Tools for Fools

[magnusfeuer]

I have now fed my tool cravings:

1 Camber/Caster Gauge
1 set of toe in plates.
1 set of Computer scales (Link) purchased together with Chris and Doug. Additional co-owners are welcome.

I will bring all the toys to the NASA Buttonwillow event, but will probably ask for a small weighting fee to offset the $1000 cost of the scales.


/Magnus F.

[magnusfeuer]

Me, My laptop and the Caterham had a nice afternoon in the garage today.

After setting the ride height and shimming up the scales so that they were horizontal, I started to adjust the corneer weights. After 1.5 hours I had wedge (the weight relation betwen the rear left/front right and rear right/front left wheel pairs) to 50.03% with my weight in the driver's seat and 40% gas.

The final numbers were:
Front Left: 381 lbs
Rear Left: 448 lbs
Front Right: 339 lbs
Rear Right: 405 lbs
Total: 1573 lbs

Weight % over rear wheel pairs: 54.23%
Weight % over left wheel pairs: 52.7%

It doesn't get much better that if you don't have a center seat. The excel sheet can be found in the wiki7.

Next was toe-in, which I did with a standard pair of toe-in plates. It turned out I ran a slight toe-out, which I corrected to the current 0.16 degrees toe in. Most of the time was spent trying to remember basic math for converting mm to degrees. I ended up using:
arc sin( (front_width - rear_width) / wheel_diameter))
which I think is correct.

Tomorrow I'll do camber, which is currently at a measly -0.25 degrees on one wheel and 0.00 degrees on the other. One turn on the upper ball joint is apparently 0.25 degrees.

Lovely!

/Magnus F.

[moosetestbestanden]

I think you're on your way to a more balanced car :D

I wouldn't have minded a session just to confirm what we did at Gert's. Maybe there will be enough time during lunch on Sat. / Sun. for a check.

Btw, having different camber and toe values for each front is considered The Way now in F1:D

[slomove]

Back then when we measured on the bathroom scales, Magnus car was 1684 pounds. But I am not sure if with same windscreen setup, fuel and wheels, if Magnus lost a few pounds or if my plywood/string setup is just off....

Gert

[moosetestbestanden]

if my plywood/string setup is just off....

I reckon that it's better now that you've added the gum & GPS option :-O

Edit: Weather is supposed to be fine:

http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/USCA0146?from=36hr_topnav_undeclared

WooHoo!

[magnusfeuer]

Gert.

Lighter wheels is one factor. If you want to calibrate your scales, bring them to Buttonwillow and compare them against the new ones.

I now run -1.3 degrees negative camber on both wheels. Thanks again to Doug and his clever bolt, nut and socket method of getting the uppe ball joint out from the upright.

When re-installing the ball joint, it started rotating, making it impossible to get the nyloc back on. After checking blatchat and the mallet theory, which failed, I realised that a regular tie-down strap can be used to hold the upper and lower A-arms together with some pressure, thus locking the ball joint stub into place in the upright. That is the easiest solution I've seen so far.

/Magnus F.

[slomove]

Gert.

When re-installing the ball joint, it started rotating, making it impossible to get the nyloc back on. After checking blatchat and the mallet theory, which failed, I realised that a regular tie-down strap can be used to hold the upper and lower A-arms together with some pressure, thus locking the ball joint stub into place in the upright. That is the easiest solution I've seen so far.

/Magnus F.

Ah....is that the reason why they make the stubs conical? I always wondered.

Not sure if I will bring the scales, they are just a little bulky. But I cornerweighted my car a few weeks ago which I could use for comparison.

[moosetestbestanden]

That is the easiest solution I've seen so far.

Those MOG ends are looking better all the time...

[magnusfeuer]

I am not so sure about them anymore. It now takes me about 3 minutes to get the nut off (since I cannot get a socket on and have to use a wrench), 3 minutes to do the Doug trick, 1 minute to rotate the stud, 3 minutes to setup the tie-down straps (the one I use to keep my cat on the trailer), and 3 minutes to tighten the nut. Zero sweat, zero swearing. I almost feel like Gert (i.e. German) when I go through the motions with a fluid sense of progress.

The only upside I see with the MOG ends is the doubled resolution where we go from camber steps of 0.25 degrees to 0.175 degrees, but their outrageous pricing keeps them out of range for me..

/Magnus F.

[moosetestbestanden]

I almost feel like Gert (i.e. German) when I go through the motions with a fluid sense of progress.

Whaaaaat? A Sveed almost feeling like a German? No more nude Anita Ekberg photos for you! Nur bild auf grosse Deutsche frauen fur du.

Besides, if you were really like Gert you would have used plywood, gum, GPS etc...

The only upside I see with the MOG ends is the doubled resolution where we go from camber steps of 0.25 degrees to 0.175 degrees, but their outrageous pricing keeps them out of range for me..

This from a (supposedly newly minted German) guy who just dropped a big dime for tools when he could have just as easily made them from plywood, gum, GPS etc...

Like all engineers, the most important factor of the rod ends escapes, namely the simple fact that they are quite beautiful... what price art? Besides, I have it on good authority that they're only skinned in stainless stl. and are in reality made of plywood, gum, GPS...

[slomove]

Don't forget, some of the best quality birch plywood comes from Sweden....

[magnusfeuer]

As the saying goes: Swedes are better at being german than the germans themselves. It carries some truth...

I believe that Gert's expat status is getting the better of him. A true german would sneer in contempt even at a mallet or a valve stem cap that does not come with a full DIN specification (Deutsches Institut fur Normung/German Institute for standardization) and tolerances in the micrometer range. I think we have to send him back to the Fatherland for some rehab.

/Magnus F.

[Michael Murphy]

Sorry to interrupt the gum, GPS, etc banter.

Based on a survey of 1.0 events, I have found that the ball joint rotation problem can be solved simply by applying a small amount of uplift on the suspension with a jack (or a combination of plywood, gum, GPS, etc if you prefer). That seems to be enough to snug the conical thingie into the upright do-hickie. No need for a three minute tie down.

If either of my front wheels falls off this weekend you should ignore this suggestion.

[magnusfeuer]

Remind me to stay in front of you while we are on the track, even if this means missing out on free spare parts coming my way about 2 seconds after you go "Oh shit!".

/Magnus F.

[Michael Murphy]

Actually, it would be helpful if you stayed behind to collect any spares as I would like to reuse them. The Caterham SV is an ideal gear hauler. I heard that the chassis is based on a light truck designed by Tatra in the 1970s.