How to add weight in a rental kart?

Hi there,

Last year I started a new rental kart competition in the Netherlands called Outdoor Sprint Cup. This year it’s really taking off and a fine community is made. For 2018 the most competitive drivers desire a minimum weight and I can understand that.

But there is a problem with adding weight. Because you drive with many different types of rental karts, adding weight onto the chassis is not a solution. So the driver should have the weight with him. It’s common practice in rental karting to sit on sheets of lead but for me that brings a safety hazard in case of a crash. I have visions of lead flying around.

Any advice on how to add lead with little or no risk involved? Thanks in advance.

Our local rental series has lead plates and also a ballast bucket on the opposite side of the engine. The ballast bucket takes bags of ballast of varying mass, and you sit on top of the ballast plates.

We’ve been operating for a number of years and never had a lead plate nor bucket ballast fly off. It will take considerable amount of force to eject a driver and a lead plate off the seat.

That said, depending how much weight you are dealing with, I would suggest adding weight to yourself. Strap-on 10lb. weights are normal, strap 10lbs to each of your ankles to place some weight on the nose of the kart and change the weight balance.

AThanks Andre,

Though I have seen crashes, even in rental karting and with experienced drivers, where the driver was thrown out of his seat. So I am reluctant to go for the lead plate idea. In what way do you strap lead onto your ankles?

They make workout weights with velcro straps that you wrap and velcro to your ankles.

I believe Calspeed uses a capped tube bolted to the kart that they put weights in. http://calspeedkarting.com

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I like Tyler’s suggestion. Whatever you do, never add weight to your own body! That’s asking for pain in a crash. __

Thanks all, I will look into it.

I think there is a limit, surely don’t go crazy with it but a little bit of weight is not uncommon around the american rental circuit.

I don’t think a karting facility will let you bolt on a weight tube to their kart, but you can ask.

No, that is not a solution for rental karting. So either you strap the weight on your body or you sit on it. Both options are not to my liking, although pretty common. Maybe I just have to accept that these are the two options.

There are solutions out there for rental Karts that solve this problem. Usually a pole/bracket setup of some description.

I’ll see if I can find them.

The rental karts in the UK have mounting posts for weights. The minimum weight per driver is 85kg with a max increase of 10kg added.

The posts are next to the seat but I do know several of the drivers use ankle weights to spread the weight out.

In addition the top 15 drivers are reversed to even out any kart discrepancies.

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