how the kart mechanically jacks weight. A good starting point would be "center"..meaning you line up the center of the castor block to the center line on the chassis..this is called factory castor.

Are you sure you have POSITIVE in the RF and NEGATIVE in the LF? It should be the other way around, unless your level isnt reading correctly. You should be around 0* on the LF, and -3.5* on the RF to start.

Thats also WAYYYY TOO much air pressure..Start at around 12 on the rights, 10 on the left. Less air pressure makes the kart freer, more air pressure makes it tighter
 
Yep i was wrong negative rf, positive lf just slight because there is a little bank to the track. Sorry that still confuses the **** outa me lol im gettin there. The wb was off like i said. The left side was longer than the right. Correct me if im wrong but wont adding positive castor to the lf shorten the wb and add weight to the wheel because of the rearward/downward rotation of the whole assembly? We came out with the correct wheelbase numbers(1/8" longer wb outside) when we did this along with a slight negative change in the rf. i believe the marks are at 4 on the lf and 9 on the rf. If im completely off my rocker please let me know. Sorry i camt give degrees yet because of no gauge but this is the est info i can give. This is just what ive gathered working on the kart with my father. Hes an old stock car guy so he could quite possibly be wrong and/or rusty. Were all learning!
 
Im worried im going to have trouble with the weight distribution because of my size and shape. Im 5'11" and 230 but carry most of my weight up top. I wear a 54 jacket lol cuz i have such a wide chest an shoulders. My seat is as far forward as it can be atm. How would you go about changing the weight in my situation
 
You could increase the nose weight by raising the back of the seat up, or lengthening your chain to get your motor forward. If all else fails, add weight to the nose...the correct percentages are 10x more important then overall weight

What kind of chassis is this?
 
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