square rear

MHandley49

New member
i am looking to see if my rear is square because i know some have lead built into them by the manufacturer does anybody know a way to go about this?
 
Are you asking about lead up at the front end or at the back of the chassis?

The following was written assuming you were asking about the back.

Great question, my first thought is you'd have to ask the manufacture. But then again if they did build into the chassis something they considered to be lead, I don't think they would want to tell anyone how it's added to the design.

And with LTO kart chassis having so many twists and turns in their tubing and not being the same from one side to another, I don't know how you would measure for it. If you take a chassis and put lead in the back, then the axle will no longer be square to the rails the engine is mounted too. But when you say built in, it brings a lot of other things into the picture which by definition of built in, would hide the lead.

For a reference up front I think you would first consider the axle being square to the engine rails and then measure how far forward each front spindle is located in front of the axle. No lead would put both the same distance in front of the axle. That's my guess, i'm sure you'll get better answers.
 
square the kart (wheels straight foward) the best you can... then you put un-bent rims without tires on front and rear (right side)... take a 4 foot level and place tight against the rear rim the rim in the front should have a gap if its same distance in the front and the rear of the front rim then no lead if there is a difference you can see if there is positive lead or negative lead... my 2008 element had 3 inches of positive lead within the front to rear in its normal position. Now this is only one way to do this as there are several ways such as a string line and even expensive laser tools. You can see clearly as the axle is straight in karts and the rear wheels will be pointing outside as if going down the straight away the wheels are pointing toward the wall.
 
square the kart (wheels straight foward) the best you can... then you put un-bent rims without tires on front and rear (right side)... take a 4 foot level and place tight against the rear rim the rim in the front should have a gap if its same distance in the front and the rear of the front rim then no lead if there is a difference you can see if there is positive lead or negative lead... my 2008 element had 3 inches of positive lead within the front to rear in its normal position. Now this is only one way to do this as there are several ways such as a string line and even expensive laser tools. You can see clearly as the axle is straight in karts and the rear wheels will be pointing outside as if going down the straight away the wheels are pointing toward the wall.
I have a question. Would this also show right front inset as lead ?
front could be inset and not have any rear lead.
 
I guess I don't know what you mean hopefully someone else can answer that for you
Because the front tire is inside the rear does not mean it has lead. It could be that it is set in towards the left.
I would say very few modern karts That do not have lead/ lag ( there is a common misconception about which way each goes) .
Knowing what kart the op has would likely get an answer with out any efforrt on there part.
 
String your kart and get it sq. Then check to see if it has and how much it has i dont know of any offset karts that donot have lead in it
 
We never worried about whether our rear axle was square with the frame. As a matter of fact, we usually changed the RR pills and pulled the axle back. But when we do this, we always reset the toe using the accuetoe pro. This means when the kart is going down the straights, all four wheels are pointed straight ahead. But when the kart goes into the corners, this lengthens the RS wheelbase and puts a small amount of rear steer in the chassis. This makes for a slightly free chassis through the corners, and is not comfortable for some drivers. It's for use mostly on small tight tracks. As long as you are setting your toe off of the rear axle, the relation to the frame rails shouldn't be that critical. IMO.
 
No matter how much axle lead is in the kart or out of square the axle is, all 4 wheels will be straight while headed down straightaway. Now when the steering wheel is turned there is a difference.
 
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