rear track width on older kart

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    • August 22, 2013 at 2:12 pm #7805
      Ray Lovestead
      Participant

      Most any modern kart chassis seems to be designed to function best at nearly a 55″ rear track width.  I’ve got a DFM chassis (say, 13 years old, but the frame was never used) that refuses to function that far out.  It wants to live at 53.5 or maybe 54″ on a tight track.

      Does anyone out there know if older frames were designed to be closer to 53.5″?  Or is there some other problem that I’m not seeing with my chassis?

      Ray

      "Karting Expert Since 2015"

    • August 23, 2013 at 7:37 am #7843
      Peter Zambos
      Participant

      The rear width is effected by so many things, such as stiffness of the frame, the vertical and fore-to-aft location of the seat, and the size of the driver, so it’s almost a given that two drivers would find themselves tuning the rear track to different widths.
      Why the concern? How is the kart performing against it’s competition? If you are competitive at that width, does it really matter?

    • August 23, 2013 at 7:59 am #7844
      Ray Lovestead
      Participant

      Just curious.  Most of the kart manuals say the wider the rear track the more stable the kart will be.  They all suggest being at the max.

      My (in)ability to drive is a much bigger impact on performance as it is.

      Ray

      "Karting Expert Since 2015"

    • August 23, 2013 at 8:52 am #7853
      TJ Koyen
      Moderator

      Older karts don’t function at 55″ usually. Track widths used to be narrower for most karts. Not only that, but a 13 year old kart probably won’t ever function the same as a new kart because of it’s age.

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    • August 23, 2013 at 8:57 am #7854
      Peter Zambos
      Participant

      While it’s often true that a very narrow kart will not be as stable, and, as an aside, a SUPER narrow kart will just bog the engine down, that doesn’t mean that it’s not drivable. Though it’s advisable when driving a new kart, to start the rear width near or at the max width, you ultimately need to put it where it’s going to go fast whether or not that’s at 55″ or 53″.

    • August 23, 2013 at 1:21 pm #7869
      Ray Lovestead
      Participant

      TJ the kart is 13 years old, but was hanging on a wall (without any fittings, unused) for all of that time.

      So older karts did indeed have slightly narrower tracks that karts of today.
      Thanks guys

      Ray

      "Karting Expert Since 2015"

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