Front Wheel Surprise! Dingo Frame...

[MikeinMadison]

Thanks for any help!
I just bought a Dingo Frame off Craigslist. When I bought it, I checked it over carefully, and made sure the front wheel arms were generally symmetrical. I welded a new mounting plate on -- for Robin 9hp -- and today figured I'd start setting it up.

I used some spindles and wheels from another Manco kart, and was very disappointed to see that both wheels are similarly tilted in, like this -- / \. To be clear, I'm not referring to toe-in, but to the fact that both tires are leaning in, so that the inside of each tire is on the ground, and the outsides not so much.

What is up with this? It's a pretty significant angle. I assume that the spindles used on Dingos were not designed to compensate for this, so did this frame get bent somehow, somewhat symmetrically?

What's the fix? I suppose I could figure out the angle, cut the axle bolt off the spindle, and weld it on at an angle to compensate. Is there something I'm missing here?

Thanks!

 

[Doc Sprocket]

The angle you are describing is called "camber".

The fact that you are suffering it after changing the spindles tells me of a couple possibilities. One, you installed the new ones upside down and backwards. Take em off, flip them over, and install on the other side of the vehicle. Or, the kart that the new ones came off had different king pin inclination angle then your old one.

Try flipping them over, and swapping sides first.

 

[MikeinMadison]

Thanks, I'll give it a try and report back.

 

[MikeinMadison]

Incidentally, I put them on in the same orientation that they were in on the other kart, but let's see if I flip 'em.

 

[fowler]

also look at the king pin angle
as in where the spindle bolts up

on a proper kart or on a car the king pin will be / \ and the spindles will be angled so the wheels sit right like ||

but on some more basic karts the speed they travel means they can have king pins like | |
as in straight up and down
the have the spinle at right angles and the wheel will sit right


what im trying to say is u cant always mix spindles from one kart to another even if they are the same manufacturer

so before u go trying to switch them around just check two things
is the king pin on your kart angled in (camber)
and are the spindles angled appropriately the king pin or are they at 90*

 

[MikeinMadison]

Thanks Fowler
I flipped them, and there was no change, because the king pin angle is 90 degrees. Looking at the other kart, it should be, because the bolt holding the spindles on is perpendicular to the ground. So... I need some spindles. Any thoughts on where to buy ones likely to work? I noticed they don't list "king pin angle" on any of the kart part sites!!
Thanks...

 

[DaiSan76]

http://www.bmikarts.com/Spindles_c_241.html

 

[MikeinMadison]

Hey DaiSan76
Those have the proper angle? I just tried some other spindles (that were on a Dingo) that don't have a right angle, and they overcompensate. The wheels ride on their outsides instead of insides. I'd rather not have to cut and weld to get them right. Hmm.

 

[MikeinMadison]

I asked BMI, and those are 90 degrees, so they won't work...

 

[MikeinMadison]

Any suggestions? Anyone?

 

[MikeinMadison]

Axle and King Pin Angles

Does anyone know of any new spindles that don't have a 90 degree angle between the axle and king pin? I've looked at several sites without luck.

 

[MikeinMadison]

Figured I'd complete this thread because there doesn't seem to be a solution to my problem without welding new angles to my spindles/king pins. That's what I did and I figured I'd share the process. With an angle grinder and metal cutting wheel, I cut about 90-95 percent of the weld holding the bolt (axle) on the king pin tube. Next, I put each in a vise and closed the gap a little, and then put them on the kart to see the result. After a few iterations, I got just the slight camber in I wanted, welded them, and voila! Surprisingly easy, especially compared to getting seized wheels off my axle!
Thanks for the help.

 

[OzFab]

Everything's easy when you know how

Thanks for sharing your solution, so many don't bother...

Do you have any pics of the process?