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robjrlewis
Joined: 11 Oct 2011
Posts: 10
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 Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 8:43 pm Post subject: Wheel Alignment |
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Howdy,
So I've started playing around with setups and decided to put a neutral setup on the front of my Tony Kart EVR. Both pills on the left and right front are in identical positions (arrows pointing inwards top and bottom) but when I place my snipers on the spindles to align the steering it tells me I have 1mm positive camber on the left and 2mm negative camber on the right. I can't figure out why i'm getting two different readings when both sides have identical settings
Anyone got any ideas? |
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T.J. Koyen
Joined: 06 Sep 2007
Posts: 1493
Location: Wisconsin, USA
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| Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 9:51 pm Post subject: |
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Is the steering wheel centered? If it is, then start checking to see if your kingpins are straight. Sometimes if you loosen the kingpin and retighten it, it'll straighten it self out, if there's a little kink in the linkage or something.
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Christian
Joined: 08 Jan 2008
Posts: 372
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| Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2012 10:17 am Post subject: |
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Or perhaps your steering wheel IS straight, but the wheel isn't actually straight on the column. Make sure it's the bottom of the column that's centred rather just the wheel (Took me ages to notice this was the problem on mine)
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DGorman
Joined: 19 Jan 2009
Posts: 880
Location: London
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| Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2012 11:44 am Post subject: |
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Could be:
- Steering not actually straight - Check either as Christian has mentioned, or measure from the outer end of each stud to the rear axle - Should be the same
- Chassis bent - Many simple checks, e.g. Place a bar (read: old axle) across the top of the yokes and measure to the deck, on flat ground obviously.
- Stubs bent - Can get a vague idea by placing a straight edge across the top of the stub.
- Play in kingpin bearings (though I'd be surprised, given what you've said) |
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robjrlewis
Joined: 11 Oct 2011
Posts: 10
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| Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2012 7:47 pm Post subject: |
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| Cheers guys, I was hoping nobody would say it was a bent chassis, which I suspect it might be as it is second hand, but I'll measure up the stubs and chassis and check the kingpins to be sure and let you know. At least if it is the chassis I don't have to worry about bending it now! |
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robjrlewis
Joined: 11 Oct 2011
Posts: 10
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| Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2012 9:26 pm Post subject: |
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| Forgot to mention, I always centre the steering from the bottom of the column like Christain pointed out and reset the tie rods to max toe out so the tie rod lengths are equal on each side, but when I try to set the toe in/out to 0 it takes the right tie rod an extra 6 to 7 turns to hit 0 compared to the left. Is this normal? Could this be knocking my camber readings out? |
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FAPhreak
Joined: 28 Jan 2009
Posts: 176
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| Posted: Wed Feb 29, 2012 9:19 pm Post subject: |
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| I encountered a difference in camber before with an OTK kart and was told by a dealer that its that way from the factory.... I can't remember what the difference was however... |
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Peter Zambos
Joined: 11 Dec 2009
Posts: 122
Location: Chicago, IL, USA
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| Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 5:16 pm Post subject: |
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| robjrlewis wrote: | | Forgot to mention, I always centre the steering from the bottom of the column like Christain pointed out and reset the tie rods to max toe out so the tie rod lengths are equal on each side, but when I try to set the toe in/out to 0 it takes the right tie rod an extra 6 to 7 turns to hit 0 compared to the left. Is this normal? Could this be knocking my camber readings out? |
Silly question, but did you make sure that the length of threads of the ball ends are the same on right and left? If the set on the right is longer, this would make sense. I don't think that this would be knocking your camber readings.
I would agree that it sounds like you have a small tweak in the frame. Of course, it may not have been perfect in the first place. A few years back, the North American OTK importer did openly disclose that there is a certain tolerance of production variation that is allowed for a frame to be acceptable to leave the factory. This is, by no means, a slight against OTK as most, if not all, manufacturers adhere to the same practice. |
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awi
Joined: 28 Jul 2010
Posts: 477
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| Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 6:14 am Post subject: |
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| Peter Zambos wrote: | | robjrlewis wrote: | | Forgot to mention, I always centre the steering from the bottom of the column like Christain pointed out and reset the tie rods to max toe out so the tie rod lengths are equal on each side, but when I try to set the toe in/out to 0 it takes the right tie rod an extra 6 to 7 turns to hit 0 compared to the left. Is this normal? Could this be knocking my camber readings out? |
Silly question, but did you make sure that the length of threads of the ball ends are the same on right and left? If the set on the right is longer, this would make sense. I don't think that this would be knocking your camber readings.
I would agree that it sounds like you have a small tweak in the frame. Of course, it may not have been perfect in the first place. A few years back, the North American OTK importer did openly disclose that there is a certain tolerance of production variation that is allowed for a frame to be acceptable to leave the factory. This is, by no means, a slight against OTK as most, if not all, manufacturers adhere to the same practice. |
If steering columns lower end for some reason isn't in middle of the kingpins, it will need extra turns for either side to make the steering geometry "square". Measure with tape measure from middle of kingpins allen key hole to steering columns sidewall at tie rod level. There's exceptions (PCR?), but generally it should be equal from both sides.
If there's difference, it's better be compensated with rods as you may have already done; if the problem is dislocated steering column arm instead of bent frame it really doesn't matter at all since there's really not much effect to steering geometry, only minimal difference between sides in ackerman. 6 or 7*2*0.75=9-10,5mm, that's quite a lot, should be easy to measure where's the problem.
If there's difference and you want to measure if it's frame or the steering column arm, you'd need to compare cross-measures, i.e diagonally measure both sides from kingpin to outer rear bearing. That's pretty tricky though. Basic quick test, measuring gap difference of sides between front tyre and ground when on full lock tells a lot of condition of the frame. |
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Peter Zambos
Joined: 11 Dec 2009
Posts: 122
Location: Chicago, IL, USA
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| Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 4:21 pm Post subject: |
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| awi wrote: |
If steering columns lower end for some reason isn't in middle of the kingpins, it will need extra turns for either side to make the steering geometry "square". |
Arrgh, I should have thought of that.  |
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robjrlewis
Joined: 11 Oct 2011
Posts: 10
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| Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2012 5:19 pm Post subject: |
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Hey Guys,
Thanks for all the advice. Thought I'd give you an update. I decided to dismantle the steering and noticed one of the arms on the spindles was bent by 2mm so I've replaced both of them and it all seems to be spot on now. As for the tie rods, I noticed one of the tie rod rose joint ends was a completely different size to the others, so I replaced these as well as it also seems to have evened up the tie rod problem! |
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