Motorsport Wheel Alignment: Step 3: Check Base Alignment
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Step 3: Check Base Alignment
01.57
| 00:00 | - Step 3 is to record the current settings of the car. |
| 00:03 | In motorsport this is often what's referred to as a set down. |
| 00:06 | The opposite of a set up. |
| 00:08 | If you aren't setting the car up from scratch for the first time, then this gives you a way of recording the final setup we ended up with the last time we ran the car. |
| 00:15 | This is an important step in getting the most out of the car and understanding your setup. |
| 00:20 | First thing to check is the caster. |
| 00:23 | Start by removing the strings so that they don't get in the way. |
| 00:25 | With the steering unlocked temporarily and with the steering wheel centred, make sure that the toe plates read zero. |
| 00:32 | Here we're using this adjustable frame which makes it simple to attach our caster gauge to the wheel. |
| 00:37 | Starting with the front right, we can turn the steering wheel to the right by 20°, using our toe plates to guide us. |
| 00:42 | Looking at our caster gauge, use a small level at its base to get it sitting flat. |
| 00:46 | Then we use the thumb wheel to zero the caster vial. |
| 00:50 | Go back to the steering wheel and rotate 40° to the left which will result in the wheels pointing 20° to the left from straight ahead. |
| 00:57 | Use the caster gauge again, making sure that it's sitting flat and read off the caster value. |
| 01:01 | Repeat this process for both front wheels and record our caster readings. |
| 01:06 | Here the caster values were 2.5° on both the front left and the front right. |
| 01:11 | Relock the steering straight ahead and fit the strings back to the bars. |
| 01:15 | Taking care to make sure that they are still centred on the chassis. |
| 01:18 | Now we can make use of our camber gauge and move around the car, recording the values as we go. |
| 01:24 | We measured -2.7° in the front left, -2.3° front right, -2.7 left rear and -2.3 right rear. |
| 01:33 | Now we can use a steel ruler to measure our toe settings with our string box as the reference. |
| 01:37 | The current settings are 6 mm toe in left front, 2 mm toe out right front, 1 mm toe out left rear and 0 mm toe right rear. |
| 01:47 | Make sure you record these values as you go so you can refer back to them in the future as required. |
| 01:52 | Now we're ready to move on to the next step. |
