Rear Bite

I use the iRaceWeigh app to track my scale numbers on our karts. In addition to the standard numbers it provides a "rear bite" number. The rear bite number appears to be the weight of the LR minus the RR. When reviewing my data I noticed I have over a 20 lb spread on the rear bite number. These are all at the same overall weight (350 lbs) between a few different karts. I hang 70 lbs to make weight. This allows me some opportunity to change the rear bite number relatively easily while being able to maintain the other scale numbers. With that said, is there a general rule that I should try to follow to obtain the proper balance when scaling a kart?
 
Ineresting , the one thing i used to hear was have the left rear 50 lbs heavier then the rr . Now i haven't heard this in awhile .
Pay attention to your percentages if there right everything should be good .
Tracking the rear bite #along with handling characteristics might provide a trend .
 
Dirt late model and modified racers use this number instead of cross weight to identify the same thing. They also look at rear percentage instead of front.
Just a different numerical way of describing the setup.
Bite numbers are manipulated by the same method as cross.

Put your weight where you need it to make left and front weights. then move washers, or rear pills to get bite number.

Just terminology. depends on who you are talking to. if it make sense to do it that way.
 
I've been tracking weight distribution for several years now. From what I've seen, when running suggested numbers through the software I wrote, I've noticed a trend in what I call the rear cross and front cross.

I've seen weight differentials on the rear cross from 50% to over 200%. On average, 80% to 110% are the most popular suggestions to start with. A common way of describing weight distribution is; front, left and cross. People, looking for those numbers, often give their corner weights. My software can take either and converted to the other.

If you want to send me your corner weights, or the percentages you want, and your total kart and driver weight, I'll send you a picture of my spreadsheet with your numbers.




Thank you much
 
Ineresting , the one thing i used to hear was have the left rear 50 lbs heavier then the rr . Now i haven't heard this in awhile .
Pay attention to your percentages if there right everything should be good .
Tracking the rear bite #along with handling characteristics might provide a trend .
I'm ranging between 75 lbs on a Prodigy cadet & 101 lbs on a standard Prodigy difference between LR & RR. Our other karts (Recon, Deuce, Triton JR, Exodus, & Rival) vary between the two. I usually just set them up to factory nose, left, and cross numbers and have good results. My son supports his racing program by buying & selling karts so we are constantly setting up a different kart. He is also being asked which model does he like best. He comments that they drive different but doesn't really have a preference. I'm wondering how much is the difference between models and then how much may be due to the placement of lead. As you mention, there may be a trend if I keep good notes.
 
I'm ranging between 75 lbs on a Prodigy cadet & 101 lbs on a standard ou mention, there may be a trend if I keep good notes.
Funny, it wasn't that many years ago that I was told that I was crazy, and worse, to include that rear cross number in my spreadsheet. Rear cross and front cross. It's nice to see someone is keeping track of that number.

As you can see from this example, the rear cross is 168% and 89 pounds, I wonder what 101 pounds would do. When I see numbers like that I tell people to be careful on the cross weight, it's got to be pretty good. demo cross.jpg
 
I've been tracking weight distribution for several years now. From what I've seen, when running suggested numbers through the software I wrote, I've noticed a trend in what I call the rear cross and front cross.

I've seen weight differentials on the rear cross from 50% to over 200%. On average, 80% to 110% are the most popular suggestions to start with. A common way of describing weight distribution is; front, left and cross. People, looking for those numbers, often give their corner weights. My software can take either and converted to the other.

If you want to send me your corner weights, or the percentages you want, and your total kart and driver weight, I'll send you a picture of my spreadsheet with your numbers.




Thank you much
Hi Al - thank you for the offer. I'm good for now but if some information surfaces in this thread I might take you up on it.

I'm hoping to gain some insight on whether there is a preferred relationship between LR & RR. I'm relatively new to karting therefore I read quite a bit on this site. I'll reference back to articles multiple times as my knowledge grows. I've read that generally you want to run as low of nose weight and as much left as you can. I'm a bit conflicted on cross but believe it's as much as you can while still handling well. I read an older post by I believe "JWD" that talks about balance. It sounds like at that time some believed as long as the numbers were right it didn't matter how you got there while JWD thought it definitely mattered. I'm wanting to take our program to the next level and thought maybe someone would be able to provide a tolerance to stay within or logic used when setting up a kart.
 
I have been wondering the same. What is the range of bite a kart needs? I have my kart set to factory recommended percentages and have push middle off. When I look at the weight on the tires my instead of % the left rear is nearly 105lbs heaver than the right rear.
425 total 60L, 66X, 46N . left front 8, +0.5 . Right front 11, -2.75 .
 
Hi Al - thank you for the offer. I'm good for now but if some information surfaces in this thread I might take you up on it.

I'm hoping to gain some insight on whether there is a preferred relationship between LR & RR. I'm relatively new to karting therefore I read quite a bit on this site. I'll reference back to articles multiple times as my knowledge grows. I've read that generally you want to run as low of nose weight and as much left as you can. I'm a bit conflicted on cross but believe it's as much as you can while still handling well. I read an older post by I believe "JWD" that talks about balance. It sounds like at that time some believed as long as the numbers were right it didn't matter how you got there while JWD thought it definitely mattered. I'm wanting to take our program to the next level and thought maybe someone would be able to provide a tolerance to stay within or logic used when setting up a kart.
You have to tweak the % ages to find the PREFERRED RALATIONSHIP your looking for, then once you've found the sweet spot you can note weight of both rears and could for your own determination refer to them as the Preferred realationship. If it were as easy as saying make the LR 60 lbs more than the RR ( that's just an example ) people a lot smarter than us would have already been doing so.
 
I have been wondering the same. What is the range of bite a kart needs? I have my kart set to factory recommended percentages and have push middle off. When I look at the weight on the tires my instead of % the left rear is nearly 105lbs heaver than the right rear.
425 total 60L, 66X, 46N . left front 8, +0.5 . Right front 11, -2.75 .
Your LR weighing that much more than your RR is simply because of your higher cross, the more cross you add the more that spread will be, your set up numbers are not to far off BUT your cross is a little high lower it to 63 %.
What size track ? what's your staggers front and rear ? Distance of RR inside edge of wheel to cassette hanger ? and same on LR ?
 
Your LR weighing that much more than your RR is simply because of your higher cross, the more cross you add the more that spread will be, your set up numbers are not to far off BUT your cross is a little high lower it to 63 %.
What size track ? what's your staggers front and rear ? Distance of RR inside edge of wheel to cassette hanger ? and same on LR ?

Thank you for the input I’ve been thinking/wanting to drop cross but so much push on running high cross.

1/5 mile, 1-1/2 front , 1-1/8 rear. RR 1/4 off , LR 7/8.
 
Thank you for the input I’ve been thinking/wanting to drop cross but so much push on running high cross.

1/5 mile, 1-1/2 front , 1-1/8 rear. RR 1/4 off , LR 7/8.
Man everything is close, how are both rear pills set ? And Sorry should confirm the chassis is a Rival ?
 
I've never cared about the rear bite numbers, but looking back into the saved setups ours have been as low as 36 & as high as 108. All depends on the surface your setting up for (left & cross).
 
I have been wondering the same. What is the range of bite a kart needs? I have my kart set to factory recommended percentages and have push middle off. When I look at the weight on the tires my instead of % the left rear is nearly 105lbs heaver than the right rear.
425 total 60L, 66X, 46N . left front 8, +0.5 . Right front 11, -2.75 .
I was just wondering what a 1% increase in the front percentage would do. If it did help, but you need more, what about 1 1/2% increase?

I think you need to know the radius of the turn when setting the stagger.

If you noticed any difference, between your numbers and mine, it's probably because your numbers don't include any decimal places. Just a guess. My spreadsheet is accurate to 2 decimal places.20rival_1 8 14 20.jpg
 
I was just wondering what a 1% increase in the front percentage would do. If it did help, but you need more, what about 1 1/2% increase?

I think you need to know the radius of the turn when setting the stagger.

If you noticed any difference, between your numbers and mine, it's probably because your numbers don't include any decimal places. Just a guess. My spreadsheet is accurate to 2 decimal places.View attachment 10692

Thanks AL yes I rounded some of my numbers but that your spreadsheet is pretty spot on. That is a nice spreadsheet a lot of info!
 
I looked at bite numbers for years on our dirt cars. Not going to say it's wrong, just not the best way do setup. Cross is the number to look at. It is one of those I've spent 30 understanding and would take that long to explain
 
I looked at bite numbers for years on our dirt cars. Not going to say it's wrong, just not the best way do setup. Cross is the number to look at. It is one of those I've spent 30 understanding and would take that long to explain
I have 30 minutes?!!!

Lol
 
Your LR weighing that much more than your RR is simply because of your higher cross, the more cross you add the more that spread will be, your set up numbers are not to far off BUT your cross is a little high lower it to 63 %.
What size track ? what's your staggers front and rear ? Distance of RR inside edge of wheel to cassette hanger ? and same on LR ?

PM sent
 
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