Can the Steering Problem be Fixed Easily?

By: Sally Aquire - Updated: 20 Jul 2013 | *Discuss

 

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Q.

I have a twin engine kart which has a problem with the steering, when I turn left the right wheel lifts off the ground, and if I turn right the left wheel lifts off the ground. I'm new to karting and would be very grateful for any advice.

A.

It is not necessarily a bad thing for any of your go kart's wheels to be lifting off the ground, but new go karters are often unfamiliar with the inner workings of a go kart and can perceive this to automatically be a negative thing. As go karts do not have a differential (which would allow all of the go kart's wheels to spin at different speeds and would make handling your go kart a lot easier), the inside rear wheels needs to be able to slide while you take corners. This is achieved through the inside rear wheel lifting slightly off the ground as having all of the go kart's wheels spinning at the same speed is not a good thing when taking corners. As the inside front wheel travels less distance than the other wheels, it needs to lift off the ground to avoid scrubbing. This means that the go kart is effectively only three-wheeled when taking corners.

In some cases though, a wheel lifting off the ground can be a sign that your chassis is not straight, particularly if it is the inside front wheel that is lifting off the ground. You may not notice any significant difference in your lap times, but you will often find that you are generally off the pace of the frontrunners.

If it is the inside front wheel that is lifting off the ground (and this happens just after your inside rear wheel lifts off the ground), you should find the go kart is still relatively easy to handle. However, the inside front wheel may lift off the ground without the inside rear wheel also doing so. This can happen if you are attempting to correct oversteer by turning in towards the outside of the corner.

You might experience the inside front wheel lifting off the ground during every corner. In this case, you can counteract this by taking a wider line into the corner or altering your centre of gravity so that it is reduced. Alternatively, it may be that the inside front wheel only lifts off the ground in particular corners. To rectify this, you can try altering the line that you can take into the corner.

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