Make and model of chassis 2019 Kosmic
I need help with The outcome of half vs full caster
Any help is greatly appreciated
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Caster jacks more weight, lifting the inside rear more, and making the front end heavier. The more you add, the more those effects are heightened.
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what would full/half caster look on the otk caster pills
Half caster would be a neutral pill on the bottom and the eccentric pill on top with the arrow pointing forward. Full caster would be the same eccentric with the arrow forward on top, but with another eccentric on bottom with the arrow pointing backwards.
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Thanks
Best Wishes
Does half/full caster = a certain degrees? For example half is 3 degrees and full being 6?
How do you verify the settings? I’ve seen people use a ruler under the panel with the snipers but that would just tell you if they are even.
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Caster angle is completely down to chassis manufacturer. “Max” caster for one chassis might vary to “max” on another chassis.
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Each manufacturer has a different amount of adjustment angle available in their eccentric caster pills, and most manufacturers have multiple options for differing angles of adjustment.
I have done this myself and also wondered if there was an actual amount or measurement. The ruler with the snipers basically is telling what your range is and where you are setting it in that range.
I have also seen comments that with eccentrics on top and bottom, some will use the top for camber adjustments and the bottom one for caster. In this scenario I assume you are not using “full” caster?
This is more complex than I thought. Now I know why the kart shop said use eccentric on top and neutral (no eccentric on bottom) on the bottom lol.
Seems worth it to buy the snipers?
I borrow the tracks when needed but looks like a lot of adjustments and set up is based on camber/caster/toe.
At the same time you can play with the wheelbase.
For instance,if you put the neutral pill on top and the eccentric on the bottom in order to add caster the wheelbase is longer than the other way around.
I don’t know anyone who actual adjusts caster with some kind of measuring tool. Everyone just goes by what the pill says.
Any time you have one of the pills pointing in any other direction than forward or backward, you have some camber adjustment in, resulting in less than max possible caster available with those pills.
Snipers are a must-have tool in my opinion. I don’t use Snipers that much when making chassis adjustments, because once it’s aligned initially, it shouldn’t change that much, and you can just use the pill’s settings as your guide. But Snipers are great for re-aligning, initial kart setup, and checking if anything is broken.
When I decide I need more or less caster or camber, I don’t go “let’s adjust it 1 degree”, I go “let’s turn the pill 1 or 2 dots”.
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Thank you for clarifying this @tjkoyen
So if the pill (dot/arrow) faces gas tank on top and faces tire on bottom this is max negative camber and likely mid range caster, correct?
It’s actually max positive camber, but zero added caster because both pills are 90 degrees so no caster angle is induced.
Eccentric pills can seem difficult to understand and visualize, but if you just try to remember what camber actually is, it becomes easy to figure out what the pill is actually doing. All you’re doing is tilting the kingpin angle. Negative camber is tilting the tops of the kingpins in, positive is out. Positive caster is tilting the tops of the kingpins backwards, negative is tilting the tops of the kingpins forwards. Then just look at the eccentric to see where the top of the kingpin is tilting.
Oh yes because the arrow is opposite of the pill. Makes sense.
Why don’t manufactures all use sniper adjusters so you can independently change caster and camber?
Thank you
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Most manufacturers don’t seem to specify the amount of caster accounted for by each eccentric, and/or each adjustment. It doesn’t really matter, as the relative measurements work just as well. For those with fewer eccentric options I typically just add “more” or “less” based on the adjustment ranges the eccentrics offer.
For other karts using the sniper system, you can account for caster changes by the number of “lines” moved. One line is enough to make a difference, and two is a big change.
BirelArt and Compkart do specify the amount of caster built into a given eccentric. For example, BirelArt offers a 0.5 degree eccentric, and a 1.5 degree eccentric. CompKart has their own range, which offers a bit more adjustability:
It’s helpful to have these increments, but I think what’s more important is to just understand the range of adjustability that your kart offers, as well as typical adjustments for certain conditions, as recommended by the manufacturer and informed by your testing.
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Very helpful. Thank you
Don’t forget the angle of the C yoke,almost every chassis has another angle.
I thought OTK has 17 degrees and Birel i.e.18,it is hard to compare the same adjustment you always have to test and make a decision after that.
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Wheelbase changes caused by adjustments in caster angle is negligible?
I mean, when we compare wheelbase with a maximum and minimum caster it will be different, but how much it impacts driveability?
I am asking that because in my opinion when we are incrementing caster we are improving kart’s response in the first half of a corner but a greater caster brings greater wheelbase, and a greater wheelbase reduce kast’s response, so it seems to me wheelbase change caused by adjustments in caster is negligible but I’d like to hear the opinion of others with a maybe different point of views.