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SETUP TIPS

  1. First for best results find a level and flat surface to work on.
  2. On the front adjustments the radio should be turned on to center the steering .
  3. Work the suspension to settle everything out.
  4. The toe is the total some of what is shown on the targets on each side- in other words if you see 1/16'' on the left target and 1/8" on the right you have a total of 3/16'' toe,  each of the vertical lines represent 1/16 ''
  5. The camber is represented by the horizontal lines, each line is 1 degree of camber
  6. On the rear you need to install one tower and then loosen the wheel adapter on the other side level the lugs so they are the same on both sides. They don't need to be perfect because of the play in the dog bone this only needs be done the first time, the rest is the same as on the front with the exception of squaring , you first locate the center of the chassis between the front and rear axles and transfer the rear dimension to the front target on the left front tower.  I us a piece of masking tape so I can move this line if I change the camber or wheel track on front or back, and you should use setup sheets to keep track of what you have done/changed. I also have a permanent mark on the chassis center for easy reference.
  7. For safety, store towers in a foam padded case and keep out of the reach of children. Batteries may be replaced by removing the switch on the back. If dropped the towers may have to be returned for recalibration.
  8. Update on squaring .we have change the left front target , you can now adjust the target to the same camber as left rear , if you run different camber on front or rear you will adjust front target to the same camber as rear simplifying the squaring process.

    ESTABLISHING CHASSIS CENTER  MEASURING FRONT TRACK WIDTH (easier if you temporarily set front and rear camber the same)

    LINEUP FRONT TARGET WITH REAR TOWER (Tighten set screw) Draw a line on front target representing rear track width

    NOW YOU CAN SQUARE CHASSIS (BY ADJUSTING REAR TRAILING ARE PUTTING LASER ON LINE ON FRONT TARGET)
    YOU CAN ALSO CHECK TO SEE IF YOU HAVE THE SAME WHEELBASE  ON RIGHT AND LEFT SIDES BY TURNING ON R.R. LASER (THERE SHOULD BE 0 TOE ON R.R.) Some setups can use different wheelbases  left and right side

    Also anyone who previously purchased Version #3 set can return for upgrade left front tower or i will send you the parts it, requires drilling and tapping #10-24 hole and removing front target.

There is no one right way use these tools.  If you find some way that works better for you, please let me know and if you need additional help feel free to contact me.

Thanks Bill Scott
 

Springs
Four coil springs are located at each corner of the chassis. The springs determine how much weight is transferred to each corner of the car. The springs are mounted in such a way that they can be adjusted up or down to change ride heights. Springs are rated by how many pounds it takes to compress the spring

The ideal spring combination is one that would produce equal amounts of wheel travel at all four corners of the car. At all ovals, the heaviest weight is being transferred towards the RF upon entry into a corner. This means the RF corner of the car will travel more requiring a stiffer spring than the other 3 corners. The higher the numbers the stiffer the spring.

An overall softer spring package is usually preferred over a stiffer setup. With a softer setup though, you run the risk of having the car bottom out on the track. This can be cured by using a stiffer sway bar & or raising ride heights. Using softer springs will cause the car to roll over more in the corners. This may require using higher camber angles to compensate for the roll.

In general stiffer front springs will make the car tighter. Stiffer rear springs will loosen the car. Weaker front & rear springs will have just the opposite effect. By changing the spring stagger between the LF & RF as well as the LR & RR, you are able to effect the way the car reacts under acceleration & braking. Spring stagger is the difference in spring rating between the left & right side of the chassis. Running more spring stagger up front, with a weaker left side spring, will tighten the car under acceleration while loosening it under braking. i.e. a 16lb LF spring & a 21lb RF spring. The greater the difference, the greater the chassis response during these transitions. Running more spring stagger in the rear, with a weaker left side spring, will have just the opposite effect as the front. Instead of tightening the car, it will loosen the car under acceleration & tighten it while braking.

The RF & RR springs change the roll couple distribution of the chassis. A stiffer RF spring will make the car tighter. This is because the the stiffer corner won't accept the body roll & will continue forward creating a push. A stiffer RR spring will have just the opposite effect & create a loose condition. The LF & LR springs effect the chassis by changing the wedge or cross weight in the car. A stiffer LF spring will make a car looser going in & coming out of a turn because it takes wedge out of the car. A stiffer LR spring will tighten the car from the middle, out of a corner because it keeps cross weight in the car.

You'll notice that when making a spring change either stiffer or weaker, it will have the same effect on the chassis as it's diagonal opposite corner. In other words, if you decide to make the RF spring weaker to help loosen the car, you could also make the diagonal opposite corner (LR) weaker to also help loosen the car. In all actuality, what your doing by changing both diagonal corners together, is changing the wedge or cross weight of the chassis. Try to remember the diagonal corners as pairs. And that whatever one pair does, the opposite pair will have the opposite effect. Using this method makes remembering what spring does what a little easier. In reality then, all you have to remember is what one spring adjustment does, and you should remember how all the others corners are effected.

Let me give you an example. Just remember that a stiffer RF spring equals a tighter condition. Now I know that diagonally a stiffer LR spring also equals a tighter condition. Now a stiffer RR & LF (diagonally) would have just the opposite effect (loose) on the chassis. Now if I have a loose race car, I now know I can try a stiffer RF or LR spring, or a weaker RR or LF spring. All will help to tighten the chassis. I remember all this by simply knowing that a stiffer RF spring equals a tighter race car.

As you can see, it's really easy to get confused over what spring does what & how their strength or weakness effect a chassis while cornering. Let's try to put it in it's simplest form.

Spring synopsis:

Tire Temperatures
 When I talk about the inside of each tire, I'm referring to the edge closest to the  inside of the car. When I refer to the outside edge of each tire, I'm referring to those edges that are furthest from the outside of the car. Tires are marked within NASCAR Racing as O for outside, M for middle, & I for inside.
I previously mentioned that every adjustment we attempt to make on a racecar, is an attempt to try an maximize the grip of each tire. By taking tire temperatures of each tire we can "read" how well our chassis is performing. A good tire man can tell how a racecar is handling without ever watching it perform on the track & without even talking to the driver. Tire temperatures are the only scientific proof we have of how a chassis is working. It's easy for a driver to misinterpret how a car is handling. Tire temperatures eliminate that mystery by telling us which corner of the car is over or under worked.

The information I am going to discuss below, is what I've learned over the years working on real race cars. Some of the tire testing information I will mention below has given me various results. Some of this information transfers  rather well. Use this information to the best of your advantage to better understand the concept behind reading tire temperatures.

Tire temperatures are taken with a tool called a tire pyrometer. This tool is inserted into the tire on the inside, middle, & outside of each tire to give us readings across the surface of the tire. By comparing tire temperatures across the surface of the front tires we are able to tell if we have proper camber angles, proper toe, proper weight distribution. By reading the average temperature of the RF & comparing it to the average temperature of the RR we can tell if the chassis is loose or tight. Comparing diagonal averages indicate the proper amount of wedge in the chassis.

The optimal tire temperatures should be in a range of 100 to 180 degrees. Keep in mind that the hotter the tire the quicker it will wear out. It's important to realize what the outside & inside of each tire is. The inside of each tire is the edge closest to the inside of the car. The outside edge of each tire are those edges that are furthest from the inside the car.

On a short track it is normal for the outside edge of the RF tire & the inside edge of the LF to be 5 to 10 degrees cooler. This is because of the way the tires travel down the straightaway. On a larger track with longer straights, this spread will be even further. On an oval, the RF tire will have more negative camber, thus resulting in the inside edge of the tire contacting the track more than the outside edge giving you the higher temperature. On the LF you will run with more positive camber, so just the opposite holds true. While cornering these temperatures should even out if you have the correct amounts of camber & or weight transfer. The more camber you run, the higher these spreads will be. On a small track were you spend a lot of time cornering, you'll find the spread not as high. This is because your spending more time cornering than on the straights, thus distributing the temperatures across the face of the tire more evenly. If you try to achieve even temps across the tire you may develop a push. This is telling you that you have too much positive camber. Although the tire may be flat on the track, on a straightaway, the tire will not be flat on the track while cornering.

By comparing the average temperature of all four tires you can see which corner of the chassis is working harder than the other. To figure the average temperature of a tire, add the 3 temps across the tire & divide by three. If your RF is a lot hotter than the other three tires your probably pushing because the RF is doing too much work. Work on cooling that tire off by lowering the RF spring and allowing the other tires to share some of the work load. By comparing the RF average to the RR average you can tell if the chassis is loose or tight. The RF should be about 10 degrees hotter than the RR. If it's higher your probably pushing. If it's lower your loose. A tire is being under worked when it's temperature is a lot lower than the other three tires. When a tire is cooler or under worked, try concentrating on that corner of the car. Try adding weight to that corner of the car to increase the temperature of that tire. If a tire is a lot hotter than the other 3 work on making that tire cooler.

It's also informative to compare right & left side, front & rear, as well as diagonal averages. Print & use the tire temperature sheet  I've provided to help track all this information. To see if you have the proper wedge, average the RF & LR tires & compare them to the two front averages & two right side averages. Your diagonal average should be 5 to 10 degrees cooler than both the front & right side averages. If it is warmer you have too much cross weight. If it's cooler then you need more cross weight or wedge.

The best way to decipher tire temperatures is to run 10 laps on a particular setup & monitor tire temps. Don't expect to learn everything reading the temps only once. It will take a number of 10 lap sessions to sort everything out that is going on with the tires. When analyzing tire temperatures it should be done in a specific order. This is because a problem in one area may mask a problem in another area. Here is what I do.

  1. Run 10 laps, adjust front cambers.

  2. Adjust toe if needed. Run 10 laps.

  3. Adjust wedge. Run 10 laps..

  4. Adjust for tight or loose condition based on RF & RR average. Run 10 laps.

  5. Look for overheated or overworked tire. Adjust on that corner. Run 10 laps.

  6. Repeat the process all over again. Run 10 more laps.

When checking tire temperatures it is important to make sure your not locking up the brakes or making any sudden changes in your steering outputs. These will all create erroneous tire temperatures readings. Let me try to simplify how to read tire temperatures by giving you this guideline.

Let me reiterate once again that the results you see may vary. Using these guidelines will give you a better idea of what your trying to achieve & should get you in the ball park of a quicker more stable setup.

Lets look at a few examples.

RF
I----M----O
208--202--194
Indicates too much negative camber.

RF
I----M----O
194--202--208
Indicates too much positive camber.

RF
I----M----O
204--188--197
Indicates an under inflated tire.

RF
I----M----O
204--210--197
Indicates an over inflated tire.

RF
I----M----O
204--198--194
Indicates correct camber. Overall average temp is 198.6.

RR
I----M----O
227--225--223
Overall average temp. is 225.
If the RR & RF temp above came off the same car we would have a very loose racecar. The RR is approximately 26 degrees hotter than the RF. If this RR is also the hottest tire on the car, it indicates the RR is doing the majority of the work in the corners. This is the corner of the chassis I would work on. We need to take some weight of this corner to cool this tire. I'd start by going with a weaker RR spring. This should cool this tire & tighten up the chassis.

RF
I----M----O
215--192--186
Outside edge is too cool indicating we need more positive camber. Average temp. is 197.6. Let's compare this with the RR below taken on the same car.

RR
I----M----O
190--188--186
Average temp. is 188. This tire is 10 degrees cooler than the RF indicating a neutral handling chassis. This should be good, but we could be faster with a camber change on the RF. Let's adjust the camber on the RF, run another 10 laps & take temps again below.

RF
I----M----O
200--195--190
Camber looks much better now. The average temp is 195.  

RR
I----M----O
192--190--188
Average temp. is 190, but now when we compare the average of the RF & RR we find our temperatures too close to each other. After the camber adjustment we no longer have a neutral handling car, but one that is now on the verge of becoming loose. Your general feeling may be that the camber change made the handling worse, and it very well may of. But were still heading in the proper direction. You may have to take a step backwards at 1st to take 2 steps forward later. We can now work on increasing the temp of the RF or work on cooling the RR to increase our average split between the RF & RR. To increase the heat in the RF try a stiffer spring. To decrease the heat in the RR try a weaker spring. Either way you will make the car tighter. How much of a change depends on how much it changes your tire temps. Run another 10 laps & review your temperatures again. Eventually you should be faster than your neutral handling setup with improper camber in the RF.

As you can see from the above example there isn't always an immediate cure. Chassis setup is sort of like solving a puzzle. Experiment & learn as you test. Always keep in mind that you may be going the correct way, but there could be an adjustment elsewhere that may be masking your initial change. Because of this chassis setup can become very frustrating for the novice and experienced alike. For every change you believe your making for the better, it will have an adverse effect elsewhere in the chassis. If for example your car feels great going into & through the middle of a corner, but is loose on exit, you have to tighten it up somehow. Curing the loose condition exiting the corner now has probably messed up your chassis going into the turn. Now you must loosen it up again. It's a constant battle of give & take. Hopefully by monitoring tire temperatures you can eliminate some of the mystery of how & why a chassis is reacting like it does.

Tire Temperature synopsis:


 

Wedge
Wedge is also known as cross weight or diagonal weight. Wedge is the total weight of the RF & LR corners divided by the cars total weight. Wedge is used to keep the back of the car tight entering a corner while also adding bite exiting a corner.

The total amount of wedge required depends on track size & roll couple in the car. A setup that will spin it's tires easily will require more wedge to counter act the traction loss under power. A setup with a higher gear ratio or one that does not spin the tires will require less wedge. Wedge is required to get through the corners. Excessive amounts of wedge can slow the car down & wear the RF & LR tires prematurely.

Where as changing the front & left side bias is done by moving lead ballast, changing the wedge is done by screwing up or down on load nuts located over the RF & LR shocks. You might think that by changing wedge you would change left side or front bias, but that isn't the case. No matter how you adjust the wedge the left & front bias will always remain the same. Increasing wedge will tighten the chassis. Decreasing wedge will loosen the chassis.

Wedge synopsis:

TROUBLESHOOTING

Chassis adjustments & possible causes
This section will list excessive chassis adjustments & what there effect on the chassis & or handling of the car will be. Please use this section only as a general guide. You may not see the same exact results as mentioned below. Other component settings may mask changes made in different areas. Adjustments in other areas may be needed first before you see some of the changes indicated below in certain areas. All troubleshooting answers assume the rest of the chassis is already set correctly or close to being correct.

CAMBER

Too much negative RF camber:

Too much negative LF camber:

Too much negative RR camber:

Too much negative LR camber:

Too much positive RF camber:

Too much positive LF camber:

Too much positive RR camber:

Too much positive LR camber:

CASTER

Too much caster:

Not enough caster:

Excessive caster stagger:

GEAR  RATIO

Too high a ratio:

Too low a ratio:

FRONT BIAS

Too much front bias:

Not enough front bias:

FRONT SWAY BAR

Too large a bar:

Too small a bar:

FRONT TOE OUT

Too much toe out:

Too much toe in:

LEFT BIAS

Too much left bias:

Not enough left bias:

 

RIDE HEIGHT

Too low a ride height:

Too high a ride height:

SHOCKS

Front shocks too stiff:

Front shocks too weak:

Rear shocks too stiff:

Rear shocks too weak:

SPOILER

Too high a spoiler:

Too low a spoiler:

SPRINGS

Front springs too stiff:

Front springs too weak:

Rear springs too stiff:

Rear springs too weak:

RF too stiff:

RF too weak:

LF too stiff:

LF too weak:

RR too stiff:

RR too weak:

LR too stiff:

LR too weak:

GEAR  RATIO

Too high a ratio:

Too low a ratio:

WEDGE

Too much:

Not enough:


Handling problems & possible causes
This section will list various handling problems & what might be causing those handling problems. Please use this section only as a general guide. You may not see the same exact results as mentioned below. Other component settings may mask changes made in different areas. Adjustments in other areas may be needed first before you see some of the changes indicated below in certain areas. All troubleshooting answers assume the rest of the chassis is already set correctly or close to being correct.

CAR iS UNSTABLE

CAR iS UNRESPONSIVE

CAR iS OVER RESPONSIVE

CAR IS LOOSE ENTERING CORNER

CAR IS LOOSE IN THE MIDDLE OF A CORNER

CAR IS LOOSE EXITING A CORNER

CAR PUSHES ENTERING CORNER

CAR IS TIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF A CORNER

CAR PUSHES EXITING A CORNER