left front washers
- Thread starter gmo
- Start date
If you are lowering the LF spindle you are taking cross out. But beware, on some older karts (including my '98 model) moving two washers from the bottom to the top actually raises the LF spindle and adds cross. Make sure the spindle is mounted "inside the frame". Older karts had the spindle mounted "outside the frame". Look up the Phantom Banshee as an example of a kart with the spindle mounted "outside the frame". Very different and just one example of why generic online questions and generic online advice can lead you the wrong direction.
nogoats
Member
On the right side, lowering the axle raises the cross. The left side is the opposite. http://nogoats.net/no-goats-setup-sheets/
spotteddawg
New member
Wait- raising left front ride hieight ( frame rail to ground) takes cross out?
The higher a corner the more weight it carries, so if you lower the spindle it raises the frame which puts more weight on that corner.
Since the kart weighs what it weighs that extra weight will come from another corner/s.
Yes, it takes cross out.
hogans goat
New member
Sorry No Goats, you stepped in front of a target I've been meaning to shoot at for years.
Raising or lowering a spindle is incorrect terminology. The spindle/axle don't move. Stays where it is. To move it, change the tire size, deflate the tire, put a piece of wood under the tire. Moving washers above or below the kingpin barrel raises or lowers THE FRAME !!
Lowering the frame at the LF takes weight off the LF tire which increases cross. Thus, removing a top washer allows the frame to drop. Same thing happens on the RF wheel. Lowering the frame on the RF decreases cross. SIMPLE ! No confusion. Raise the frame increase weight, lower the frame, decrease weight.
A Newbie asking for help is already confused. Telling him to raise or lower the spindle will drive him nuts.
Another tip from an old racer: How do you like to drop the washers in the grass, at night ? Don't remove them ! Most karters run +/- 1.5" stagger. You wanted to mount a new LF tire and it came out 1/4" bigger or smaller. SAVE IT ! Put it in the rack. Instead of fighting the washers, change the tire ! Now you're changing the height of the frame AND THE SPINDLE ! lol ! I use the same size tires on the left side, so I keep a rack of them in 1/8" increments. Drop them washers and you won't make the second practice. Change a tire and you have time to check the car over. If you need more change, change the tire again.
hogans goat
New member
LMAO ! I'm 77 yrs. old and I shake to much to change washers. I find that small changes in front stagger have little impact, so that's where I fine tune cross.
rebsfan4
Member
It's just common terminology that people have used for years upon years. It's no less confusing than people coming on here and saying it's wrong to tell them to lower or raise a spindle. 99.999% of these changes will be made with the kart on the stand. When the kart is on the stand, the frame is stationary. It is easy to see the spindle move up and down in relation to a stationary frame as apposed to the true fact that the rake of the frame will be what has changed when the kart is sat back on the ground.
What you say is true and it's nothing that hasn't already been discussed a multitude of times. We know it is changing the rake of the chassis. What I find funny with these type things is how some people say it confuses people who are trying to learn. Keeping it simple for the people trying to learn is what's less confusing. In the beginning it's easier for most new people to visualize a change in spindle position as apposed to chassis rake. The understanding of chassis rake comes in due time. Kinda like crawling before you can walk and walking before you can run.
Now you all continue to confuse away.......
nogoats
Member
Since I usually only work on the RF, I've helped myself remember which is which with my thumbs. When thinking of the RF, I hold one thumb up and one thumb down. Left thumb always represents the cross, the right thumb is the spindle. When one thumb is up the other is down. Raise the spindle (right thumb pointing up) lowers the cross (left thumb pointing down). Lower the spindle (right thumb down) raises the cross (left thumb up). It might do something to the frame but it's all I can do the remember what the spindle is doing. It works for me and my beer-addled brain.
but it's all I can do the remember what the spindle is doing. It works for me and my beer-addled brain.LOL a battle of goatsIt might do something to the frame
I'll go with nogoat cuz,,,,, the kart is on a stand or raised off of the scale pads when washers are being adjusted therefore the frame does not change but the spindle height does. When it hits the scale pads or ground again h-goat is correct. Now I need a beer.
Definitely seems like an easy way to do it, but you're changing other things besides cross when doing it this way. If you're shrinking or stretching tires to change tire sizes, it's easier to just change washers. If you're changing tire size with air pressure, you're changing even more things.