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Post by Kart 17 on Jun 30, 2010 16:48:14 GMT 9.5
Do karts as they age (race meeting wise) become to flexed out and uncompetitive?
I guess the question is my kart I have been racing for 3 years in the KT Mediums and I was wondering if the fact that I am slightly heavy and have raced it for along time will this effect my performance.
Does this effect dirt karts? I was just wondering as dirt karts are always flexing and twisting in the corners....
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Post by tom on Jun 30, 2010 18:45:07 GMT 9.5
Your chassis after 3 years will almost certainly be bent. How much this effects your performance depends a lot on your driving style and how your kart is set-up.
The nature of dirt karting means that a kart that is uneven in it's set-up can still be competitive, and this means a lot of people don't really worry too much about set-up.
In my opinion, every bit counts, and i am still amazed at how few people know the corner weights of their kart. If you don't scale your kart, a quick check to see if the frame is twisted is to remove the wheels (kart on kart stand), and lay a straight edge across the top of the king-pins. Stand back and see if it is exactly parallel to the rear axle.
Sometimes a kart will bend so it is short on one side, but this is usually accompanied by a twist that you can see using the above method. If you have doubt, measure from each king pin back to the rear axle at 90degrees.
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Post by Kart 22 on Jun 30, 2010 19:05:10 GMT 9.5
So the heavier the kart the more likely the chassis is to bend.... Right?
So if my son is racing J Light and his kart is about 1 season old and it hasn't been involved in any crashes will the general driving and weight on the kart cause it to flex and become lose.
I have recently brought a rush of a mate who had it for like half a year and the kart already looks bent.... He raced KT heavy only had it for six months raced it 3 times and didn't crash it...., I am only new to karts and I don't know whether to buy him a new lightning kart at the end of the season or stick with the rush which looks like it is bent.
Money is not an issue but from what you said I am contemplating whether or not the bend in his chassis will effect his performance.
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Post by tom on Jun 30, 2010 20:53:24 GMT 9.5
Check if it is actually bent.. If you put the straight edge across the king pins and sight back to the axle you can pick up tiny amounts of twist in the chassis.
If money is not an issue, buy a lightning and run it every second meeting alternating with the rush. I'm sure you will be able to pick a favourite after a while. Either that or if the rush is badly twisted/bent, you can buy a bare chassis from BRK.
I've seen drivers win races with karts that i couldn't even get around the track.. I tend to need my kart close to perfect to be able to drive, others seem to be able to go fast no matter what they are driving. That's the beauty of dirt kart racing.
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Post by lyonsy on Jul 9, 2010 2:22:15 GMT 9.5
kart's made from chome molly work harden and become stiffer with age and flexing so they can drop performance due to it but can be easily set up around it.
if in doubt send the bare chassis to the manufacture's and have them drop it in the jig get everything lining back up if bent if you get it re powder coated this will re temper the metal and make a basicly new chassis.
if money is no object id have a new brown and a new lightening alternate as tom said will make him a better driver and also pick which chassis works best on different tracks and condition's.
setup can mean nothing and everything when its wet slick it means nothing when its tacky i like a nice stiff chassis then as it slicks off i like a nice narrow soft chassis but thats for speedway
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