Hi everyone
Im looking for some info regarding the otk caster pill aftermarket with 3-4-5 dots.
The standard otk caster pill is 1.5 degre, the 5 dot is 2.5.
The difference between those two different pills it’s massive on the setup or not?
The 5 dot give a lot of front end grip compare to a standard ?
Thanks
Hey, yes the 5 dot (2.5 degree per pill) is a huge jump from the OEM ones. You’d have to be racing in a monsoon to ever need those I’d think. With the stock setup of 1.5 degree top and bottom means you have 3 degrees total adjustment if need be…thats more than enough for any normal race conditions.
In fact I’ve backed down the OEM setup to 1.5 top and 0.5 bottom
Im already using maximum caster on a dry conditions here in Europe in x30.
So because im already with full caster i dunno if one more degre will be a massive change.
Standard otk caster angle (narrow facing both forward) is 10,2
with full caster with oem otk pill you’ve got 11,7 degre, so with a 2.5 degre pill instead it’s 12.7 degre.
I hope the change is massive, if not, i will use another two pills to get more angle.
What tire are you using? What sort of surface is it?
Are you running the OEM 1.5 degree pill top and bottom of the kingpin?
Vega XH3 or komet K2H in France ans italy.
Track like le Mans, Casteletto, portimao, Angerville etc etc etc
I Always run full caster with otk standard pill.
It’s not enought for me
Paul what I’m asking is do you have two pills per side ? If you have a relatively modern OTK then you ought to have one top and one below on each side of the kart. If you leave the on on top with the arrow facing forward and then turn the one below 180 degrees so that the arrow faces the back of the kart then THAT would be full caster (with 2 pills). This would add +3 degrees (1.5 top + 1.5 below) of caster per side to the static caster built into the C of the chassis. If you’ve not done this then try this… I find it very difficult to believe that you need more caster than that for a dry track.
In order to only get +1.5 degrees of caster per side then you need to run a neutral pill (zero dot aftermarket) on the bottom of the kingpin.
Let me know if you understand what I’m saying.
To answer what you’re asking though…yes, in my experience 1 degree is a significant change and you will notice it in the steering becoming harder to turn.
Of course im using two pills for each side…
I have two 2020 chassis and i’ve need more caster on both, the oem pills are good but not enought caster for me.
Caster it’s a driver point, some use it very often and some doesn’t.
For me it’s always a benefit because i like a pointy chassis and i’ve got a driving style that’s doesn’t send back-end in crisis.
Have you widened the front track width? Change to the slotted steering shaft to get more ackerman also. Turn the front strut bar so that it is vertical. All of these will get the front end more pointy.
I’ve already got the Ardigo column, standard front end width (one Big spacer) sometimes i use also the 1B stubs axles to get more reactive.front end.
MXC or MXQ Always, standard front bar or rond 1mm, 140cm rear width, third beering loose, 2mm toe out, no camber
Is there any significant difference in effect between increasing caster and moving the front wheels out by additional spacer/s on the stub axle/spindle ?
Caster it’s for the first part of the turn-in, front width is for mid-corner
Try running 1-2 boxes of positive camber …if that doesn’t help then go ahead and get the 4/5 dot pills and give it a try…i just cant believe you need that much caster for any dry track
Positive camber it’s useless, first because it’s useless unless you run with tires worn as hell and second it might get more initial front-end but the back-end will be in complete crisis.
For caster on dry, almost 60% of top iame teams use it full, fusion, dhr, etc etc etc
It depend on drivers but if you understand how to deal with it it’s a avantage
Keep in mind you guys are both on completely opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of track condition and tires as well. So your experiences will vary.
Taking advantage of this topic, I would like to ask you guys if you know how many degrees we can add to the standard caster of a frame just using the sniper caster/camber system.
Since I use only eccentric pills and I’ve never had a sniper system in my kart, I am curious to know if the sniper has a greater range of caster when compared to eccentric pills.
The maximum caster I am aware we can add with eccentric pills is 5º degrees in total, which would be a sum of 2,5º using a 5dots pill on top and 2,5º adding a 5 dots pill in the bottom of the kingpin.
So, the question is, is it possible to add more than 5º degrees replacing the eccentric pills with a sniper system?
I thought I remembered that the Sniper pills offer less range, but I could be wrong.
Also, I believe you can get aftermarket eccentrics to offer 6º overall more caster for OTK.
When you see 1.5°, is that in each direction for a total of 3°? That’s a lot of movement.
Am I right in assuming .5° is somewhere in the middle, doesn’t that add kingpin inclination i.e. camber.
How much kingpin inclination is there? And do you realize that kingpin inclination subtracts from caster? So if you are adding caster, how much total do you end up with?
Tough to say, as I’ve not seen any manufacturers who use the Sniper system disclose how much adjustment they have.
It doesn’t translate directly, but CRG and other brands who use the sniper system also have an eccentric pilthat can be used to replace the central pill on the underside of the “c”. The rule of thumb I’ve always used is that the CRG eccentric equates to two “lines” of adjustment on the sniper system. With that being the case, the sniper system allows for around 4 lines of adjustment in each direction, so 2x the eccentric. In my time running karts with the sniper system (CRG, DR, TB) I’ve never needed the full range of adjustment.
The 5-6º of adjustment you mention is an absolute crap load, and I could only ever see using the full extent of that in the wet. In dry conditions 1.5º is a big change.