Some karts actually toe in quite a bit when loaded. It’s good to really check loaded and unloaded at least once so you know how it affects things. Then setting it unloaded is no big deal because you know what will happen.
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Is that the consensus, that the kart should be level before using the snipers? I have never seen anyone put a level on the chassis before doing a front end.
On my stand, my chassis is a bit off level, but not drastic. Also, if the ride height is higher on the front or back, the readings on the stand would be different anyway, right?
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Snipers don’t care if the chassis is at absolute level. The only major concern should be spindle heights being equal if doing it on the stand and not being extremely unlevel. IMO
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When chassis mfg gives you a baseline setup sheet, is their baseline as measured on the stand or on the ground? If on ground - with or without driver?
Never thought about this until reading the posts above, relatively new to the scene and have not yet tried to measure alignment on the ground, with or without driver.
Baseline numbers assume kart is on the stand.
i’ve watched all the vids, and as a couple of dudes mentioned, i had to start doing my alignment on level ground, with weight in the seat. my kart is kinda old, but frame is supposedly straight. i’ve always thought i was following the on the kart stand method in the videos correctly, but my kart would always pull hard to the right once on the ground, and steering wheel was always off a little.
on the ground, what i ended up doing was completely taking the tie rods off. the spindles on my kart would flop, initially, but if i lifted the kart front end up slowly, then set it back down slowly, i could get the wheels to not flop, pointing forward in a somewhat natural resting state. if i blocked the front wheels to the front and the rear to the back, it would stay that way, and the wheels/spindles/hubs wouldn’t flop forward.
this allowed me to center up the steering wheel, and attach the tie rods very close to the length they should be. put the snipers on and just fine tuned the alignment, at that point. kart seemed to go a lot straighter this last weekend, so this really seemed to help me out.
hope this made sense.
Due to the steering shaft in a kart not being completely centered due the offset for mounting the engine, I use the paper method. First I try to eye the steering wheel as close to level a possible. Then use a pair of vise-grips or similar to clamp the steering block to the steering shaft just below the wheel. This prevents the wheel from moving. I will also use a bungee cord from the bottom of the steering wheel to the frame in front of the seat. Just added insurance. Next I loosen off the tie-rod jam nuts and hold a piece of paper 90 degrees forward of the steering shaft. The two laser dots should intersect in both the vertical and horizontal planes. Start with the toe angles and compare where the lasers land on the grids versus where they intersect on the paper and adjust from there. This should ensure your steer ahead is straight and you can begin making your other adjustments. Each side should mirror the other.
If the kart still pulls when driving, then you likely have a variance in caster from side to side. Its not as straight forward to measure as toe and camber. Using the supplied ruler and magnet, mount the ruler ahead of the spindles in the middle of the chassis facing the driver. On an OTK, I mount it near the heal stop base on the lower steering shaft brace. Then turn the steering wheel both directions until the laser sweeps across the ruler. Note at what measure each side crosses the ruler. Remember it will be at an angle. Lower when it first intersects and higher as it moves past. Pick a consistent point and compare both sides. If the two measures are diffenent, then when the kart is on the track, the sides will try to balance out and the kart will pull. The OTK pills allow this to be adjusted out, but you have to play with them to maintain equal camber on both sides.
On my kart, fairly old and worn, I was not able to zero the two sides completely with the pills, but rather made an as close as possible compromise. I recently installed the Sniper Adjusters for OTK when I did the alignment I was able to get it perfect. The right front is 2 notches further forward on the top of the king pin than the left. I have always suspected one the C’s was tweaked. I am not sure if that can be adjusted out on a frame table. Does anyone have experience with such an issue being resolved.
Unfortunately I woke up with a sore throat and fever this morning, so I will not be able to test it out on track as planned this weekend. 
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2 lines is a substantial difference, probably around 1 degree, though that’s an educated guess. Caster angle can be resolved on the frame table depending on the extent of the tweak. In my experience the most unsuspecting yet also most severe damage a C can incur is when it results in a wheelbase change, creating a difference from side to side. Basically makes the kart undriveable and unpredictable.
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I will check the wheelbase next time I pull it out of the garage. I was planning on replacing the front driver this evening before tomorrows race, but that got sidelined. The race anyway.
Just to make sure I’m assuming correctly, what specifically are the “C’s”? Where the pills, kingpins and spindles are installed?
Yes. Sometimes called Yokes too.
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Just to follow up, I checked the wheel base as best I could without pulling the engine or radiator. Instead of measuring from the C to the axle, I used a fixed point on the chassis that was free of interference. The bit of tubing that sticks out of the frame where the side pods mount in appears to be mirrored, I measured to the top of the C and the bottom on both sides. I have no way to ensure accuracy, but the two sides appeared to be less than 1 mm difference with lets say a 0.5 mm +/- degree of error.
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Sounds like it should be in decent shape. Hopefully it runs well on track!
I realized that when my alignment was last done, it seems that the caster pills were not checked. I assume they should be on the same setting left to right, and that these pills only have two settings - maximum caster and minimum caster. Is that right?
I realized one side was on max and one side was on minimum, that may explain why I had no grip at all and why I was fighting the kart, right?
The chassis is a Compkart covert 3.0 4R, I believe these are the stock pills. I set them both to have the intended camber and the same caster. I believe the current setting, pictured below is set to minimum caster, can anybody help me out by confirming based on the pictures?
Also is this the recommended caster for this chassis running an LO206? Or should I flip them to max caster? We run MG Reds at one track and Hoosiers at another.
Any help would be appreciated!
Right side:
Left side:
You’re correct that you have it currently set to minimum caster. It is not uncommon to have a 1 click difference from one side to the other, and it’s more important that the reading on the lasers is similar.
The stock pils are 0.5 degrees, so it’s not a large difference between minimum and maximum, though it should be a noticeable difference. I would recommend testing both ways, as it’s an easy trackside change, and you may find one to be faster. CompKarts generally like more caster as the grip comes down, as it helps with mid-corner rotation.
The pils have a range of adjustments between max and min, and where you set them will affect both caster and camber.
Having one side set to max caster and another set to min caster will definitely cause some funky handling.
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Thanks very much, I will test both.
I understand that the pills have many adjustments for camber and this affects caster, but it seems there are just two settings for caster: either the pill is set to the desired camber and the arrow is pointing forward for minimum or it is pointing backwards for maximum. How else can you adjust caster with this style of pill and retain your camber settings?
The pill on the bottom is a “zero pill” with no adjustment.
You can’t, any time you turn the pill you are affecting both caster and camber. To retain your camber but get more caster, you need a larger offset pill.
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Freeline makes 0.5* and 1.5* pils, so you could purchase an additional set to substitute for the zero pils on bottom. That will give you more caster adjustability. Just be sure to get the correct pils to match your kingpin diameter, as there are both 8mm and 10mm versions.
Any opinions on whether I should run max or min caster on these pills as a starting point for LO206 on MG reds?