I noticed that the right sidepod is angled inwards and my left my more straight. I removed both rails and reseated them and both need to be slightly bent towards the rear at the front to get them to start going in. Problem is the left one needs more than the right and it ends up running into the inner tube and will not insert any further. My assumption is that it was bad machining of the rails and they are just slightly too long. The kart is nearly new. Input would be greatly appreciated.
Side pods are meant to be flexible and a little contact or lifting the kart by the side pods can easily bend the bars. You want these to be as free as possible so you will have to tweak them using either the frame openings or a vice. Just do one bar at a time till you get them to line up with the chassis.
Thanks for the reply. I managed to bend the left rear part of the side pod bar to “shorten” it and create a better lineup for inserting the front. Measuring from the eyelets to the bushing on the front, the right side is 1/4 inch closer than the left- so a little more angle. I’ve ordered a new rail from UK so will find out if it was that or if the frame is somehow bent…Its a relatively new kart when i bought it.(3 hrs of run time) Are the sidepods supposed to be angled inwards? Is it chassis specific? I see some karts where they are in a straight line. TIA
A little more even now. My only concern is that the left rail has less up/down flex than the right since it is inserted at more of an angle and running into the blue sleeve.
As long as they can move freely up and down, you’re fine. No need to overthink it. Sometimes the spuds in the frame are not perfectly straight or the bars themselves aren’t perfectly straight.