where should ride height be on short course trucks

In the front measure from the center of the spindle and in the rear measure from the center of the axle. You now have “ride height” and everything should be relative to the ground. Of course the ground or suspension jig should be perfectly level as all your measurements will be made from this origin.

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How much ride height should I add to the lowest corner?

 · Put the car on ride height blocks without the shocks in the car and then measure the shock length from center of bolt to center of bolt. 2. Wheel Load-We have already determined the wheel load we ...

How to maintain ride height at track?

 · Ride height. Short course trucks usually race through laid-out courses that feature various jumps, while trophy trucks tend to race through different terrains, boulders, and rough surfaces. The courses these trucks race on can change with time, but that of the short course trucks is prepared to a specified condition for racing. ...

Which side of the car has the lowest ride height?

 · I would say atleast 50/50, you want as much up travel is you can possibly get, the more you have the less the ass end will be kicking up in the air, bypass or no bypass. If you have the luxury of designing a chassis any way you want than it is easy to build a vehicle with a low ride height and allot of uptravel.

What is the ride height of my car?

 · Jan 22, 2014. 359. Jun 20, 2014. #1. Is there any way to find out what the factory ride height would be on a 2007 tahoe ltz? I want to make sure the autoride is functioning properly, dealer is being stubborn about assisting with this. I also have an issue where the drivers side is approximately 1/4 - 1/2 inch lower than the passenger side.

What is static ride height?

Static ride height is one of the key setup adjustments, and also one of the easiest to get right. For example, for many cars converting a qualifying setup into a race setup (or vice versa) only means adjusting fuel and the static ride height. In this article we’ll explain what ride height entails, how you can adjust it, and how it affects other setup adjustment.

When changing spring rates, do you want to make sure that you maintain the ride height?

When changing spring rates you want to make sure that you maintain the ride height from before the spring rate adjustment (otherwise you’ll be applying two changes to the car). Tire pressure: The tire is effectively a spring, and significant changes in tire pressure affect ride heights too.

What happens if camber is changed?

If your camber has changed, change it back to the old (desired) value. This may change your ride height again, so you may have to do a few iterations of ride height adjustment, camber adjustment, until you achieve the desired result. The same applies to each wheel’s toe-in. When adjusting ride heights.

How to increase ground clearance?

In order to increase ground clearance, you’ll need to decrease the perch offset on each wheel, or increase the pushrod length (w hen available). Matching front and rear ride heights may be all you need to convert a qualifying setup to a race setup.

What does lower center of gravity mean?

1: Lower center of gravity means less lateral weight transfer, which means more grip. For cars that are not very aero dependant the ride heights are primarily used to affect the center of gravity. A lower sitting car generally has better handling because a lower center of gravity means less lateral weight transfer.

What does bottoming out mean in a car?

And obviously every single car is different, so the first thing you need to find out when you start setting up a new car is what “bottoming out” means in terms of ride height reading. Purposes of changing the ride height. 1: Lower center of gravity means less lateral weight transfer, which means more grip.

Where is the ride height sensor on a splitter?

For example, the splitter ride height sensor (on cars that have one) may be positioned a few centimeters above the bottom of the splitter. As a result, you’ll get a non-zero reading even if the splitter bottoms out.

Why are ride heights important?

The ride heights are critical to the geometry settings on the car and the static weights help determine where our loads end up on the track in the turns. Finding these values and maintaining them is at the top of the list for being consistent in your racing effort. Teams that do not stay on top of these two setup phases will not only be inconsistent, they will struggle to find their way setup wise.

How to make sure spring changes don't upset your ride heights or crossweight percent?

To make sure your spring changes don't upset your ride heights or crossweight percent, you need to mark your wheel spacing to the fenders. Here is what you do.

Why is it so hard to adjust front springs?

For the teams that run very soft front springs, adjusting for ride height and wheel weights can be very hard due to the extreme amount of pre-load on the springs. We have a method that might make this process easier for you. See our Sidebar for a description of the method.

Can you use a grain scale to find wheel weights?

It is perfectly OK to use grain scales to find your wheel weights. Just make sure when you roll them into place that the tops are level to each other. You might need to space under the tires to attain a level plane under the tire contact patches. And mark the location on the floor where you will place the scales each time.

How to find the corner weight of a car?

Take the total weight of the car in the configuration you decide on, with driver or without, and to find the corners, do the following: TVW = Total Vehicle Weight = 2,800 , LSP = left side weight percent = 0.54, FWP = front weight percent = 0.51, CWP = Crossweight percent = 0.52.

What is corner weights?

Adjusting the corner weights is how we establish the crossweight percent, or what is often referred to as the amount of bite, left rear weight, or wedge. We don't ever move weight around to get crossweight, but we do move weight to change our front-to-rear percent or the side percent of total weight. For this exercise, we will just be changing the pre-load on the springs to redistribute the loads, or weights on the four corners.

Can you change your ride heights?

Some racers like to take matters into their own hands-and that's OK. Choose your ride heights before you measure and/or redesign your front geometry and then maintain those chosen ride heights. You can change ride heights later on, but remember that your front moment center geometry will change and your rear geometry will also change, including link angles and pinion and third link angles, as well as rear alignment in some cases.

Ride height

Short course trucks usually race through laid-out courses that feature various jumps, while trophy trucks tend to race through different terrains, boulders, and rough surfaces.

Engine position

The engine of a trophy truck is positioned so that a significant part of it sits in the front of the cab.

Suspension arms

Trophy trucks race through unpredictable trails where they can come across stationary objects.

Suspension travel

Short course trucks get exposed to far much air, which makes them have less up travel. It is for this reason that they can get more droop for handling bigger jumps.

How to stop a short course truck from falling out of the axle?

If your short course truck has non-pressed in drive pins on the axle, you a small dab of silicone glue on the pin. This will prevent it from falling out of the axle when the hex comes off, but the pin will still be easy to remove when needed. When building the drivetrain, make sure all bearings are properly seated. This is often overlooked and leads to a slow inefficient drivetrain.

How to run a truck without shocks?

Without the shocks installed, the suspension arms should move up and down freely and drop down when lifted under their own weight with no binding or hesitation. When you set the ride height, you want to run the truck fairly low unless the track is exceptionally rough. If your truck has no marks on the bottom after practice or a race, it’s too high. When assembling the steering bellcranks, tighten the screws down and then back them off slowly until the pieces move freely.

Do you have to run the same tire in front or back?

You do not have to run the same tire in front as you do in back. While that often works with a 4WD short course truck, 2WD trucks may benefit from having a less aggressive tire up front. For racing, one-piece rims are best. Bead-lock rims might look more realistic, but they add unneeded rotating mass.

Where are vent holes on a race car?

Most racers place a few holes on the hood right in front of the windshield and along the front fenders. Another place to make even larger vent holes is in the rear of the body in the area in front of the rear posts.

Where are the marks on a chassis?

The aluminum chassis plates are usually fine right out of the box, but molded plastic parts can have flashing and molding marks on the bottom of the chassis. These usually perfectly round marks are left from where the piece is pulled from the mold.

Should front shocks be twins?

The front shocks should be twins and so should the rear shocks. When comparing two shocks, say the fronts, you should ensure they are the exact same length when fully extended. When compressed without springs installed, they should extend the same amount when released. Lastly, they should extend at the same rate.

Can hard impacts damage speed control?

The same goes for the speed control. Hard impacts and even constant vibrations can eventual damage these components. Next, make sure your wiring as neat as possible. There should be a slight amount of slack in the wires, but secure the excess wiring.

Where is the chassis ride height measured?

The chassis ride height is simply the distance measured in inches from the bottom of the frame rails to the ground. This measurement is taken at all 4 corners of the car where the frame rails are lowest to the ground. Usually just behind the front wheels & just in front of the rear wheels.

How to make a car tighter?

Overall weaker back springs will make the car tight. Increasing front spring stagger will tighten the car under acceleration & loosen it under braking. Increasing rear spring stagger will loosen the car under acceleration & tighten it under braking. The lower the ratio the quicker the steering response.

How does lowering the bar on both ends of the car work?

Lowering the bar on both ends tightens the chassis. Raising the right side of the bar loosens the car under acceleration, & tightens the chassis under braking. Lowering the right side of the bar tightens the car under acceleration, & loosens the chassis while braking. Transmission Ratios.

What does negative camber do to a car?

Less negative RF camber takes away some of the pull to the left. The car won't turn in as quicker into a corner & will tend to tighten the chassis. More negative LF camber will reduce the pull to the left while tightening the chassis from the middle out.

What does it mean when a car has a front toe out?

Adjust the toe slightly only when the rest of the chassis is real close to being correct. Front Toe Out synopsis: Excessive front toe out will make a car turn slower into a corner, & cause a tight condition. Excessive front toe in will make a car turn into a corner quicker, & may create a loose condition. Fuel Level.

How to determine roll couple in NASCAR?

In NASCAR Racing, all of this is done for you and the roll couple is determined by adjusting the front and rear springs and sway bars. Increasing the front springs and sway bars as well as decreasing the rear springs and sway bars will increase roll couple while doing exactly the opposite will decrease roll couple.

What does it mean when your front brakes are tight?

The lower the number the looser the chassis will be. This tight or loose condition from front brake bias will only occur while your on the brakes entering the turn.

What is the front to rear weight of a Sprint Car?

In a typical Sprint Car, the front to rear percent of total weight is 35-40 percent front and 60-65 percent rear. With more weight supported by the rear suspension, we would imagine the spring stiffness would be greater at the rear. Traditionally, all Sprint Car teams install either similar rate or stiffer springs at the front than the rear. Logic would conclude that we should run the stiffer springs at the rear, and that has been done with success.

Why is the Sprint Car design so standard?

Designs become "standardized" through trial and error and Sprint Car design is what it is because of the need for simplicity and durability.

Do you need to turn your adjusters to change the weights on your tires?

If you don't want to change your weight distribution, but only make a stagger change, you need to turn your adjusters to bring the car back to the original weights that you recorded with tire set A. Also, record the number of turns you made to the adjusters so you can recreate the adjustments at the track when you change tire sizes.

Do teams scale cars?

Some teams will scale the car to use as a baseline, especially when the car runs well. Then they will try to repeat those wheel weights in the future. No matter which way you set up the weighing of your car, certain processes must be used to ensure consistency and accuracy.

What is the difference between front and rear springs?

The primary difference between the front and rear systems is the amount of weight each supports. This is important in planning out how we should spring our cars.

Why does my Sprint car steer?

As the car dives and rolls in the turns, the steering connecting rod pushes or pulls on the steering arm at the spindle causing the wheels to steer when there is no steering input by the driver.

What does a wide RR tire do?

The wide RR tire helps provide much of the forward bite but can also make the car tight on entry and in the middle of the turn. If we loosen the car to make it turn, we lose forward bite. See all 10 photos.