What age bracket are you in? Junior (<16), Senior (16+) or Masters (30+)
Cadet
On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your mechanical ability, or willingness to wrench on things?
10 (I’m a helicopter overhaul mechanic)
Talk a little about your racing experience so far.
My son did an intro into karting at AMP and done rental karts a couple times. I have autocrossed an S2000 and Exige a handful a times.
What’s the main thing you need help with to get you started.
Gearing my son up and parts help for our kart.
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Hello. New karters here. We bought a 21 Nitro Cadet kart. It doesn’t have wheels. How do I find out the correct size? We found the correct tire via GoPro Motorplex.
I wish I had a illustrated parts guide or assembly manual with torque values for the kart. I wanted to go over it and check everything. I have a good mechanical feel but working on helicopters I’m a little by the book.
Also my 9yo cadet is a very big kid. 56” tall. Weighs 105 or so. During his intro to karting he ended up wearing an adult small suit and adult xs helmet. It was kinda long but bunched up enough to use it. What are my option for getting his own? Can existing suits be tailored to fit him? Adjusting the arm/leg length shorter? Or should I be looking at a custom made suit? I’m really lost in this and haven’t found any info on this issue. I’d like to get him something nice for his first one even if it’s a little spendy. I have three boys so everything will be sent down the line as well. Ages 9, 4, 2. I always get my moneys worth if it last when buying things for them.
Custom might be a bit spendy for a kid that grows so quick. I think that most custom suits will be in the 500-800 area. However, I believe @Paul_Montopoli had a link to a place that does suits for more like 300ish.
For a nice starter suit, sparco Kerb is a good off the rack one.
I did once get legs shortened in a suit by the tailor lady at the dry cleaners.
You will find in karting there is not much in the way of assembly manuals or detailed parts diagrams. The only torque specs you will find are when working on an engine. Otherwise, just need a calibrated arm to get everything “guten-tight”. It’s mostly all small M4, M6, M8 fasteners on a kart so it doesn’t take much to torque properly. Also on a busy race weekend, you’ll be lucky to have time to bust out a torque wrench and meticulously go over everything.
As an “Enginerd” I feel your pain on wanting to do everything to spec. Good luck and most importantly have fun.
Yes, I have worked with the guys at Urace. I have 2 of their Race suits (see in my profile pic) and I am very satisfied with them. They make a nice FIA-CIK homologated suit starting at $345
They also have a non-homologated suit starting at $195
For cadet wheels everyone is going to run OTK (Tony Kart) MXCs or equivalent. Size will be 130mm and they’re the same front/back. Be prepared to buy 2 sets so you have a practice/warmup set and a race set. Also helps to have backups in case of damage. The wheels are expensive, but key in getting the kart to behave correctly especially if you’re going to GoPro.
My son drives a ‘21 Nitro and here’s what I was given as baseline setup:
Middle front ride height
2nd hole up from the bottom rear height
43% +/- 1% front weight
Dot ahead on camber
caster set point to dot
1/2 box toe out
25mm front spacer
Standard axle set hubs to 960mm wide.
I find my son likes the front with 1 click of positive camber each side relative to baseline. And when they’re starting out you may go 5mm more narrow in the rear each side to give more stability but it’ll start to bind when grippy and speeds come up.
For helmets see if he can fit a CMR certified helmet. They use smaller and lighter shells which are better for younger/weaker necks. You’ll need a SFI rated chest plate. I recommend the Armadillo as it’s both the chest plate and rib protector combined. Make sure to measure your son and get the right size. You’ll also need a neck brace which opens a lot of opinionated discussions, but I really like the Leatt. Good luck!