First weekend at the track

[Provff26]

Thanks so much for the all the advice. I honestly dont know what brand the chassis is. I think the tag was removed when it was painted. There will be a guy at the track this weekend that may know

Ill try raising the seat because i have it set right at 14 inches now and will be bringing lead with me to the track. Could raising spindle height (lowering the front) by a few washers help much or not really?

 

[JPMKarting]

It would help a little bit....but moving the washers up and down will change your camber

If you can text me pics of the kart, I can probably tell you the make/model....610-636-3497

 

[W5R]

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

id agree with this 100%, definately get the cross and the nose percentages up, it will make a ton of difference. ALso, how are you being so light at 200 something pounds, most tracks have a minimum weight for the classes, and lite is usually 325 at least. Also, seat placement on a kart can make a world of difference to how that kart handles, even a half inch in the wrong direction can put you in left field from what i have experienced.

 

[Provff26]

Total is 415ish. I am 230 alone lol. I will mess with the kart tomorrow when i finish this damn 24 hr shift see if i cant get the weight better on it. If not ill have lead with me on sunday to play with. Also, the guy before me had the rr set way outside parallel with the rf. maybe 2" offset outwards. I was told these should be square in the best case for an asphalt oval track. I know this technically should tighten a kart moving it inwards but will it change my weight distribution any? Will it change it for the better or just load the rr more. I also have plenty of room on the lr to widen the rear stance back out to loosen it up if need be

 

[W5R]

anytime you move one of the rear tires in or out, you are changing how fast or slow the kart transfers weight, if i remember correctly.

 

[XXX#40]

Total is 415ish. I am 230 alone lol. I will mess with the kart tomorrow when i finish this damn 24 hr shift see if i cant get the weight better on it. If not ill have lead with me on sunday to play with. Also, the guy before me had the rr set way outside parallel with the rf. maybe 2" offset outwards. I was told these should be square in the best case for an asphalt oval track. I know this technically should tighten a kart moving it inwards but will it change my weight distribution any? Will it change it for the better or just load the rr more. I also have plenty of room on the lr to widen the rear stance back out to loosen it up if need be

The RS tires wont line up and are not suppose to, that is the offset built into the kart.
The RR needs to be in as far as possible, like 3/16 off the frame rail.
The RF needs to be in as far as possible without it hitting anything.
Also you need to see if the RF has lead adjustment on it, if so it sounds like its in the rear position which is a good thing on a tight asphalt track.
Also there should be a center mark on the caster plate, and mark's on the L block, the center mark on the L block should line up with the mark on the caster plate, this will be the factory location.
Is the rear axle mounted in the kart correctly, and does it have adjustments on it?

 

[Provff26]

Just wana thank you guys with some tinkering my numbers are wayyyy better than before and any last adjustment will be done at the track with lead and a few little things. Hope the kart runs well ill update tomorrow night

 

[Hawkeye79]

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

Don't worry about your size affecting your ability to get your numbers right. I'm 6' 240 and don't have any trouble getting the percentages I need. Just follow the good advice given and you'll get there.

At this point you just need to get it close and practice as much as you can. It takes a LOT of seat time before you get your driving down. One of the most important things is racing as regularly as you can. This was my first year back after being out of karting for around 10 years. I find that when I take a few weeks off I fall back quite a bit and it takes awhile to get back in rhythm.