Chassis tuning tips

Keep an open mind! No matter what anyone tells you, do what works not what is supposed to work. When in doubt leave it alone. If you don’t have time to test a change before the race and you aren’t positive it will be a good change, don’t do it. To make your chassis work properly you need to balance the amount of bite in the chassis. You need a neutral chassis without too much bite and not too loose. The perfect setup is easy to drive. Everyone has different driving styles and can use different setups to find perfection. Only make one change at a time.

If you need more traction or bite

	Rear – add seat struts
	Rear – Longer rear wheel hubs
	Rear – Stiffer rear axle
	Rear – Raise your seat
	Rear – Add rear torsion bar
	Rear – Tighten the nerf bars
	Rear – Use stiffer seat

	Front – Lower your front spindles or raise the chassis
	Front – Add caster to the front spindles or raise the chassis
	Front – Increase the camber on the front spindles (Angle the top of the spindle away from the tire)
	Front – Raise tire pressures
	Front – Raise weight on the kart

If you need less traction or bite

	Rear – Loosen or remove seat struts
	Rear – Shorten rear wheel hubs Rear – Remove rear torsion bar
	Rear – Loosen the nerf bars
	Rear – Use a softer seat
	Rear – Lower your seat
	Rear – Use softer axle
	Rear - Lower tire pressures

	Front – Raise your spindles
	Front – Reduce the caster angle (Move the top of the spindle toward the front of the Kart)
	Front - Reduce the camber on the front spindles (Angle the top of the spindle toward the tire)
	Front - Lower tire pressures
	Front – Lower weight on the kart

Axle bearing adjustment

Problem: Lack of rear grip.

Solution: On karts using a 3 bearing rear axle design, under certain conditions where grip level is low extra grip may be gained by loosening the center bearing. Remove the 3 bolts from the alloy bearing flange and loosely fit three cable ties through these holes. If you have seat struts fitted you will need to remove the seat strut from the alloy –bearing flange

Problem: Kart is two wheeling excessively through corners

Solution: Raise axle in chassis.

Problem: The back slides/ the kart oversteers going into the turns

Solution: Make sure the back axle is located full down in the chassis (i.e. the kart with maximum rear ride height)

Spindle height adjustment

Problem: The back slides/the kart oversteers going into the turns

Solution: Raise the front ride height i.e. lower the front stub axles in the chassis by one spacer at a time.

Problem: There is too much steering or front end bite on turn-in

Solution: Lower the front ride height i.e. raises the front stub axles in the chassis by one spacer at a time

Brake Adjustment

Problem: The engine has no top end speed

Solution: Verify the brakes are not dragging. If needed, increase the gap between the rear brake pads and the disc by removing shims between the caliper piston and the brake pad.

Problem: Excessive pad clearance between each pad and the disc

Solution: Reduce the gap between the rear brake pads and the disc by fitting a shim between the caliper piston and brake pad. You must do this on both sides to ensure pad clearance to the disc is equal. Remove the pad safety pins and fit a shim between the caliper piston and the brake pad. Refit the safety pins. You can fit additional shims as the pads wear more, however, ensure you do not fit too many shims as this could cause the pad return springs to spring bind and this will seriously affect your brake performance. Should you encounter difficulty fitting the shims then remove the four pad return bolt/springs, fit the shim and refit the return bolt/springs.

Crash bar adjustment

Problem: Understeer from the apex and out of the corner

Solution: Loosen or remove the bolt at the front mounting point of both side supporting bars (nerf bars) to the chassis.

Front end Alignment

Problem: Engine lacks mid-range punch when applying throttle from the apex of the corner

Solution: Increase the amount of Ackerman by moving the steering links to the inner mounting holes on the spindles.

Problem: The back slides/the kart oversteeres going into the turns

Solution: Reduce the Ackerman setting by one hole on the spindles

Problem: There is too much steering or bite on turn-in

Solution: Reduce the Ackerman setting by one hole on the spindles

Adjustable camber and caster

Problem: The back slides/the kart oversteers going into the turns

Solution: If camber/caster adjusters are fitted on the kart, reduce the caster setting

Problem: There is to much steering or front end bite on turn-in

Solution: If there are camber /caster adjustors in the kart, reduce the caster.

Problem: There is understeer all the way through the turn

Solution: If there are camber/caster adjustors in the kart, increase the caster

Front track

Problem: Understeer on turn-in to the apex of the corner

Solution: Widen the front track by a 5mm spacer at a time

Problem: Oversteer or very sensitive front steering causing the rear to slide

Solution: Narrow the front track width by a 5mm spacer at a time