Bent chassis

[dubby99]

Hi guys

Would anyone now what to do if you have a very small bend at the front of the chassis.

It's very minimal so should i worry about it?

When i install my sniper units to my front axle it always shows 1mm more negitive camber on the left side of the kart.

I have hit the tyre wall once not really at high speeds, but i never new it could bend the frame.

Or maybe thats the way it was designed

:confused:

[Revracing]

You should be worried about it, but from a peformance point of view not from "my kart is knackered" point of view.

Firstly, is the chassis really twisted?. To test it the kart needs to be on a flat and level surface with all tyres to their correct pressure, there are many methods but the best we found was to use a tapered block wedged under the front beam, with this in place pull the kart up the block by rolling the front tyres, at some point one or both tyres will slip. If they both slip together the chassis is true (at the front at least) if not, then the first to slip is the highest corner.

To correct it you will need to twist the chassis, this is generally done by lifting the lowest corner up on a sturdy support, have an assistant secure the back of the kart, then apply pressure on the un supported front corner, if sufficient weight is applied (usually in a bounce type manner) then the chassis will twist in the direction you require.

You will have to test it often to get it right.


Whilst racing at national level, we used to test the chassis at every meeting and especially after a shunt.

If you've never done this before it may be better to ask an old hand for assistance.

If you're chassis is twisted it will corner poorly in one or both dirrections.

[dubby99]

Thanks Revracing

I don't think my chassis is twisted (i hope not) i just think that the left front end has a small kink in it, the first and only part i hit when i hit the tyres.

I have never tested a chassis to see if it's been twisted.

Do you think i should take it to my local kart shop and let then sort out the problem. They are a CRG dealership and my kart is a CRG so i am sure if they check it and it's bent they would know how much to bend it back.

I am stressing out about this to much because the chassis is only a year old and it's now knackered

[Alex Hodgkinson]

Is there a possibility you could be overlooking bent stub-axles?

Take them off and have a good look.

If they're not bent then it's some part of your chassis. It could be where your king-pin bolts hold in your stub axle arrangement, so do something like put long lenghts of threaded bar through the king pin holes and look across them so you can see if one of the castor angles is out.

You could sit the chassis down on the ground with no wheels, disk, or sprocket on then measure the distance of the bottom king pin hole from the ground, on each side...