MAINTENANCE AND SETUP TIPS.
Tweak (left to right balance of the car).
One of the most important factors when racing an R/C on-road car is ‘tweak'. If a car is tweaked then the car will turn differently in left and right
hand bends. Purposely tweaking a car may be advantageous when oval racing, but generally it is best if the car handles exactly the same in both
left and right hand turns.
A car becomes tweaked when the grip or weight is not balanced between left and right hand wheels. This may occur in several ways.
- The chassis assembly could be twisted, this is no longer common in modern cars, but should be checked after major crashes.
- The tires on each side of the car could be different sizes. The outside tire generally wears more quickly than the inside tire. To prevent
problems swap the tires from left to right hand sides after every couple of races. Or use a tire truer if available.
- The suspension or ride height may not be set the same on each side of the car. Check springs, tweak adjuster settings and ride height settings.
- Steering movement may be different on left and right sides.
- Tires may be giving different grip levels. Check and replace any that seem to have different firmness on the left or right.
- When using tire additive it is possible to tweak the car by accidentally applying different amounts of additive to each tire – be careful!
- Finally
its
possible
for the car to feel tweaked if the suspension does not move freely. Check that the power wires to the motor do not restrict
the rear suspension movement and check that all ball joints move freely.
Ride height adjustment.
The ride height should be kept to a minimum, this will keep the centre of gravity of the car as low as possible and so maximise cornering speeds.
The ride height should ideally be between 4 – 6 mm (1/8"-3/16"), but on bumpy tracks or where regulations dictate otherwise run the car a little
higher. Check regularly to compensate for tire wear which can be rapid on some tracks.
Adjusting the front ride height.
A-arm spacers cab be mounted under A-arms of the front suspension. Placing the front A-arms block lowers the chassis (less ride height) and
conversely putting them above raises the chassis, giving more ride height.
Adjusting the rear ride height.
Three molded different pairs of rear axle bearing holders have been included in the kit, they are all off-set to give 6 different rear axle height
settings. Optional Available are six pairs of rear axle Hard Anodised Aluminium bearing holders. With these settings it is possible to fine tune the
ride height with different kind of tire sizes.
Remove the rear axle and fit the appropriate pair of bearing holders to each end of the rear axle tube, complete with ball bearings and put the
rear axle back into place. Do not forget to re-mesh your pinion and spur gear. Always use the same height setting on both sides of the car
otherwise the rear axle bearings will lock up.
Rear tube damper servicing and adjustment.
The rear tube dampers are a very important part of the car. These dampers control the rear suspension movement.
Periodically check that the movement of these dampers is even and smooth in all directions. To change the damper action (stiffness) the damper
syrup has to be replaced by another type. Corally offers 3 different grades as following:
#80000 – Damper Syrup, Soft
#80001 – Damper Syrup, Hard
#80002 – Damper Syrup, X-Hard
Rear damper setup.
The rear damper setup controls the speed at which the rear suspension moves over bumps and through turns.
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If the car is poor over bumps then increasing the rear dampening effect may help.
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Increasing the rear dampening effect will also increase steering a little, remember this when making this adjustment for other reasons.
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If the inside front wheel goes light or even lifts during cornering then the damper is to thin.
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If the car is reluctant to change direction quickly enough in chicanes then reducing the rear damper effect may help.
General rule - if the car understeers whilst exiting corners then the rear damper is set too thin. If the car oversteers exiting corners then the
damper is too thick.
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