Getting Dressed: Stock Car Racing Magazine's Fastruck Project

Using my shop-made caster/camber gauges, we began setting the front end. These gauges have been detailed in SCR before. It is a tube that hooks into the upper and lower ball joints with a rod welded on at a 90-degree angle. A $10 angle finder magnetizes to the rod. Caster is read directly without turning the wheels. Our initial caster setting was 311/42 degrees on the right and 2 degrees on the left. This will likely change according to the truck's handling on a given track or to suit the driver's feel for the truck.

Camber was set using the same gauge but a different part of it. The welded-on rod fits in the indentation rings of the wheel. Then the angle finder was used to read the camber directly. We started with 5 degrees negative on the right and 3 degrees positive on the left. We will read the tires with a temperature gauge to determine if changes are needed.

Finally, we arrive at toe setting. When setting toe, realize that making the adjustment on only one side (resulting in unequal-length tie rods) will impact Ackermann effect on steering. The longer side tie rod will reduce Ackermann on that side. You may or may not want this to happen. However, this is an adjustment that a sharp racer can use.

Again, I used my shop-built toe gauges. These are H-shaped pieces with one leg long (28 inches), one leg short (13 inches), and the middle cross bar is 18 inches long. One of these was placed on each front wheel, much like toe plates, except these nestle in the ridges of the wheel. Use two steel tapes, one at the front and one at the back edges of the 'H.' Our preliminary starting point was to set the toe at 31/416 inch out. After we finished with the adjustments, the truck was placed on a set of Intercomp scales.

Yes, we're light by Fastruck rules, so lead was added, 225 pounds of it, in the form of A&A clamp-on weights. Some were put on the left and more to the rear.

Our weight, including the driver, once we reached a legal point, had the truck with a 48 percent rear and 55 percent left weight with a 53 percent crossweight. Remember, these numbers are all subject to change as determined by the track and our driver. Don't be afraid to adjust your truck and keep notes. Next time we will be on the track.