LASERS or Alignment plates

[yorkie157]

I'm thinking about investing in some form of front end alignment gear and would like to hear your opinions.

Lasers will be the most expensive but most accurate,BUT, will alignment plates do an ok job?
Any reccomendations on which model to buy? where from? how muvh?

Thanks in advance

[tom]

I think chassis alignment and scaling is one of the most important areas of getting speed around the circuit.

I'm still amazed at how few people know the corner weights of their kart!

Lasers are the standard now for setting alignment, and they are easy to use and accurate enough. In my opinion way too expensive for what they are though.

I use a device called a zero toe bar, which is a basically a machined flat bar that you put across the stubs and use feeler gauges to set alignment.

I reckon you will find 95% of the speed in your set-up in the first 5% of the work you do. The rest is just fine-tuning trial and error.

For base settings, make sure your seat is in the correct spot (most important), then set up the front wheels so they are pointing straight ahead with you seated in the kart.

I used to use 2 pieces of aluminium angle with marks scribed on them to keep them central to the wheel and give consistent measurement points. I just clamped them on the outside of the wheel, sat in the kart and got dad to measure front and rear.

If you set the toe with the kart sitting on a stand, you will get a different reading.

Don't get too fussed about fine tuning when you are starting out, it's easy to spend a heap of cash on gadgets and i suspect that 90% of the drivers around wouldn't be able to tell you if you set their toe 1mm further out than what they are currently running.

[linc77]

Hi there,
Like Tom said, dont get too stressed about fine tuning at the start,im only in my second season and now only starting to play with toe/camber/seat position etc...on advice i just started out with tyre pressures..1 or 2psi front or rear can make a big difference..
Got an i-phone? free app for a spirit level..sounds funny but it is actually brilliant for setting up the front end! full digital read out

[yorkie157]

Thanks for the replies so far.
Just to let you know.............. I,ve set my front toe today using the old fashioned line on centre of tyre and tape measuring at front and rear of wheel. I'm gonna get another competitor (with a laser) to check it at the next meeting just so see how close (or not) I am??.I'll be interested to see as checking by tape can only set OVERALL toe and not INDIVIDUAL toe.

If I'm way out I'll be putting my hand in my pocket and buying some gear!
If I do buy some gear, which system do you recommend?

Thanks

[tom]

I've used the lasers (snipers) and think they are pretty accurate. In my opinion WAY too expensive for what they do.

If you get a set of plates, or if you can clamp some straight edges to the outside of your wheels and verify that they are perpendicular to the stubs, you can get all the accuracy you need.

You just need to clamp your steering column (not necessarily wheel) in the straight ahead position, then set both front wheels so the stubs are exactly parallel with the rear axle. That gives both wheels at zero toe. You can then adjust both wheels equal amount to get total toe-in if you feel you need it.

The advantage of the zero-toe bar that i use is you can easily visually verify the measurement you are taking. With the lasers you just have to trust you have located them correctly on the stubs.

At the moment you can check your individual toe by removing your sidepods and rear wheels, and with a long straight edge and set square check your front wheels are exactly perpendicular to your rear axle.

Like i said earlier, keep in mind that if you set the alignment on the stand, it will change when you sit in the kart.

To answer your question, i think the best value is a set of simple alignment plates.

[tom]

Did you end up checking your old-school alignment job against the lasers ?

[yorkie157]

No Tom. we never got chance as I was busy making adjustments all day and then later the heavens opened and put an end to all further fun!.
Must say that even with my lack of driving talent the kart does seem to drive better after my wheel alignment.
We'll try to check it at the next Adelaide meet and I'll let you know the findings

[Kelchiems]

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