Got my MK Indy R set up properly last week. All corner weighted, camber, bump steer etc.

Been for a few nice drives in the sun, and wow what a difference, it just grips, grips and grips a bit more. And it's only on toyo TR1's.

The steering is so direct, move the wheel a bit and the car just instantly glides to where you point. And the rear seems to follow the front now lol.

Even the brakes seem to work better, before they just constantly locked, but now it just grips.

The balance of the car is just awesome, and oversteer is just so controllable.

My only thing is I think I need a smaller steering wheel as if feels a bit light for my liking, so have ordered a 10" wheel to replace the 13.5" one.


Should of got it done months ago, completely transformed the car, easily the best £260 I've spent.

Can't wait for trackday at blyton park at end of month

Where did you get it done?

Do you have a Quick rack?

Ta

Dan

Totally agree that its the best money you will spend on the car.

To any budding or current builders:

Do not drive the car on the road until you have it professionally set up, you will be disappointed, disheartened even. Do not let some garage who has a laser tracker 'have a go' at doing it they will make matters worse. Fork out the cash and get it done by a specialist who knows what they are doing. I had mine setup by a numpty and my car was no fun to drive, I did around 200 miles in 4 months due to me not really liking driving it. Now after a proper setup I drive it at every opportunity, the only prob is its costing me an arm and a leg in fuel

It was Track Development in Wiltshire.

And no it's just the standard MK modified sierra rack

Makes me think I should get mine setup before I sell it... Sounds like it could change my mind...

quote:

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Originally posted by yellowcab
Makes me think I should get mine setup before I sell it... Sounds like it could change my mind...

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Just called Ivan @ ProComp... booked in! lol

You won't be disappointed with the service. They make a good brew too.

If you've not got the kit or skill to set it up then give it a go... Not a lot of cash.. Having talked to a few folks if you can build a good locost (not a kit!) setting up should be possible/simple with some basic tools and a LOT of time and patience, else get a professional to have a go...

Dan

quote:

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Originally posted by yellowcab
Just called Ivan @ ProComp... booked in! lol

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quote:

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Originally posted by Bluemoon
If you've not got the kit or skill to set it up then give it a go... Not a lot of cash.. Having talked to a few folks if you can build a good locost (not a kit!) setting up should be possible/simple with some basic tools and a LOT of time and patience, else get a professional to have a go...

Dan

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quote:

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Originally posted by -matt
It was Track Development in Wiltshire.

And no it's just the standard MK modified sierra rack

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quote:

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Originally posted by yellowcab
Just called Ivan @ ProComp... booked in! lol

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"To any budding or current builders:

Do not drive the car on the road until you have it professionally set up"

what a load of tosh!

My car, has been driven by myself for years, and all without any profesional help, but has had corner weights done and camber tweeked etc (all by self in my garage) yet a former F2/F3 driver who has driven my car at least 3 times, commented on how my car drove, could not be any better, for road use

My car setup is fairly soft, as i dont want to be replacing things due to the suspension is to harsh, and that makes the whole ride
realy uncomfortable

steve

Tosh? Not in my view for the average builder.

I don't have calibrated corner weight scales, I dont have a set of camber gauges and quite frankly don't have the knowledge to set my car up to the level its at now. I dont even have a level garage floor. I spent 6 months reading, tweaking, trying out adjustments and even taking it to a local 'specialist' who turned out to be hopeless. I at that point didnt want to own the car anymore because I didnt want to drive it.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago I spent a day at procomp who properly set the car up. Car is transformed, I'm happy, the car is getting used, job done. All for the pprice of a set of iffy corner weight scales. So in my case yes professional help was a necessity.

My car is not a kit car, but a self build from a book,

This was my first ever build of such a car, so perhaps i was "lucky" that from a pile of drawings (that were wrong!!) i could build a car
with neutrol handling, that over the first couple of years needed tweeking to perfect its handling


As for corner weight gauges, i used two matching bathroom scales, so not exactley high tech, and cost about a fiver each
Steve

[Edited on 9/7/13 by steve m]

That's my point Steve, I dont have the patience to wait a couple of years, id rather be out enjoying the thing. Which is what ive just been doing in fact. 150 mile run out, not bad considering I was only nipping to Asda

I'm with sdh on this one. I spent ages trying to set my car up, using quite decent setup tools (optical toe gauge, digital castor gauge) but never was very happy with the result. Took it to AB performance, £250 later and it's now really really good - turns out despite my best efforts it was ridiculously inaccurately set up before. Plus free tea and tips on tyre choice, future improvements, etc. Money very well spent IMO.

I'm torn on this as one as at one level it is not rocket science, im told you can get ok results with some bathroom scales, and know someone I can probably borrow a corner weight gauge of (single wheel lever type) , my parents have a flat floored garage, and I would actually enjoy spending a day doing it.

However on the flipside, i know most cheap garage scales are super awful, i don't know the guy with the corner weight gauge that well and he isnt that local, my own garage isnt even close to level flat or smooth, and in the last 6 years I have owned the car, having said I would do it when I replaced the shot rear shocks 6months into owning it, I still havent got around to it and it is still slightly unpredictable and can under steer like a bugger and for what it costs compaired to what the car owes me in enjoyment and insurance, its bonkers not to get it done.

This summer I am mainly in in India with work, but I think next year I will replace the front shocks (also I suspect original and far from in good shape) and get it done.


Daniel

[Edited on 10/7/2013 by dhutch]

Doing it at home is much like porting your own cylinder head or mapping an ECU, you are likely to get a little better result than you currently have (assuming you follow good practice) but risk making a mess of things and end up worse off than before. Giving it to an experienced specialist with a good reputation will get you something that will work properly every time, certainly better than 99% of home efforts and give you somewhere to go if things go wrong. When you work out the cost of the additional equipment you need to do a half decent job it will cost more than getting it done professionally.

Finally you won't have access to the advanced gear for a home job. For example unless you have a shock dyno and the kit to re-valve then all bets are off on what you end up with handling wise doing a DIY job might be really good but you'll end up at the specialist anyway if it isn't.

quote:

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Originally posted by steve m
As for corner weight gauges, i used two matching bathroom scales, so not exactley high tech, and cost about a fiver each

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I set my car up at home and am generally happy with it but I have no idea whether it would be miles better if set up professionally as I've never driven another Indy let a lone one set up by a pro.

In terms of grip and balance the car is great, but the only bit that doesn't feel right to me is the level of feel and feedback from the steering but I'm not sure if this is an inherent MK geometry issue.

Stu

Hi Dave

I can only find the first ever weight calculation page in all the locost paperwork, and will hopefully find the finished data sheet

as off may 1999 and around getting the car on the road, all measuments taken with the car on a level (ish) garage floor
and the small incline toward the door was allowed for using hardwood shims, under the bathroom scales

front left wheel 161kgs front right wheel 156kgs
rear left wheel 98 kgs rear right wheel 109kgs

a total of 524kgs and a 65/35 split

regards

steve

quote:

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Originally posted by steve m
Hi Dave

I can only find the first ever weight calculation page in all the locost paperwork, and will hopefully find the finished data sheet

as off may 1999 and around getting the car on the road, all measuments taken with the car on a level (ish) garage floor
and the small incline toward the door was allowed for using hardwood shims, under the bathroom scales

front left wheel 161kgs front right wheel 156kgs
rear left wheel 98 kgs rear right wheel 109kgs

a total of 524kgs and a 65/35 split

regards

steve

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Each scale will be different so you might have to calibrate if you use more than one, i.e weigh yourself on each and work out the calibration factor to get them to agree...

Nothing to stop u using leverage but getting repeatable results will be harder, and more of a PITA

It is simpler/better I think to use a salve clutch cylinder and pressure gauge type arrangement.. Much simpler to use..

Dan

[Edited on 10/7/13 by Bluemoon]

Yes - you'd probably need to use just one to get consistent results, moving it from wheel to wheel as needed. At around £5 for one bathroom scales I wouldn't expect any accuracy, but it wouldn't matter as long as they gave a consistent needle deflection for a given weight.

I have a long-term project to build a gauge based on a brake cylinder, but I was just pondering how people managed to use bathroom scales to balance their cars.

quote:

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Originally posted by David Jenkins
Yes - you'd probably need to use just one to get consistent results, moving it from wheel to wheel as needed. At around £5 for one bathroom scales I wouldn't expect any accuracy, but it wouldn't matter as long as they gave a consistent needle deflection for a given weight.

I have a long-term project to build a gauge based on a brake cylinder, but I was just pondering how people managed to use bathroom scales to balance their cars.

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quote:

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Originally posted by sdh2903
I at that point didnt want to own the car anymore because I didnt want to drive it.

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quote:

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Originally posted by yellowcab

quote:

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Originally posted by sdh2903
I at that point didnt want to own the car anymore because I didnt want to drive it.

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I hear you on this one

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quote:

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Originally posted by Bluemoon

Having use one to measure caravan nose weight I think you would struggle, they are not very good! They seem sensitive to load position, also will not like sideways forces say as you bounce the car to settle. Not to say it will not work, but repeatability problems will probably result.

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Booked in for Friday 2nd August

Bathroom scales here, they cost £4.99 and weigh up to 20 stone but as a dial you can overspin to maybe 25kg.

First off I calibrated loaded scales, 4 x 25 litre drums filled with water placed on top of each in turn matched the dials.

Next 4 x concrete flat slabs laid on a small bed of sand, one for each wheel which I levelled to each other.

Place scales on slabs, place car on scales using a jack so I do not upset anything.

I weigh 13 stone ballasted the drivers seat with my body weight

Set the pitch, ride height and balance across thevcar, Blocks of wood 4" for front chassis, 4.5" for rear chassis, much easier than trying to use a tape.
Ipad for camber and caster using "bubble level" could have just used a spirit level but the ipad fits the wheel rims.
String for toe in, wrapped around the car and tensioned with a bungy.

Took a couple of hours, I also swapped the scales around to confirm accuracy.

Okay it's a bit if a faffing, took a couple of hours with twiddling the spring seats but the only cost was the scales and I am very happy with the results, it would take a couple of hours to deliver somewhere.

Dave at Track Developments and Matt and Ivan at Procomp are the only people I'd use for suspension work. I've spent several hundred quid with Procomp and several thousand with Track Developments over the years. Good people.

quote:

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Originally posted by David Jenkins
I was wondering whether the principle of leverage could be used - take a hefty plank around 600mm long, put one end on a pivot and the other on the scales, and then put the wheel halfway along the middle (maybe with a block of wood to stop the wheel in the same place every time). I'd guess that the wheel on the other side would have to be raised to the same amount so that the car was level - just a couple of inches - if only one scales was in use. If that would work then any cheapo scales would cope.

After all, what's required is a number, not an accurate weight, so as long as the wheels on each side are parked on the same part of the lever then you would get an indication of whether a wheel's pressure on the ground is higher, lower, or the same as the one on the other side.
(If you follow what I mean... )

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