Initial chassis set up. Camber.

T

turtle5353

Member
Hi, guys. New guy here. I was wondering when you are doing your initial set up on your kart to adjust the camber do you do it with wheels on sitting on level surface, on scales, on stand with kart level??? Should everything be in race form?? driver in kart, tires to proper pressure?? I am asking because I have never adjusted a kart before or set one up. Its a 2001 Shadow storm. I am buying the heim spindle kit to make the front end completely adjustable and get rid of the pill front end also looking to buy a caster camber gauge. So I need to know where to start once its all assembled. I have the setup sheet from Shadow, but need a quick lesson on how to set up the kart. It was already set up for a kid and my son fits it almost perfect. Another question is.... the left side tires can be aligned with a straight edge on the outside face of the rims and the right side tires can be aligned on the inside face of the rims is this correct??? Any help hints would be great. This is for a flat 1/8mile dirt oval. Son is running a flathead in the purple plate rookie class. 8 years old. Thanks!
 
Flat level surface, tires at race pressures, driver with gear in the seat. Align the rights to be parallel, RR as close to frame as you can get. LF toe out 1/16 - 3/16, LR 1" off frame.
I have a new Long acre Castor Camber gauge that I can sell for $80.00 shipped it has only been used twice. Comes with adapter to thread onto 5/8-11 spindle. I don't need it any more as I have a laser set up now. LMK
 
Yes camber is set with driver in place on level surface as it will be raced.
But lets back up because there are several steps that need to be taken, to insure your young driver's first year is a pleasant one, for now nothing beats seat time, but he has to gain confidence in his ability, the kart and his crew chief, if any of those are way out of wack and he has some bad experiences his first year, it can go from him loving karting, to doing it just because he see's dad enjoys it.
First completely tear the kart down and rebuild it making sure everything works as it should, make sure the bumpers and Jeff's move freely
Mount the front spindles with equal amount of washers top and bottom, mount rear axle in the center holes
Mount the seat next, mounting the seat is one of the most important steps to ensure the kart works correctly.
For a Jr the bottom of the seat needs to be 1 inch above the top of the chassis, the front needs to be about 3/16 of an inch from the steering upright and the right side seat strut about 4 to 4 1/2 inches off the motor rail.
Drill the holes in the seat slightly larger than the carriage bolts and use 1 1/2 in fender bolts on the inside of the seat, between the seat and struts use rubber washers and use nylon lock nuts and just snug them down.
You should be able to remove the seat, put it back in place and the holes line up without having to twist the seat to do so.
Next mount the rims and tires, the fronts need to be in as far as possible without rubbing anything as they spin.
The Right rear tire has to be in ad far as it can, it will end up being an 1/8 or a little more from the chassis, if you do not have a double locking RR hub, back it up with a lock collar.
Now measure across the rear tires from the outside of the contact patch to the Left outside contact patch, this is just the part of the tire that touches the ground, you should have 38 1/2 inches to start.
Now squaring the kart.
The Right side and left side tires do NOT line up with each other, this is why our karts are known as offsets
Ill post more later, gotta get to work
Back of the seat 9 1/2 inches off the rear axle
 
Thanks for the replies gentlemen!! I can use all the help I can get. This is my sons 2nd year in racing. Last year we bought a phantom stalker and just moved the pedals and bolted a seat in added some weight to make the class minimum and ran. He did very good in the 1st year rookie class. We did absolutely nothing to the chassis and he was consistently getting 3rd and 4th. Even got 4th in points overall. He absolutely loves racing now. So I decided to buy him another kart and some of the equipment to get him set up properly. So now im getting this shadow storm ready for him and want to know how to set it up right. I have done a TON of reading online and seem to get a lot of mixed info. So all the help is greatly appreciated!!
Runbuster2 can you text some pics of the gauge to 724-290-4497? Can you take paypal?? Thanks again!!
 
Why not get him a newer chassis that is fully adjustable? You can buy a new 2015 Ultramax Xceed for around $1850
 
Thats understandable....can usually find good deals on newer chassis here in the classifieds or on Facebook in the karting classifieds, less than $1000 for 2010 and newer chassis. Just about anything 2003-2004 and newer should be fully adjustable...one chassis around that year that has been a great all around chassis and easy to adjust and learn with is the 2005-2006 Millenium Tempest chassis, you can usually find them for around $600-800 if you look around
 
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