cooler weather here in Central Texas. Time for a new build

[stratguy44]

Now that the weather has cooled down so my shop doesn't feel like an oven I can begin on a new kart build. Worked this past weekend on frame and front suspension. Here's what it looks like so far.

 

[DaiSan76]

I love the stance of that. It looks like the Tamiya Frog.

 

[souperman000]

almost like a modified arachnid...

lookin' good though

 

[stratguy44]

Thanks. I put in a cross member for steering box and got the steering box mounted in yesterday. The frnt end will settle down alittle with weight of me and engine. Copied the frame I build for my scorpion kart only increased the size. Was going to make it a three wheeled reversed like the Scorpion but decided to make a 4 wheeled Kart that I could really have fun off road with.

 

[mysteryboy28]

make sure your upper and and lower a-arms are parallel with each other. you can't have them be closer at the wheel end than they are at the frame end, or you'll run into some major issues. same for the tie rods. everything needs to be equally parallel to each other, and pivot at the same angle. if one thing tilts at 10 degrees, then everything else has to tilt at 10 degrees too. look at it from the top, everything needs to be equally parallel too.

 

[stratguy44]

Wow thanks mysteryboy I'll be sure to check all these things.

 

[mysteryboy28]

i learned the hard way with my first kart. as the suspension traveled up and down, the top of my wheels tilted in and out.

they do say that your top a-arm should be shorter than your bottom - google atv or buggy front suspension to see some examples. it's supposed to help with cornering and handling, helping to keep your tires flat on the ground during turns.

 

[robotmickey]

make sure your upper and and lower a-arms are parallel with each other... everything needs to be equally parallel to each other, and pivot at the same angle. if one thing tilts at 10 degrees, then everything else has to tilt at 10 degrees too. look at it from the top, everything needs to be equally parallel too.

???

 

[mysteryboy28]

look at the examples. in the first pic when the left tire would go up and down the angle would change. simply changing the distance from the top and bottom mounts to be equal on both sides of the a-arm remedied this.

as for the tie rods, if you can keep everything parallel with those too, you will prevent evil bump steer (steering wheel having a mind of it's own when going over bumps).

 

[stratguy44]

OK. I have checked my upper and lower control arms and tie rods. I have 7" from upper to lower ball joint and if I follow the arms to the top have approx 7" there too. I have the spindle angled slightly to a positive caster and when I stand on the front of the frame to compress the front suspension i get slight positive camber. (top of tires lean out) My tie rod ends need some adjustment as the two tires need the toe adjusted. I think I will be ok. Thank you for the much helpful advice. If you see anything that might cause an issue in the above settings PLEASE LET ME KNOW. I love this forum!

 

[mysteryboy28]

get 'er done and post some pics.

 

[fowler]

make sure your upper and and lower a-arms are parallel with each other. you can't have them be closer at the wheel end than they are at the frame end, or you'll run into some major issues. same for the tie rods. everything needs to be equally parallel to each other, and pivot at the same angle. if one thing tilts at 10 degrees, then everything else has to tilt at 10 degrees too. look at it from the top, everything needs to be equally parallel too.

This isn't really what u want. This is just the simplest method

I'm not the best to explain it but u do want some anglein the arms
If u think about it u do want the tyres to change camber as this means it will lean into the corners

Same applys for the shorter top arm
As I say I'm not the best to explain as I haven't reasearched it very deep
There is all kinds of crazy geometry in a high performance cars suspension but u will never need it

U are best to make everything parellel for now just add caster camber and akerman

 

[mysteryboy28]

If u think about it u do want the tyres to change camber as this means it will lean into the corners

that's what making the top a-arm shorter does.

 

[CustomShifter]

You want negative camber insted of positive camber, you get better handling so a shorter a arm is great. -1.5 degrees is good

 

[stratguy44]

set in the engine

today i got the motor mount made and welded in. Then I set the engine in to see how it fit.

 

[stratguy44]

one more

one more picture