Seat off center?

Chassis Setup, Tires & Handling Forum
#1

I recently picked up an older Arrow X2-31C kart with an LO206. As of now, my son and I just plan to run laps for fun at CMP and GoPro. We went to CMP for the first time this past weekend and by the end of the day I was having pain on the outside-middle of my right thigh. The pain was caused by the lip of the seat. Additionally, I noticed turn-in on right turns required a slight amount more arm movement across my body than left turns.

I looked at the seat alignment when we got home and it’s twisted to the driver’s side and off-center. Before I center it, I was wondering if it may be off-center for a reason. I will most likely need to trim the chain guard to get the seat centered, but that shouldn’t be an issue.

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Any thoughts?

Daniel

#2

Not unusual, even from the factory they are often slightly offset. I’d say leave it as is until you start driving/tuning it, or scaling it indicates you need to make a change.

Freaked me out the first time I saw that too.

#3

Pain from the seat could be indicative of improper fit.

As James mentioned, it’s standard to have the seat slightly offset to the left side of the kart, so as to balance the weight of the engine, and also allow room for the engine. As a result, most manufacturers will recommend mounting the seat so that it points slightly right of center (towards the front of the kart). For instance, measurement B (see below) will usually be 5-10mm longer than measurement A.

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#4

Thanks for the input.

Evan- that’s interesting about the manufacturers sometimes pointing the seat to the front right. Mine is pointing from left.

I may give it another practice day before I make a change.

Daniel

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#5

Here’s a photo of mine, for reference. Right side measurement should be about 7mm longer.

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#6

Just mounted my new Tillett T11, right side was offset by just shy of 1 inch. I kinda had a simular question, so I’m glad I came across this post. I was told to offset to the opposite side of the engine is pretty common practice for weight distribution?

#7

Here was my seat position, offset quite a bit and angled. This was done to clear a Honda CR80R dirtbike / kart engine. It was a bit awkward but your brain will compensate for this sideways slip. The black tape on the cross bar is the actual center point.

That said, this seat has odd measurements such that I haven’t found anything quite like it.

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#8

Thanks for the photos and input guys. Seems my seat is offset opposite of what the normal recommendation is.

Daniel

#9

Looking at your picture, top looking down, it seems like it needs rotated clockwise a little.

Even though the seat is offset, I feel like it should generally be pointed straight ahead or even to the center/front of the kart. Yours looks like it’s pointed more towards the brake pedal.

Hope that made sense.

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#10

Thanks Jay, I agree. If I end up moving it, it will be clockwise.

Daniel

#11

my kart has the same and its to distribute the weight because they need to account for the engine so they move the seat to the other side by a few mm