phil T5
|
| posted on 17/8/08 at 09:06 PM |
|
|
Wheelbase difference!
Following on from my checking of the rear live axxel set up I think the weheelbase on my car is different side to side
The drivers side is 1 cm (10mm) less that the passenger side.
Ive only measured this with a tap measure from tyre contact patch to tyre contact patch.
How important is this?
|
|
|
|
|
martyn_16v
|
| posted on 17/8/08 at 09:11 PM |
|
|
Are you sure the steering is dead ahead? If it's slightly off to one side and you're measuring from the outside of the tyre it'll
easily move by more than that.
|
|
|
phil T5
|
| posted on 17/8/08 at 09:17 PM |
|
|
I also measure wheel centre to centre and the contact patches both with wheels straight ahead, I think
|
|
|
Richard Quinn
|
| posted on 17/8/08 at 09:22 PM |
|
|
As above, make sure steering is straight ahead and measure from centre of wheel/hub to centre of wheel/hub. It appears to be quite common on kits that
one side is different to the other. Annoying really as these are supplied by companies extoling their engineering prowess and telling us how
everything is jig-built.
|
|
|
Ivan
|
| posted on 17/8/08 at 09:31 PM |
|
|
As long as the axle is perpendicular to the centre line of the chassis I wouldn't worry about it - many perfectly good tintops have more than 1
cm difference in wheelbase.
|
|
|
phil T5
|
| posted on 17/8/08 at 09:53 PM |
|
|
Thanks
puts may mind at rest
Presumably this cannot be easily altered
It would involve changing length of the rear axle pivot links or altering the from supension
Both messy and likely to have serious consequences
Whats the best way of making sure live axle is straight
Should it be exactly at right angles to the line between the front wheel axis and the same distance
If its measured from the chassis, can i assume the chassis is straight in relation to the fromt wheels
|
|
|
procomp
|
| posted on 18/8/08 at 06:53 AM |
|
|
Hi
As mentioned above many of the KIT manufacturers cant get it right. Other thing to take into consideration is the amount of castor on each side. Again
most manufacturers struggle to get within 1-1.5 degrees of each other. This could account for 4-6 mm of the problem.
The one way of correcting the problem at the rear if the problem lies in the chassis accuracy and the axle dose not line up down the thrust line of
the car is to make the trailing arms adjustable for length. Then you can adjust out any alignment problems down the thrust line.
Cheers Matt
|
|
|
Delinquent
|
| posted on 18/8/08 at 12:55 PM |
|
|
Just have a look at an early Renault 5 to appease your concerns... they don't measure the difference in mm, they measure it in inches 
As above just check it's nice and straight.
|
|
|
procomp
|
| posted on 18/8/08 at 02:25 PM |
|
|
Hi although to be fair comparing a 800-900kg tintop to a light weight car that doesn't have big soft bushes for suspension is a bit of a poor
comparison.
Anything more than 5-6 mm will show up when driving these sorts of car.
Just ask the locost racers who have modded theres to be within 1mm  .
Cheers Matt
|
|
|
