Greetings everyone. This is a rare post from yours truly Msquared.
I was filling a manual order for JC Specality, and as usual I was reading some pages from my chassis manual. It got me to thinking, especially about staggers, casters and cambers. I remember a topic about front stagger and some people saying that it does not matter. After all, when you calculate the height difference of 1.25" to 1.50" of stagger, the overall tire height and change to chassis height is very small. A lot will say front stagger is used to set cross. True but drop spindles are a much better option. However, that very slight change in height due to a stagger change has big consequences. It changes a lot of things related to the front-end especially the front roll-center, which is negative on the front and highly positive on the rear. Just look at it this way, put 1.75" of front stagger in and RF caster or 10 and LF caster of 6, run the kart. Then flip the caster numbers and reset your camber and other percentages. The handling and corner speed will be different. Same for rear stagger. 1.5" will be different than 1.75". That tiny bit of increase will increase your turning power, meaning the kart will turn in a tighter arc. Do not confuse front stagger and rear stagger. They are different in that rear stagger deals with tires that are connected by a solid axle. Front stagger is dealing with heights and rates of spindle jacking.
Lets now explore the build of the driver. Jr. Restricted, a boy is say 5'3" @ 100 lbs, another boy of the same class is 5'11" @ 145 lbs. The setup and tire prep is going to be different for both of them but I see it all the time, the setup and tire prep is the same for both boys! WRONG!!!! Super Heavy is the same way. I see drivers in that class running air pressure of say 5 lbs when in fact they should be running air pressure of 8 lbs or more! Why run on sponges? I had a super heavy guy running on much higher air pressure and less tire prep and he was running stock medium times!
The lesson is, DO NOT DO what everyone else is doing, do what works for you. Think outside the box. Look at your driver compared to the others. If they are 5'5" and your driver is 6'0", why in the World would you run the same setup and tire prep? Even if your drivers are the same height but carry their weight differently, the setup will be different.
Think about it people.
Mike McCarty
I was filling a manual order for JC Specality, and as usual I was reading some pages from my chassis manual. It got me to thinking, especially about staggers, casters and cambers. I remember a topic about front stagger and some people saying that it does not matter. After all, when you calculate the height difference of 1.25" to 1.50" of stagger, the overall tire height and change to chassis height is very small. A lot will say front stagger is used to set cross. True but drop spindles are a much better option. However, that very slight change in height due to a stagger change has big consequences. It changes a lot of things related to the front-end especially the front roll-center, which is negative on the front and highly positive on the rear. Just look at it this way, put 1.75" of front stagger in and RF caster or 10 and LF caster of 6, run the kart. Then flip the caster numbers and reset your camber and other percentages. The handling and corner speed will be different. Same for rear stagger. 1.5" will be different than 1.75". That tiny bit of increase will increase your turning power, meaning the kart will turn in a tighter arc. Do not confuse front stagger and rear stagger. They are different in that rear stagger deals with tires that are connected by a solid axle. Front stagger is dealing with heights and rates of spindle jacking.
Lets now explore the build of the driver. Jr. Restricted, a boy is say 5'3" @ 100 lbs, another boy of the same class is 5'11" @ 145 lbs. The setup and tire prep is going to be different for both of them but I see it all the time, the setup and tire prep is the same for both boys! WRONG!!!! Super Heavy is the same way. I see drivers in that class running air pressure of say 5 lbs when in fact they should be running air pressure of 8 lbs or more! Why run on sponges? I had a super heavy guy running on much higher air pressure and less tire prep and he was running stock medium times!
The lesson is, DO NOT DO what everyone else is doing, do what works for you. Think outside the box. Look at your driver compared to the others. If they are 5'5" and your driver is 6'0", why in the World would you run the same setup and tire prep? Even if your drivers are the same height but carry their weight differently, the setup will be different.
Think about it people.
Mike McCarty