Help with a pushy Badmax

jacobsdad

Member
My daughter is running a Badmax, I think a 2011 or 2012. All season she has been running great, running in the top 3 most nights. Today we went to a different track to run a couple of weeks there to end the season. The track was smaller with shorter straights than our usual track, it was a lot flatter track with very little bank to the turns, and it was sandy. Everything coming off of the track was dusty with fine sand, so it was a very slick track. There was a very narrow driving lane where they could get traction.
Here is the numbers she has been running on.
Left 54%
cross 55%
nose 44%
RF camber -2.5
LF camber +.5
front stagger 1 1/4 and rear stagger 3/4 inch.

In the hot laps she was feeling a bad push, so I increased the stagger in the rear and moved the left rear out 1/4 inch, from 3/4 to 1 inch. She was still having a bad push, so I decreased the cross by 2 washers. In the second heat she was feeling a little better, but still pushing bad, enough to throw her off the track a couple of times. So before the feature we lowered the cross by another 3 washers. She said it was handling a lot better, but I could see it was still pushing bad. When she came around the turn in front of the stands I could see her front wheels turned as far as they could turn to the left and could hear her tires squealing. She was able to hold it on the track, but she had to put way too much wheel in it to make it turn. She also was stuck in last place, she just could not make any speed. She is running on a Briggs flathead, turquoise plate on 15 / 68 gears.
She is running Maxxis pinks and blues. For the feature we prepped the front and right rear tires but left the left rear without prep to try to loosen that tire up a little.
 
To clarify I changed the stagger to 1 1/4 front and 1 inch rear. The RF wheel is in as close as I can run it on the spindle. The LF can be moved in about 1 inch without rubbing, and can be moved out about the same. The wheel is pretty close to being centered on the spindle.
 
Im no expert but I have an opinion. First I would raise the nose percentage to 47%.
Second, I have always wanted my cross and left percentages at least 3% difference. When they are close to the same the kart will be on the tight side. I also dont know how much rear stagger you have now, but I would keep the rear at a minimum 1.250". These are just my suggestions and I am sure what you are doing is way different than what Im doing. But I feel more nose is where Id start by looking at your numbers. Also, go to the Umax website and look at their setup sheets. They should get you close.
 
Your issue to start was to low nose %, plus not enough bite in the tires ( under prepped ), most likely only reason it got a tick better late was track came to the tires a tad, I would move all adjustments back and start again with more nose 46.5 % min, work some bite in the tires during the week.

Good Luck !
 
Will do!
These races are basically just for fun for the kids. The season is winding down, so we are just getting the kids out there to experience a different track and different drivers. It is a good learning experience for all of us! My daughter was pushing, my son was loose, and both karts were way off on their gearing.
 
If the tires are squealing then they are too soft. Go up to 56 left and start around 52 on cross. Nose is a little light, but Badmax requires less nose. Maybe go up to 45 or 46 nose.
Right front should be all the way out then in one quarter, left front should be all the way in then out one quarter.
 
I agree with fast36. Try 46F, 52-54X and 56-57L.
If your on approximately 1/6 mile track or smaller try 1-1/4" rear stagger.
 
no one asked about air pressure which I think could be a major factor or cure... I would start with 5 on the left and 6 on the right (or 4 and 5) if it still pushes I'd start adding 1/2 lb at a time to the right rear until it got loose... i'm sure there are better fixes but for at the track fun races where you can get alot of laps in I like playing with air pressure and keeping notes of effects... many times at the track it's all you have and it's a great knowledge base... the other issue is this track just doesn't drive like the track she is use to... adjusting driving style can make up for what are thought to be handling issues... since the end of the season we have been running at a backyard track and my son had a huge push on this much smaller flatter track... we spent 20-30 laps just adjusting driving style ... slower higher in and powering off.. vers.... adjusting the kart... just so he'd have that if his set up went to crap someday and was faced with the same situation... great drivers adjust to the track when it's the only option JMHO
 
Watch the tire duro also . Super soft lf and a hard rr will cause a push also .. I'd go to 1 1/2" rear stagger front stagger don't mean all that much cause u can get the same effect by moving washers as stagger Change ( jmo) the rear ended how ever has to move as one and it effects it way more then the front.
 
I had a 2004, and we went from ss-11s to ss-22s, and the car was perfect. we turned ours into a champ car, and it is a really good car, and we went back to 11s.
 
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