Seat Fitting

Seat fitting is the single most important weight adjustment on the kart and is done before weight distribution analysis. Perfect seat placement may result in almost perfect weight distribution before any weight is even added to the kart. WildKart provides a set of specifications for seat placement that should be followed as closely as possible. Seat fitting is without doubt one of the most time consuming jobs on the kart. Accurately positioning a seat is difficult when you take into account the varying shapes, sizes and driver seating preferences. The WildKart Seat Fitting Tool gives an accurate way of understanding where your seat is positioned in relation to the rear axle.

Weight Distribution

The most important handling adjustment is made before the kart reaches the track. The kart must be scaled and adjusted to ensure optimum performance. The desired wieght distribution is achieved by scaling and adjusting the chassis and moving around weights. Improper weight distribution can cause front end push (understeer), excessive or insufficient load on any one tire, chassis binding, and lack of side bite in cornering among many other problems. An improper weight distribution can also lead to incorrect diagnosis of handling problems at the track. For WildKarts, the following weight distributions are recommended:

These are just recommended starting points. Weight can be moved around at the track to change the handling characteristics of the chassis. Moving weight to the front of the kart will provide more front end grip while moving weight to the rear of the kart will provide more rear grip. Keep the side to side weight distribution as close to 50:50 percent as possible.

Rear End Setup

The rear end of a kart begins from the back of the seat with adjustments including wheel hub length, track, rear ride height, axle stiffness, and seat struts. Changes to these settings are usually made when handling problems occur on the exit of the corner.

• Rear Track width
  For racing, most rules dictate a maximum rear track of 1400 milimeters, that's why our chassis are designed for rules allowing a 1400 milimeters rear track. Therefore, it is important to set your kart's rear track to the maximum of 1400 milimeters. It becomes necessary to narrow the track when the rear of the kart is tight at the exit of the corner and has too much rear end bite. However, this is an adjustment only made when you have first changed your wheel hub length to the shortest hub available and are still tight at the exit of the corner.

• Wheel Hub Length
  WildKart makes four different wheel hub lengths for our chassis (75 mm, 95 mm, 105 mm and 125 mm). It's highly recommended that you purchase all four of these sizes as they are the most commonly adjusted setting on the kart. The longer the hub the more rear end bite. Use the shortest hub if the kart feels tight at the exit of the corner and use the longest hub when the kart feels loose at the exit of the corner.

• Rear Ride Height
  The height adjustment of the track changes the position of the kart’s balance point and gives the chassis a certain stability. The lower the kart is at the front the more direct the chassis will be, while losing, however, on efficiency after the angular point. The lower the chassis is at the rear the more steady it will be in the curve. On most WildKart chassis there are two setting for the rear ride height. The factory recommends running the chassis with avhigher ride height for better grip. The higher ride height, like the front end, creates more leverage in which to transfer the cornering loads to the opposing tire and thus results in more grip. Lowering the rear ride height will have the opposite effect and cause the kart to be extremely loose. Only in extreme cases should you change the rear ride height.

• Axle Stiffness
  WildKart makes three types of axles; soft, medium and hard. In almost all cases you will use the type medium hard axle. The soft rear axle is a little softer and is used when more grip is necessary on the track. This axle makes the the chassis run freely. Such cases in which you may need to use the soft axle are cold weather, slippery track conditions, and when using harder compound tires.
• Seat Struts
  On a WildKart chassis, the factory recommends running two seat struts on both sides of the seat running from the very top of the seat to the two outer bearing cassetes. On the motor side it may only be possible to use one strut. The seat struts allow the high leverage point of the driver to be used to transfer load to the rear tires and thus create more rear end bite. When the extra seat struts are removed, the drivers high position on the kart is not taken advantage of and minimal load is transferred to the rear tires. As a result, the kart becomes extremely loose. The seat struts are therefore only removed when all else fails to loosen up the rear of the kart. If you do have to remove seat struts, try removing one set at a time.

Front End Setup

Many important and easy handling adjustments can be made to the front end of the kart. Most handling problems that occur during the entrance of the corner are probably results of improper front end adjustment. Turn in, front end bite, and steering response can all be corrected by simple adjustments to the front of the kart.

• Front track width
  The most common and easiest adjustment to make to the front end of the kart is to change the front track, or front end width. Widening the front track will create more flex in the front end of the kart and result in more front end grip and quicker turn in. Narrowing the front track will have the opposite effect and result in slower turn in and less front end bite.

• Toe Adjustment
  The toe settings on a kart can effect weight distribution, top speed, and cornering response. The more the kart is toed in or out, the slower the top speed becomes due to excessive drag by the tires. Increasing toe out will increase initial cornering response. If the kart feels touchy and the back end gets loose at the entrance of the corner than you probably have too much toe out. Neutral toe adjustment is recommended for WildKart chassis. The toe should only be changed as a last resort. Look to other adjustments first to correct handling problems before changing your toe settings.

• Camber / Caster
  Caster effects the bite of the front and rear end and also changes apparent weight of the steering. It does this by transferring weight to the opposite rear wheel during cornering. The less caster in a kart, the less road-fell the driver will receive. Caster adds feel and bite to the front end. The excentrics are small in size but most effective on the track performance. They balance the chassis, give grip in the front when the kart is understeered or take away grip when the kart sticks to the track. Camber is the degree to which the front wheels lean toward or away from each other, if the tops of the tyres are closer together than the bottom, then camber is negative and positive camber is the opposite of negative camber. To maximise grip when cornering, it is highly desirable to have as much of the two outside tyre's rubber on the track as possible. Camber is the setting mostly responsible for maintaining maximum rubber on the road in corners. Camber is adjusted by rotating the camber adjusters at the stub axle mounting. If the king-pin bearings are housed in the stub axle, caster and king-pin inclination will also change when you adjust camber settings. The adjustment of camber and caster is easily changeable thanks to the incorporated excentric washers.The excentrics are important kart components which must be handled with skill. The different reactions they induce have an effect on the caster angle. On WildKarts, there are four excentrics used to adjust the camber and caster.

• Front Ride Height
  The height adjustment of the track changes the position of the kart’s balance point and gives the chassis a certain stability. The lower the kart is at the front the more direct the chassis will be, while losing, however, on efficiency after the angular point. The lower the chassis is at the rear the more steady it will be in the curve. By rearranging the two spindle spacers, the spindle height of each side of the kart may be changed. Keep both sides the same height. By moving both spindle spacers to the top of the spindle, you are raising the front end of the chassis. Raising the chassis height creates more leverage in which to transfer side  weight to the opposing tire and thus results in more front end bite at the entrance of the corner. Lowering the chassis, or moving both spindle spacers to  the bottom of the spindle, has the opposite effect and creates less front end bite at the entrance of the corner.

Torsion Bars

As the name says, the torsion bars give the chassis stability, both front and rear. When using the rear torsion bar it is important that the kart does not have too much grip, which would make the engine choke when accelerating. The front torsion bar is imparatively recommended.

• Removable Front Torsion Bar
  Removable front torsion bars and clamps affect the mechanical grip of the front tires. Removing the front torsion bar in your kart will decrease front-end mechanical grip.
• Adjustable / Removable Side Torsion Bar
  The tension bolts on the fourth rail on some karts are designed to allow adjustment to the stiffness of the centre section of these chassis rails. Under normal track conditions this bolt should be left in and done up tight. As a track offers more grip or as rubber goes down on the driving line, then the bolt should be loosened until the point you can turn it freely with your fingers. If the track has good grip with a lot of rubber on the driving line or if the track is very bumpy then the bolt and its spacer should be removed from the kart altogether.
• Adjustable / Removable Rear Torsion Bar
  The adjustable rear torsion bar is a good tool in helping to create more grip in the back of your kart. This allows you to fine tune the chassis by increasing or decreasing rear end grip. Running the bar with the blade of the torsion bar set vertically to the track's surface, will maximize rear mechanical grip as well reducing rear chassis roll. Turning the bar towards the horizontal position will reduce rear mechanical grip while increasing rear chassis roll. Removing the rear torsion bar completely is the "free-est" setting.

Kart Maintenance

If you want your chassis to work at its peak performance level, you’re going to have to treat it well by performing the required maintenance. This means you will  have to check things such as the bolts and screws, bearings, brakes, chain, spindles and stub axles, etc. You have to make sure all of these components are in good working order or you may have to fix them.

• Chassis Revisions
  Varify that the frame has sustained no damages, brakes, cracks, traumas which may effect the chassis performance properties. It is also imperative that the axle bearings are regulary cleaned for optimum performance. It is also recommended that the front spindles/stub-axles are controlled to insure that they reflect the original degree angle inclination (for this procedure we strongly advise the use WildKart laser alignment tool).
• Brake System Maintenance
  Periodic control checks should be made to the brake oil levels and brake pads to ensure the proper function of the brake system. Revisions to the brake system: Substitute brake seals after 20 – 25 hours of use, change oil after every 15 hours of use, always make sure that the cylinder is perfectly smooth and without any surface imperfections.
• Systematic Checking
  - After driving, always check the tyre pressure
  - Before the first run, check if the seat is mounted properly
  - After driving, always check if all screws are still tight
  - Check the track and castor adjustments