Motorsport Wheel Alignment: Step 3: Check Base Alignment
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Step 3: Check Base Alignment
02.02
| 00:00 | - Step 3 is to record the current settings of the car. |
| 00:03 | In motorsport this is often referred to as a set down. |
| 00:06 | It's the opposite of a setup. |
| 00:09 | If you weren't setting the car up from scratch for the first time then this gives us a way of recording the final setup we ended up with with the last time we ran the car. |
| 00:17 | This is an important step of getting the most out of the car and understanding your setup. |
| 00:21 | First thing is to check the caster, start by removing the strings so that they don't get in the way. |
| 00:27 | WIth the steering unlocked temporarily and the steering wheel centred, make sure that the toe plates read zero. |
| 00:32 | Here we're using this adjustable frame that makes it simple to attach our caster gauge to the wheel. |
| 00:38 | Starting with the left front we can turn the steering wheel to the left by 20° using our toe plates to guide us. |
| 00:45 | Looking at our caster gauge, use the small level at the base to get it sitting flat then we use the thumb wheel to zero the caster vial. |
| 00:52 | Go back to the steering wheel and turn the wheels 40° to the right, which will result in the wheels pointing 20° to the right from straight ahead. |
| 01:00 | Use the caster gauge again, making sure it's sitting flat and read off the caster value. |
| 01:05 | Repeat this process for both the front wheels and record our caster readings. |
| 01:09 | Here the caster values were 6.25° on the left front and 6.75° on the right front. |
| 01:15 | Relock the steering straight ahead and fit the strings back to the bars, taking care to make sure they're still centred on the chassis. |
| 01:23 | Now we can use our camber gauge to move around the car, recording the values as we go. |
| 01:27 | We measured -0.9° left front, -0.3 right front, -1.7 left rear and -1.6° right rear. |
| 01:36 | Now we can use a steel ruler to measure our toe settings with our string box as the reference. |
| 01:43 | The current settings are 2 mm toe in left front, 0 right front, 1 mm toe in on the left rear and 2 mm toe out on the right rear. |
| 01:52 | Make sure you record all these values as you go so you can refer back to them in future as required. |
| 01:57 | Now we're ready to move onto the next step. |
