2011 Yeatts Racing Setup Manual

“Get Your Setup On – Vegas Edition”

Legends Car Setup For NewbiesTable Of Contents

Foreword...........................................................................................................................................................3Overview Of A Yeatts Racing Oval Setup.......................................................................................................4

"X" - The Theory behind chassis setup........................................................................................................4Notes on a Yeatts Setup....................................................................................................................................6Tires: Let’s Make A Federal Case Of It...........................................................................................................6Legend Car Maintenance and Setup.................................................................................................................7Setting up Your Legend Car...........................................................................................................................10

What You Need To Get Started..................................................................................................................10Let’s Start At The Beginning.........................................................................................................................11

Front End “Offset”.....................................................................................................................................11Chassis Geometry (Spacers).......................................................................................................................11Setting Your Control Arms At The Cross-Member...................................................................................12Caster and Camber – Working Together For A More Aggressive Front End............................................12

Camber ExampleCaster, Caster; What the HECK is Caster?.........................................................................13Example Of Negative Caster..........................................................................................................................14

Setting your Caster.....................................................................................................................................14What About Bump Steer?...........................................................................................................................15Setting Rear Steer.......................................................................................................................................16So What If I DON'T Square My Rear?......................................................................................................16

Lead (Pitch) vs Cross vs Springs....................................................................................................................17Springs............................................................................................................................................................17Weight!...........................................................................................................................................................19So Now What?................................................................................................................................................20

Gee, Kev, the car is great into the corner, but............................................................................................20Listing of spacers............................................................................................................................................20Playing with Weights - Yeatts Racing Setup.................................................................................................21Doing the Unthinkable: Road Racing.............................................................................................................22Troubleshooting Guide...................................................................................................................................232011 Outlaw Setup.........................................................................................................................................24Notes On 2011 Outlaw Yeatts Racing Setup.................................................................................................24YR Road Racing Setup...................................................................................................................................26

Foreword

2011 was a great season for Yeatts Racing. As usual, I evolved the setup over the course of the year and, after looking at my notes from the beginning of the year, ended right back where I started. Fortunately, it was very good to begin with! I’m coming out with the Vegas edition for the manual because I was very fast the last time I was there and several of my customers had great runs in 2007, the last time the Nationals visited Vegas. With that in mind, I’ve updated the manual with my thoughts on how I would attack Vegas this year. Unfortunately, I cannot make it to Nationals this year, but I can help my customers have a better time there.

I would arrive in Vegas exactly as the “2011 Outlaw Setup” is written. I’d also have scaled my car out with a spare set of front shocks and springs (325# LF / 350# RF) and a set of rear shocks and springs (200# LR / 225# RR). Additionally, I’d have mixed and matched these shocks and springs such that no matter what the combination, the cross would be in the 48.5-48.9% range. Any work you can do at the shop is much more effective and efficient than what you react to at the track. If you simply swap out a spring on a shock when you are at the track, you are inviting problems. Map it all out before you head to Vegas. You will be glad you did.

Overview Of A Yeatts Racing Oval Setup

The basics of a Yeatts Racing Setup can be summarized as follows.

Up front, we’ve switched spacers to get the RF more forward than the LF. To accomplish this, we’ll have ½” spacers on both the LF and RF lower control arms where they connect at the front cross member. Move the RF forward by spinning the heim joint that connects at the rear of the front clip outward to lengthen the control arm. With a ½ spacer at the cross member, we can lengthen the RF lower control arm to the point of actually moving the RF ball joint AHEAD of the RF cross member. This will help us attain the caster we’re going to use in the RF and the caster split we’ll need to help us make the car turn. The LF lower control arm will stay parallel to the front cross member.

We’ve received our best results in 2011 running the rear square in the car, though you might want to stick with 1/16” RR leading because of the added stability. Experiment with running the rear square until you are comfortable with it.

We’re going to try keeping our car within 50# of the minimum 1300# this season, and if we can add 20 or so lbs of lead and do that, then that’s what we’re going to do. Wheelbase this year will be longer, in most cases, on the right side (73 3/16) and the left side will remain roughly 73”. When a chassis is bent, your base geometry won’t work as well, and we may be required to hunt for a new base until you can get your chassis replaced / repaired.

Once your front geometry is set, put the car on the ground and set your ride heights to our desired numbers. Camber is greatly affected by ride height, as is pinion angle. Make sure your ride heights are where they need to be.

We’re going to start our pinions at about 1 3/4” measuring the pinion from the rear cross member. This measurement may go as high as 2 ¼” depending on the grip of the track. Vegas is a very “grippy” track. While the standard answer from most people is to run “2 to 6 degrees” of pinion angle, my biggest question has always been “What if your car is on an angle to begin with?” I measure pinion angle in terms of distance between the rear cross-member and the drive shaft U-joint. No matter the angle of the car, this measurement should be a solid starting point. Any less than 1” and you normally start squeezing power out of your motor. These cars have more traction with the new rubber, so let’s get those rear ends up a little and let them work! Keep in mind that your rear crossmember that we are using for measurement may have had some material chewed out or cut out – we are not including that area for measurement. Instead, if the rear crossmember has an area that’s lower than the overall crossmember area, we’ll be using the overall crossmember area. This is less complicated than it sounds.

Once you have completed your setup and put the car on scales, make all of your adjustments using all 4 corners of the car. If you are a turn tight, then loosen the car by adding a quarter turn into the LF and RR, and then taking a quarter turn out of the LR and RF. Try to avoid making drastic changes to only one particular corner of a car. This ruins your ride heights. This means if you get your car on the scales and you are more than 1% away from the desired cross weight, use all 4 adjusters and sneak up on your final numbers.

"X" - The Theory behind chassis setup

Some things in racing are immutable. A racecar chassis can be thought of as an "X".   What affects the RR will directly affect the LF, and vice-versa.  What affects the LR will directly affect the RF, and vice versa.   What you must keep in mind is that you cannot make an adjustment to one corner of the car without taking into account what effect that adjustment will have to the opposite corner.

The key to knowing what to do to a chassis to make it work is figuring out what it needs.   Experience is really the only teacher. If the car is pushing on the entry to a turn, chances are the right front needs to be softened up, either through tire pressure, softer spring, or softer shock.  Conversely, you may be able to achieve the desired result by stiffening the left front, through tire pressure, a stiffer spring, or shock.   The weight shifts forward and at a 90-degree angle from the turning direction.  If the RF tire, shock and spring are not ready to accept the shifting weight, pushing will occur. 

Stability exiting a turn is controlled by the rear suspension.  A car that wants to break the rear end loose may have too much weight on the right rear wheel.  The symptom may be corrected by either reducing the weight of the wheel by softening the spring, adjusting the tension on the spring down, or by softening the RR shock or air pressure.  The same symptom may be corrected by stiffening the LR components, such as the spring, shock, or air pressure.

Theory Of “X”

Another, more noticeable adjustment is to change the lengths of your rear control arms. Lengthening or shortening one of the control arms will change the position of the rear in the car and thus make it easier to turn or less likely to spin out. To give you an example of how much more dramatic adjusting the control arms is, a quarter turn into the RR control arm (lengthening it by a quarter turn) can have as much effect as a full turn into the RR spring (adding a full turn) in terms of loosening up a car. Keep your wheelbase in mind when making an adjustment like this. If you are near the limit on a side, adjust the other side appropriately. Also keep in mind that lengthening the RR will move the RR back and bring the LR forward (it’s all physics here). Adjusting rear control arms keeps your ride heights generally the same. We’re also learning to lengthen and shorten our panhard bard to loosen and tighten the car, respectively.

Notes on a Yeatts Setup

A setup on a race car is derived over months and years of testing, with a great deal of trial and error. You purchased this manual to shorten that learning curve. Some basics for a good solid setup are:

The caster of a car is a personal choice for the driver. A wider caster split will cause a car to want to turn more easily, but this may not be what a driver wants or needs. This year, to get the car to turn more actively we’re going to increase our caster split to 4 and even 5 degrees.

The axle housing is square in the car. I vary my housing by +/- 1/8” depending on the handling of the car and track conditions.

The pinion angle, measured in degree angle by many racers, is instead measured in terms of distance above the rear cross member of the car. To measure, turn the rear wheels such that the driveshaft rear universal is flat above the cross member. Measure the distance from the cross to the universal. Do not allow the distance to become less than 1 1/8” inch. Any lower and you run the risk of having the driveshaft hit the cross member under braking or keeping the car in a bind. Setting the pinion angle properly will require that you change the length of your center link and lower control arms until the driveshaft is the proper height above the cross-member and your wheelbase is legal. Rear end trajectory is critical to getting off the turns. Note: Too much pinion angle will also serve to bind the car and drain power from your car.

I scale and measure my car without the driver in it but it’s ok to scale with the driver in it. So long as you measure your car the same way every time (full of gas, tires properly inflated) you will achieve consistency of setup performance.

Panhard bar spacers listed here are a general guideline for a straight chassis. If you find your rear housing will not get to the preferred offset, try using smaller spacers on the panhard to reduce the distance and bring the rear left.

Tires: Let’s Make A Federal Case Of It

I liked the Federal “Tyres” right off the bat in 2010. As the picture up top indicates, we picked up our first win on 2011 on the Federal tires. All of my wins in 2010 were on the Federals.

Several spec items have changed. Camber increased to -5 3/4 on the RF and +3 1/4 on the LF.

One manner in which we can make use of the increased forward grip of the Federals is to raise our rear pinions another ¼”, to nearly 2 full inches above the cross member. Every downward pinch of the pinion squeezes 1-2hp from the rear wheels (which is why it feels like the grip has been increased when in fact the horsepower has just been dampened). Raising our pinions will allow us to realize a small HP increase, so why not use it?

Aging for the Federal tires so far doesn’t seem to be an issue. In separate tests with multiple drivers, we’ve run them over 500 laps with no variations in tire hardness after cooling down and no real variation on durometer readings. Performance doesn’t seem to fall off, either.

Legend Car Maintenance and Setup

Maintenance in the off-season and during the racing season is critical to the longevity of your racecar and your safety while you are in the car. Legends cars, much like any racecar, will try to tear itself apart while it’s on the track. It’s your responsibility to make sure that every time you roll the car off the track.

Car Area Areas To Check FrequencyChassis Check every weld on the car. There should be no cracks,

or breeches in the weld. Signs of cracks are rust in the area of the weld, and broken areas of paint. The 3rd link bar in these cars is not substantial enough to take the pounding our cars induce, so make sure to keep an eye on it for cracks.

Off-seasonAfter any wreck or trip off the track

Front End Check ball joints, heims, jam nuts, radius rods, spindles. Check each nut and bolt in the front end steering geometry for tightness. The aluminum spindles are more vulnerable to cracks and failures than the older steel spindles, so stay on top of this if you are running the aluminum spindles.

WeeklyAfter any wrecks or trip off track or contact with the wall.

Steering Rod(Bottom)

Check setscrew where the steering rod connects to steering box. Safety wire after tightening.

Check safety wire weekly.

Control Arms

Check bolts, radius rods, heims for tightness and bends. Check the control arms and clevices for straightness.

Weekly and after any wreck or contact with the wall.

Engine Check headbolts, header pipe nuts, muffler nut and bolt, engine mount nuts and bolts, all oil line fittings, spark plug gaps and tightness, engine mount nuts and bolts, and engine mount for cracks.

Off-seasonWeeklyBefore Race

Driveshaft Adapter Nut

Torque this down hard at the start of the season. I suggest using the new style adapter with the set screws to add further stability. You do not want this nut backing off.

Off-seasonMonthlyWhenever vibration felt.

Carbs Drain at the end of the race day. Do not let fuel sit in the carbs.

Seat Belts Check belt lengths for proper length, and check bolts for tightness. Replace after TWO years.

Before EVER getting in race car, and then before each race week.

Nuts and Bolts

EVERY nut and bolt on the car, start in the front, and work your way to the back. Bolts get old and brittle and break. High stress areas, like the bolts on your rear control arms, should be as high a grade as you can get. I am using grade 9 back there now. I use grade 5 bolts up front and make sure the nuts are as tight as they can get. The grade 5s are replaced at the end of every season.

Before each race week.

Header Bolts

Header and Head Bolts (mentioned above) are worth a second look!

Before each race week.

Engine All nuts and bolts on the engine mount. A failure to do Before each

Mount so may allow the engine to move and stop you from being able to shift or steer.

race week.

Oil Level Check Cold! Engine Shut Off – Oil should come up to ¾ site glass Engine idling – Oil should come to the bottom ¼ site glass

Race DayChange Every 2 Races or 2 weeks

Oil To Use

Castol GTX 10/40 (Non-synthetic)Mobil 1 10w30 Synth Above the Mason-DixonMobil 1 10w40 Synth Below the Mason-Dixon

Change every 3 races or 2 weeks

Gear Oil Mobil 1 75W90 Check Level when Cold – 1.5 quarts

Brakes Pads, caliper slides Each week, sand the brake shoes down a bit, keeping them level and removing any glaze that forms on the pads. Make sure your caliper slides are clean, dry and the caliper is free-floating.

Carbs Check http://www.kevscorner.com/Misc/KevsCornerThrottle.htmlfor more information

Weekly

Rear Housing Pitch

The rear housing is pitched with either the right or left side leading.

Weekly and after every wreck or off-track excusion.

Motor Storage during the week and off-season

Due to the fuels we run with these cars, the valve train takes a real beating. I spray a mixture of WD-40 and Marvel’s Mystery Oil into my spark plug holes after every weekend’s activity to keep the top end of the motor lubricated during the week. If you do not want to do this, you can keep things lubricated properly by starting the car and letting it run briefly during the week.

Weekly during the seasonOnce at the start of off-season.

Spark Plugs

NGK JR9C Every 6 races

Clutch pads

Barnett competition clutch pads wear down and require changing every 15-20 races. Worn clutch pads can cost you 20% of your horsepower. If you keep the stock clutch, you can add a second diaphragm and get the performance and durability you are looking for.

Every 15-20 races

Nuts and Check this every week! Weekly

boltsWiring Check every week to make sure you have no worn,

frayed, or rubbed areas. Nothing ruins a day like having two hot wires run together and melting your dashboard. Adding an extra fused link on your fulltime power feed is advisable.

Weekly

Setting up Your Legend Car

Figure 1

Setting up your Legends car doesn't require a degree in rocket science.  It doesn't require loads of money and it doesn't require a lot of time.  Best of all, YOU can set up your car and have a consistent, reliable, stable setup to run competitively anywhere you go. That’s why you bought this manual, right? The key to Legends racing (one of them, anyway) is to have a reliable car that performs well everywhere you run and a good, baseline setup that you can come back to when you need it. Legends (L/cars) chassis are a basic coil-over spring design and respond to the same inputs and conditions as the larger, more evolved racecars.

What You Need To Get Started

The secret to doing any job correctly is having the right tools.  Collecting the tools to do the job correctly is probably the most expensive part of becoming your own chassis expert.   There are some shortcuts, which we will address, however, which will make your job easier at a fraction of the cost.Below is a list of tools used by Yeatts Racing when applying a full setup to an L/car:

Scales (go-kart scales are acceptable, as are bathroom scales - for best results, use digital racing scales which are capable of following you up the divisional ladder)

Toe-in Gauge Wheelbase Gauge Camber/Caster Gauge ( digital or analog or bubble ) Bumpsteer Gauge Tape measure Ride Height Measurer (Tape Measure will work) A 6’ beam of some sort for setting the rear square in the car. I use my wheelbase gauge clamped

across the front horns. 4 Floor Jacks Once your car is setup, measure the distance between the top and bottom of the shock (at the center of

the heim) as the car sits on the ground. Next, set up 4 radius rods with heims (old stuff will work) measured to the same lengths as each shock. You will be able to use these rods the next time you set your car up by replacing your shocks with these rods when you get the car in the air.

Let’s Start At The Beginning

A race car setup starts by setting your car up at the front wheels first. We’ll concentrate on the “big three” of caster, camber, and toe.. These figures are more fluid than in the past. The first thing we’ll check is camber, then caster, the toe. Something else to keep in mind is that your camber and caster settings will change as you change your ride heights, so spend some time before starting the setup to get your car close to the correct ride heights and tire pressures. You will have to come back to the front and check everything again after setting the rear, but setting up the front first will generally get us pretty close to where we’ll need to end up. Generally when setting up a car, I will replace my shocks and springs with tie rods (radius rods) and adjust them until the car is at the proper ride heights. This way, the camber, caster, and pinion angles do not change when the car is jacked up off the ground.

Front End “Offset”

Before starting to work on your front geometry, remove your front shocks and springs. It will make the adjustments much easier. Do not replace the shocks with the radius rods yet. Let the front end components hang freely.

In much the same way that we move the rear center of balance to the left as possible using the panhard bar, we position our center of balance up front as far left as possible by shortening our LF ball joint and lengthening our RF ball joint.

Keep in mind, however, that if the LF balljoint is too short, your turning arc can be impacted. Keeping your LF lower control arm at least 15 1/8” long from grease fitting to center heim will give you the proper offset. I strive for 15 1/8” with every car I set up. This may not be possible if you have front clip damage. If you find your lengths must differ, you can give me a call and we’ll step through it.

Safety Tip: A good rule of thumb for the RF balljoint is to keep as many threads of the ball joint inside the tube it screws into as the ball joint is wide. If the ball joint is an inch wide, keep at least an inch worth of thread inside the tube. As an added measure, I keep between an inch and 1 ¼” inside my RF “A”, where the lower ball joint connects. I also end up with the heim joint on the opposite end of the RF “A” extended out about halfway. We’ll use the upper “A” to get our camber numbers. I’ll basically repeat this elsewhere in the manual – it’s worth repeating. Also repeated later in this manual is the fact that the lower RF control arm should measure 16 7/8” from grease fitting to center heim.

Front Chassis Geometry (Spacers)

Spacers up front is how we go about setting our geometry correct.

Use a 1/4” spacer at the bottom lower front control arms where it connects to the chassis. With the top control arm, however, whatever spacer you need to to achieve the parallel line with the lower control arm. On an unbent chassis, I’ve had success using a ¾” spacer on the top control arm, but have also used a ½” and a 1” spacer on different cars, depending on their front clips. Overall, this gives us a much firmer, wider stance to support the front end in the corners. It’s important to use only grade-8 bolts for these upper control arms when using big spacers, because the extra distance due to the spacers will put more stress on the bolts. Only a grade-8 bolt is sufficient to handle this stress.

On the rear control arms, 1/4 - 3/4 “ spacers at the lollipops to try giving us a better angle for our control arms relative to the rear housing. We’ve had customers break the bolts at the trailing arm lollipops this year but we believe the issue was with the bolts. I’m using grade 9 where the bolts connect to the lollipops and have had no more trouble, even when using a ¾” spacer. Another option to try getting the angle on the trailing arms is to mount the trailing arms to the outside of the housing tab, but I don’t like the bolt head being that far out over the chassis rail.

Setting Your Control Arms At The Cross-Member

Before setting the lower control arms on the car, get each lower control arm to the proper length. The LF lower control arm should be 15 1/8” (+/- 1/8”) long, measured from the grease fitting of the lower ball joint to the center of the heim that connects to the front cross member. The right side measurement should be 16.7/8” (+/- 1/8” ). Keep in mind that you want to keep as much of the ball joint / heim joint in the control arm tube as is reasonable. A good rule of thumb is to keep as much length in the tube as the heim or ball joint is wide. For example, if a ball joint is 1” thick, keep at least 1” of the threads of the ball joint in the tube. Please note I said there would be repeating in this manual. Also, I’ve found that so long as the length of the left and right lower control arms adds up to no more than 32”, my overall width is within spec.

Use a 1/2” spacer at the RF lower control arm heim that connects to the front crossmember. Lengthen the heim at the rear of the RF lower control arm to get the control arm as close to the cross member as possible. Once you are done, the ball joint on the RF lower control arm will actually be forward of the cross member.

The LF control arm use 1 ½” spacer, also, but we’ll keep the LF parallel to the cross member. Spin the heims out as needed at the rear of the LF control arm in order to get the left arm parallel to the front cross member. This will be different, car to car, because most chassis coming from the factory are a little different. Make certain that neither lower “A” arm is making contact with the crossmember, and that it has the full arc of travel. The table in the notes section at the end of the manual will explain spacer placement.

The short, upper control arms will connect to the upper end of the cross member the same spacers (1/2”) used by on the lower control arms at the cross member.

Caster and Camber – Working Together For A More Aggressive Front End

With the advent of the Federal tires, one of the tactics we’re using is being more aggressive with our camber and caster settings in addition to raising our front ride heights. There is a limit to the LF camber we can add to our front end due to keeping our width as close to maximum. We also do not want to limit our turning radius or our ability to correct in the event of a slide. With the front end being set the way it is in 2011, the driving styles may need to be adjusted and become more aggressive. Ultimately the stopwatch and the tire temp gauge will lead us to where we need to be. In my testing this year and late last year, I maxed out my camber, drastically increased the caster split, and used the much lighter springs of the 2011 “Outlaw” setup with great success on the banked and semi banked tracks like Old Dominion in Manassas and Shenandoah Speedway in Shenandoah. The car, overall, was very drivable, even with higher cross weight pct. I’ll get into the details later. First, a discussion of what camber and caster actually mean.

Camber is the angle of the tire relative to the ground.   Early left-hand oval racers realized that they were losing their contact patch on the front end when they turned their wheels and the tires rolled over in the direction they had been traveling. There is a mathematics equation that will explain all this, but I am a racer, not a mathematician. Do a Google search on “Lateral Acceleration”. Normally, tires will be cambered in the direction of the banking.  If there is no banking, just remember the tires should be leaning in the direction you will be turning if you are only turning 1 direction, as on an oval. Measure the camber by removing the center cap of the front wheel, and placing the magnetic camber/caster gauge on the hub where the center cap used to be.   If it’s a magnetic camber/caster gauge, make sure it fits smoothly and flatly on the hub. Straighten the wheel, and adjust the camber gauge until the centering bubble reads 0.  For the left wheel, read the camber line on the left, "Positive Camber". For the right wheel, read the camber line on the right, "Negative Camber". 

Cambering your front end gives your tires a better chance of gripping the pavement while in the turn.  The way to check whether your tires require more or less camber is to take tire temperatures after a practice session.  Temps running hotter on the inside of the tire mean you have too much camber in the wheel.  Temps running hotter on the outside of the tire mean you don't have enough camber.   In my opinion, the

middle and outside of the tires should be within 10 degrees of one another, with the insides no more than twice the difference in outside and middle. Here’s an example to illustrate what I am taking about:

This picture is rather small for purposes of the manual. My apologies. Note how my right front tire has a dark ring around the outside. This is because I had too much camber in the RF when I first hit the track in Orlando and I was giving up nearly an inch of contact patch. I corrected and viewed much more even temps when I hit the track for the race. Camber is great to experiment with. As I soften the front of my car, I become more aggressive with the camber. I max my camber out at around -5 3/4 on the RF and +3 1/4 on the LF. This gets my car nearly too wide, given our control arm length, but the car will still fit through the hoop. Camber acts just like spring or air adjustments in tires, so what you give away in spring or air pressure you recoup a bit with camber. More importantly, camber helps the front end of your car cut in the center of the corner, and ultimately gets the maximum tire contact patch on the ground.

As track banking changes, we can increase or decrease our camber to maximize our contact patch, although I very seldom reduce my LF camber.

Camber Example

OK, What the HECK is Caster?

The best example of caster I can give you is the wheels of a shopping cart.  The wheels are mounted in such a manner that they are behind the point where the wheel bracket is mounted to the cart.   This makes the wheel follow the direction of the cart.  Were a straight line to be drawn from the mount point to the center of the wheel, the angle degree of this line would represent caster. If the caster in this case were to be the other way around, the cart would not be drivable and grocery shopping would require a lot more muscle to get the cart around the store!

Example Of Negative Caster

In the illustration above, the cart is heading off the right side of the page, and the wheel is following the cart. Grocery cart wheels need to follow the direction of the cart, because you are directing the cart with your hands, from the rear, and merely need the wheels to follow where you are directing the cart.  The cart is said to have "negative caster", because the focal point of the mount is AHEAD of the center of the wheel, making the general caster negative, like a "/". 

With a car, it's just the opposite!  You use the wheels to direct the car, and therefore most front wheels have positive caster.  With Legends, the caster is determined by the angle of the spindle from the upper ball joint to the lower ball joint. Positive caster gives the wheels more stability and allows the front wheels to steer the car.  Positive caster would be like a "\".  The angle of the caster makes quite a bit of difference in how the car bites when you turn it. 

Old school thought is generally accepted that a 3 or 4 degree split from right to left is the proper amount.   For the Federals, even 5 or 6 degree splits can work. A larger split will make the car less stable but more willing to turn left, especially under braking.   Also, the closer the left front wheel's caster is set to zero, the more responsive the steering will feel on a left-turn oval. We will set caster on the LF between -1 and 1, and RF caster between 4 and 6 degrees.   Don’t be afraid to go below zero on the LF. Again, the larger the split, the more responsive the steering.  There is a fine line between responsive and unstable.  A safe caster setting to start with is LF 1 degree, RF 4 degrees.  As your skills progress, try moving the casters down the scale a little until you've found a setting just on the brink of uncomfortable.   It might not be faster, but it will certainly feel like it! Too big a caster split will have negative effects on your car at the center of the corner.

Setting your Caster

To check your caster, you must set your car on the ground, preferably set to the proper ride heights.  Shake it and roll it back and forth a little to make sure the rubber on the tire is not binding.   Remove the dust cap from the center of the wheel you are going to work on first.  In our example, we'll pick the right front (RF) first. 

Turn the wheel 20 degrees in the direction away from the car. With your camber/caster gauge, set the center bubble to 0. Turn the wheels until the tire is 20 degrees in the direction toward the car. The bubble in the gauge will have moved, and this reading represents caster on the wheel. If it's more than you want, we need to move the top or bottom wheel mount point to give the wheel a less severe angle.   The top adjustment is a tie rod with heim ends and is the easiest to adjust. The bottom adjustment is the heim joint

at the end of you’re a-chassis where it connects to the chassis. Remember, reducing the caster of a wheel will LENGTHEN your wheelbase on that side. Naturally, increasing caster will shorten your wheelbase.

Once you've made the adjustment, you have to start all over with measuring the caster.   Once the wheel is the proper caster, you need to repeat the procedure on the other wheel.  The only difference is that you will first turn the left wheel to the LEFT, and then back to the right.

Don’t Step On Your Toe: Toe-out is the amount of difference in the direction of the front wheels.  "Toe Out" means the front tires are pointing away from each other in sort of a " \ /" configuration.  Toe out is measured as the difference in width between the front of our tires and the rear of our tires.   A Legends car is supposed to come from the factory with a toe-out of about 1/8".   Any more toe-out and you will scrub off speed down the straight; any less and you run the risk of having an unstable run down the straight.   Of course, total lack of toe-out will give you the most straightaway speed, but will cost you. Don’t be afraid to try 1/16 toe-out. Some of my fastest cars have been set with 1/16”.

Setting toe-out involved loosening the jam nuts on the tie-rod and turning the tie rod either left or right.   Carefully watch the wheel and you will see it move inward or outward.  Be careful not to turn the tie-rod too much!  Remember that every movement of the tie rod not only moves the front of the tire, but also the back of the tire, so if you move the front outward by a quarter inch it will change your toe-out by a HALF an inch!

When making adjustments to toe out, I normally keep the heims of my right tie rod, the 12” rod, screwed in as far as possible, and I will adjust the toe out by lengthening the left tie rod. This will minimally help our Ackerman overall and make the car want to turn left more. A double benefit by using the left side for the adjustment!

What About Bump Steer?

The new aluminum spindles bring bump into play a little more, so if you plan to get the aluminum spindles, get yourself a bumpsteer gauge from Longacre. Also, I believe the new steering boxes available from 600 will change the bumpsteer more for the aluminum spindle and make adjusting bumpsteer less important. It’s a personal choice to old style run steel spindles or the aluminum spindles. I have two cars and run a set of each. Both cars corner really well.

Simply stated, bump steer occurs when the toe-in or toe-out of your car changes through the course of a turn. What starts out as a 1/8” toe out may change as the steering wheel takes the front wheels through a turn. This is the result of the differing angles of the tie rods and the lower control arms as your springs compress or expand. The closer these two rods come to being perfectly parallel, the less bump steer you will encounter. You can change the bumpsteer by adding shims (very thin washers) between the heims of your tie rods and the bottom of the steering arms or the top of your steering rack. Continue adding and subtracting spacers until your bumpsteer gauge reads nearly 0 (or as close as possible) through the travel of your wheel. To adjust bumpsteer, remove your front wheels and springs and place the car on blocks approximating your ride heights. Attach the bumpsteer gauge to a front wheel hub, and use a small jack or crowbar to move the wheel assy through at least 2” of travel (1” up, and 1” down). The bumpsteer gauge will show how much the wheel is towing in or out. Adjust until the toe does not change.

Eliminating Bumpsteer is a lot of work. Keep in mind that every time you bang front wheels with another car, or a rumble strip you stand a chance of destroying your bump steer setting. The plate on which your steering rack sits should be as flat as possible at all times. I normally end up having my plate replaced 2 or 3 times a year because it gets so flimsy from me trying to straighten it. It takes almost no contact to bend this plate, but once it’s bent your bumpsteer numbers go right out the window. The new steering boxes from 600 necessitate we use a ¼” spacer between the inner heim of the tie rods and the steering box attachment as a starting point, because the new steering boxes have a much narrower steering arm attachment.

We should also touch on the concept of Ackerman Steering. Simply stated, Ackerman steering demands that the inside front wheel turn slightly more in the direction of a turn than the outside front wheel. For a standard, left-turning Legend, the LF must turn slightly more than the RF in order to reduce understeer, more commonly known as “push”. USLC now makes slotted steering arms which allow a change in Ackerman. In general, pull the left side bolt back to the rear of the slot (closer to the spindle body) and start moving the right side back until you get your desired effect. 1/8” should be all that required from the front of the RF steering arm and the tie rod bolt.

Setting Rear SteerOnce our camber, caster, toe, and bumpsteer are where we want them, the next step is to square up the axle housing. By "squared rear", I mean adjusting your rear housing such that it’s at the angle and pitch we want. We’ll start this setup with NO pitch. “Pitch” is the amount by which the RR leads the LR, or vice versa. No pitch at all is termed “square”. “Angle” is the angle of the pinion, which can be measured with an angle finder or by measuring the distance from the universal joint of the driveshaft to the top of the rear crossmember.  A rear end which is slightly askew one way or another will have opposing effects on your car, which you may find desirable as you become more skilled as a driver wanting to induce “rear steer”.

“Rear steer left” will induce a push or tightness into the car, while “rear steer right” will give the car loose tendencies.

Another thing to keep in mind is that we want to move the rear end forward to increase (minimally as it might be) our rear weight percentage. Once the rear pitch is set, the wheel base is in the 72.7/8 – 73 1/8” range. This may differ, car to car. I’m starting the rear with NO “left rear steer” condition in the car. If your car is loose on entry to the corner., you may try adding 1/16” to the length of the LR lower control arm, moving the LR back and tightening the car. If the track has good grip, you may try running totally square or minimizing your RR lead to 1/16.

Things to remember when squaring your housing: Set your rear offset BEFORE starting to square your housing. If you do not set your offset first,

you will undo your squaring job and have to start over. Remember to measure the offset with the car sitting on the ground. Try not to go below 6 1/16” offset, because a tech official with a fat gauge is going to win the argument. Also, a narrow offset can tighten your car so don’t be afraid to lengthen the panhard bar and set your offset to as much a 6 1/4”. Don’t be illegal on the right rear, either The offset from chassis rail to break drum is in effect for both sides of the car. I’m starting with my offset at 6 1/16” from the left rear chassis rail.

Set your pinion angle before squaring your housing. To a lesser degree, moving your pinion up and down will affect your rear squareness. Shortening the 3rd link bar will pull the RR forward just a tick.

Squaring The Rear End Housing – Getting Out The Broom

One of the best ways to square the rear end is to set your car on jacks about 18-24" off the ground.   As mentioned, I replace all 4 shocks with tie rods and heims adjusted to the ride height I am looking for.   This allows me to approximate the distance from the housing to the chassis when the car is under load.   Remove your front tires and find a straight beam of some sort (I use my wheelbase gauge).  I take off the front fenders and clamp the wheelbase gauge to the front horns 1” from the bumper. (Stay with me on this - if it gets wordy or confusing, re-read until it makes sense).

What you should now have is your car on 4 jack stands, as close to level as you can get it.   The rear wheels are on, but the shocks have been replaced by tie rods.  The front wheels are off.

Get 2 pieces of string (twine will work, or kite string) approximately 12 feet long each.  Tie one end of one piece of string to your rear bumper and attach the other end to the beam attached to your front horns.  The string should be taut and intersect through your rear tire at the level of the axle.  Once the string is taut, go to the front end of the car and move the string inward or outward until the string is touching the front and back of the rear tire.  The string should be in a straight line and any bulges in the string mean you need to readjust.  Repeat this process on the other side of the car with the other piece of string. 

What you should now have is your car on 4 jack stands, as close to level as you can get it.   The rear wheels are on, but the shocks have been replaced by tie rods.  The front wheels are off.  There are two pieces of string running from your rear bumper to the beam you have clamped to your front horns.

Measure the distance from the string on the left side to the left shock tower (assuming your shock towers are straight, if not you will measure to some other point on your front clip).  Repeat for the right side. The side with the greater distance from string to shock tower is the side on which your axle housing is back the furthest. To square your axle housing now, you must adjust the trailing arm lengths.  After each adjustment, you must adjust your strings to where they are touching the front and back of your rear tires.   Keep adjusting until the distance from string to chassis is the same on both sides.  Once the distance is the same, your axle is square. 

Remember to take your chassis offset into account. If you are running your chassis 3/8” closer to the left rear than your right rear, you have to subract that 3/8” when measuring your right string up front.

With the advent of the Federal Tyres, I’m a proponent of running your housing square in the rear.   Once you have your axle housing in the position you want, you are finished.  Tighten your trailing arm jam nuts and put your car back together. Even rushing through, this procedure can take up to an hour.

Lead (Pitch) vs Cross vs Springs

(Fig. 1) LR Lead – Rear pitched to the wall, causes loose tendency by keeping front end pointing for the

infield.

(Fig. 2) RR Lead – Rear pitched to the infield, causes tight tendency by keeping front end aiming

for the wallThere is a direct correlation in the amount of rear pitch and cross weight in setting up your car and, more specifically, in your YR setup.

As the rear pitch is removed, bringing the rear closer to true square, the cross is likely to need increasing to keep the car under you. For instance the starting cross of 48.6 would likely increase to 48.9-50.2 with the rear truly squared

Another thing to keep in mind is spring weights vs cross. As your RR spring increases, cross will likely need to increase also to keep the car under you, even while freeing up the car overall. My rule of thumb is to add .5% cross for every 25# split you add to your rear spring rate. For example, with our setup, I would start the cross weight at 48.8% were I to replace the 200# RR spring with a 225# spring.

I have no mathematic equation for any of this, just 10+ years of experience in working with these cars, but it makes sense to me how all of this works together. This is the most important concept to understand: Every adjustment you make affects other characteristics of your race car.

*Remember to check your wheelbase. You may have to try and move the rear end up as much as possible (keeping the right and left side relatively the same, of course). Try to avoid moving the front end once you have gotten your camber and caster numbers. If you do have to move the front, remember to move the top and bottom control arms. This whole thing is what's known as "the dance".

Springs

Springs for our cars come in 8” and 10” varieties. So long as the spring is a quality piece there is really no difference between 8” and 10” with the exception of weight. Heavier drivers may consider using the shorter springs as an easy way to drop 6# or so off the car.

Generally springs for the front end (with my setup) range from 225-350 on the LF and 225-375 on the RF. The difference in the spring weights on each side of the car is referred to as the “split”. For example, running 275-300 (L-R) combo on the front of the car is referred to as a “25# split”. Were the split to go in the other direction ( 300-275 L-F) the split would be referred to as a “negative split”.

A larger the positive split in the front will cause the car to be a little less twitchy getting into the corner. As the split decreases, the car will react more quickly. I trued a 50# split this season in the front to allow me to charge the corners a little harder at my local bumpy banked track. It didn’t work as well at the smooth banked track I race at and I returned to the 25# split for that track. Your driving style will dictate your spring choice. A negative split will loosen the car on entry and through the center.

Conversely, the car will react more slowly as the split approaches 0 on the rear. A 15# split (185-200 L-R) will keep the car generally under control and allow the front end to drive the rotation through the corner. A larger split (185-225 L-R) will bring the rear end more into play and cause the car to rotate more quickly. A negative split in the rear will tighten the car from the center to the exit of the corner.

Ride height and spring adjustments go hand in hand with weight distribution on a coil-over race car. Turning the adjuster clockwise will add tension to the spring and raise the car. Turning the adjuster counter-clockwise will have the opposite effect. Keep in mind that when you are turning the adjuster, “clockwise” is always defined as “as seen from the outside of the adjuster. I always visualize putting the top on a bottle when I’m adding tension, or “jacking weight into” a coilover. This keeps me from getting confused when moving from the front of the car, where I have the shock adjuster at the bottom of the shock, to the rear of the car, where the adjuster is on top.

A word on shock inversion – I only invert the rear shocks and I invert them to make them easier to adjust. I also run my shocks on the OUTSIDE of the chassis in the right rear to make them easier to get to when I want to change them. Running your shocks outside the chassis rail keeps the shocks more upright, also, which makes the springs react to their full rating. As you lean the shock inward, the spring will react a little more softly. For this reason, you might run your LR shock on the inside of the chassis rail to free the car up slightly. I set my car up with the front shocks uninverted because the tie rods get into the springs if I try to invert them.

Weight!

Most of the battles in making your car run like you want it to is getting the weight distributed over the wheels properly.  All the work we do on setups really comes down to making those 4 little contact patches of rubber as large and as effective as possible when we are on the track. Harry Gant said that, once. For you youngsters just assume Jr said it.

The three most important weight ratios in oval track racing are (1) Left-side weight, (2) Rear Weight, and (3) Cross Weight.  Cross Weight is the percentage of left rear and right front wheels relative to the total weight of the car.  The higher this percentage, the more the car will tend toward understeer, or "Push".   When a car is pushing, the front end is washing up toward the wall in the turns.   When the cross-weight percentage is lower, the car will tend toward oversteer, or be "loose".  A loose racecar seems determined to have the rear end in front of the front end.  Neil Bonnet once said that when the car is pushing, you see the wreck happening.  When the car is loose, you feel it happening. Again, if you don’t remember Neil Bonnet, just assume Jr said it.

Weight ratio adjustment can be changed by a number of things.  Adding weight to different areas of the car is a common method.  Moving current weight on the car to more strategically located areas is another method.  As a rule, I do not add weight to my sedan if it meets the weight minimum. I am prepared to add 40# of lead if necessary, as keeping a car to the minimum weight isn’t critical if you are interested in getting the car through the center of the corner. Coilover adjustments only affect the cross weight ratio of a car, not the left or rear percentage. Coupes are notorious for needing a little (20#) lead added to the left rear. Sedans can need it too, if the driver is on the light side (under 160#)

Here's something to keep in mind:  Changing the weight ratio via coilover adjustment also changes your ride heights.  Therefore, changing your ride heights by definition will change your cross weight ratio!   This is something that can be very helpful to know if you do not have a set of scales on which to weigh your car.  Once you get a car set up on scales the first time, you should have your ride heights (along with spring weights and shock settings) written down.  Also measure from the center of the bolt at the top of the shock to the center of the bolt at the bottom of the shock. If you ever have to get your car reset to your original settings, simply get the car back to its original center-bolt distances at all 4 wheels and the cross ratio will be the same as it was originally also. This is also effective if you decide to change springs at the track.

Something else to keep in mind is that the Federals are 3# lighter than the old tires so even weight challenged guys can make use of lead. In trying to get the cars to turn this year, I’ve been using led on the LF.

Lastly, if you don’t see a huge gain in cornering using lead, try your car with no lead. You can win with it or without it.

Steps involved in scaling a car:

Get your air pressures as you want them at the start of a run. Remember to reset them at the start of each track session.

Fill your tank to the desired level - do this before every practice session, also.

Adjust your car's ride height on each corner to the desired height.  Remember, each adjustment on a corner will affect the other corner's heights - move stealthily.

Scale the car.

If you want to adjust the car, try adjusting all 4 corners to keep the ride heights constant. For example, if you want to start your car at 48.5% cross weight and the car is reading 50.5%, add ½ turn into the RR and LF and remove ½ turn from the RF and LR. This will keep your ride heights steady, and have the overall effect of taking a full two rounds out of your setup.

Repeat the previous 2 steps as necessary.

So Now What?

What we've effectively done is go through the basics of setting up your Legends car.  Now we'll take to the track and see what's going on with our setup.

Gee, Kev, the car is great into the corner, but...

What if we take to the track, only to find that our car is "monster loose" and wants to spin out on us coming out of the turn?  A loose condition out of the turn is symptomatic of having either too much weight on the RR tire, or not enough weight on the LR tire.   Conversely, a car that is tight off the turn could mean we have too much weight on the LR or not enough on the RR.  There are lots of things to remember when dealing with a chassis at the track. 

This sounds great but...

All the setup advice in the world will be of very little benefit without seat time.   Learn your car, and learn the tracks you will race on this season.  If your car is showing signs of being loose exiting a turn and you've exhausted all the setup tips, maybe the problem isn't the car, maybe it's the DRIVER!  Have a crew member watch your line, your pickup and break points from the pits AND the stands.   Maybe your car has a push because your standing on the gas too long into the turns, or too early leaving the turn.  Maybe it's loose exiting the turn because you are turning the wheel too hard to the left when you get back on the gas.   Any slight adjustment in your driving style is worth most any large adjustment on the car.  If you can see your mistakes, or accept criticism (constructive, hopefully) from your crew, fans, and competitors, you can correct the mistakes and you will see your lap times drop.

Listing of spacers Outlaw SetupShock Upright (between upright and shock top)

1/2”

Upper Control Arm @ upright 1/2”. Try keeping the upper and lower control arms using the same spacer.

Lower “A” at connecting to the chassis crossmember.

1/2”

RF Lower “A” at Chassis ¼RF Upper “A” at Chassis Try keeping the upper and

lower control arms parallel. I’ve used a 1” spacer to accomplish this.

LF Lower “A” at Rear 1/4”LF Upper “A” at Rear Try keeping the upper and

lower control arms parallel.Rear Control Arms @ Chassis 1/4,1/2, 3/8 or 3/4 ”. The

object is to get the lower control arms closer to parallel instead of narrowing toward the back. Use a grade 8 bolt at a minimum. Grade 9 is better.

Rear Shock @ Housing 1/4”Rear Shock @ chassis ¼” or 1/8”Panhard Bar (Housing) 3/4”

Panhard Bar (chassis) ¼”3rd Link (@ Chassis and @ Housing)

¼”

These spacers are my suggestions, only. If you don’t use my suggestions to the letter, you will still likely be ok. If you have any questions please email or give me a call.

3/8” spacers in the rear and ½” spacers up front give the car and overall wider stance. Note the nuts on the bolts. This will not replace nutting and bolting your car!

Playing with Weights - Yeatts Racing Setup

Many of us older Legends racers are weight challenged. I normally weigh between 210 and 220, depending on the time of season. I have always tried keeping as much weight off the car as possible, eschewing things like tachs and other gauges in the car that I don’t use anyway. The Federal tires are 3-4# lighter than the old BFGs and USLC sells Bassett wheels that are 3-4# lighter than the old Bassetts. That’s approximately 30# USLC has given us in the last couple of years! I also keep notes for each track to measure fuel usage. This is an easy way of keeping an extra 6-12# off the car. If you are not weight challenged, don’t worry about this. Also, it’s allowed me to add 18-30# to my coupe on the LR. My coupe weighs 1120# and my sedan now weighs 1130# when I leave the shop and together with me the weight usually hovers between 1330 and 1340#. I think I can give up 40# or so and still be competitive. With the Federals weighing 3#s less per tire, I’ve been afforded the option of adding TWO chunks of lead to my coupe, although I still don’t add any lead to my sedan.

The question always comes up about where to put the weight. I start adding weight to the LR behind the axle on the outside of the chassis rail. There is a new rule that says lead cannot extend on the LR beyond the “kick-up”, where the rear clip turns upward. If I add a 2nd piece of lead, I will add it below the flat bar behind the fuel cell. The 3rd piece would be to the RR, and finally a 4th piece would be added to the LF chassis rail.

Doing the Unthinkable: Road Racing

Every now and then, racers get the urge to turn their race cars to the right under speed, as opposed to simply pulling it into the trailer. On those occasions, a car with a lightning fast Yeatts Racing Setup will be at a distinct disadvantage because, until now, Yeatts only helped people turn Left!

Setting up for a road course is pretty straightforward, but it IS a lot of work and not something you are going to want to do from one day to the next, at least not very often.

The first thing to recognize is that a road racing setup is going to look a lot like the right side of your Yeatts Racing Soft Setup. In fact, substitute a 250# spring for the 275# spring, and you are there. There are exceptions, of course.

The rear housing should be squared in the car, no lead one way or the other. On race day, the rear can be pulled up or back on one side or the other, depending on where you need the help on the track. The strategy is to adjust the car where it will be best on the part of the track where the most time can be lost. If there are a number of hairpin corners, it may behoove a racer to pull the rear corner opposite of the turn back by 1/8 to ½ turn, lengthening the lower control arm . For example, if the course calls for a number of sharp left handers, pulling the right rear back by ½ turn will make the car more pliant through the corner. Any weight that is normally on the left side of the car should be replicated on the right side. Rear weight pct is highly desirable on a road course. Place the weight as close to the same manner both sides of the car.

Many road courses have long straights where speed can be generated. For this reason, do not attempt to put too sharp a pinion angle on your car, as this can slow the car down at top speed.

Brakes are critical also, on a road course. It’s suggested to use the Carbotech brakes available from the dealer, as these will do the job nicely.

Troubleshooting Guide

Symptom OptionCar is loose upon entry; Car is pushing upon entry, and causing loose condition off corner.

Due to the softness of the springs up front, some people may experience looseness at tracks, which require hard braking to enter a turn. This is due to the weight shifting to the front, thus lightening the rear for a split second. Any of the following options should help. Increase the spring rate of the front springs by 25 lbs each. If the problem does not subside to a suitable degree, increase the spring rate by another 25 lbs across. The maximum spring rate tested for this setup was 300-350 (L-R). Remember to check ride heights and cross. I very seldom change springs at a track on race day. Shorten the panhard bar. Check rear brakes to be too tight. The rear brakes should slow the car down, not cause the tires to slide. The RR lower control arm may need to be shortened 1/8 of a turn. Refer to Yeatts Racing “QuickFix Guide” for more options. Don’t be afraid to go to the next highest gear ratio and try making it through the corners faster. This will loosen the car.

Car is building too much heat in the outside of the tire.

Check the camber and increase by one round. Check toe-out before driving again.

Car is “rolling over” too much in the corner. With the Bilsteins tendency for immediate rebound, the softer setup will increase the feeling of body roll. Check the tire temps for confirmation that this is having negative effects on the car. If you wish to stiffen the car, try one of the following options: Increase the right side air pressures by 2 lbs apiece. Increase the RR spring by 10-15 lbs. Stiffen front end in the increments listed above.

IF EXPERIENCING ANY OF THE ABOVE ISSUES, TRY ONLY ONE SUGGESTION AT A TIME!

2011 Outlaw Setup

Outlaw Setup Toe Out1/16”

LF Spring Rate : 250

LF Tire Pressure: 16

LF Ride Height: 3 ¾

LF Camber: 3 1/4LF Caster : -1Left Wheelbase: 73

LR Ride Height: 3 7/8

LR Tire Pressure: 16

LR Spring Rate : 185

RF Spring Rate :275

RF Tire Pressure: 28

RF Ride Height: 3 7/8

RF Camber: -5 3/4RF Caster : +4Right Wheelbase: 73 1/8

RR Ride Height: 4 ¼

RR Tire Pressure: 26

RR Spring Rate : 200

NOTES: On extremely bumpy tracks, you might find lightening your rear springs to 162/185 (L-R) will help to stabilize your car. The front ride heights are MAX values and can vary by 1/8” +/-. For smooth, fast tracks, I’ve increased the spring rates in the rear to 200/225 (L-R) and the cross to 48.7%. This might be very good at Vegas. The pinion measurement above the cross member is 2 1/16” and the rear is square in the car. The tires are growing 4# on the right side and 3# on the left, a very good distribution.

Cross: 48.5Rear: 50.2Left 50.2Pinion 1 7/8 to 2 1/16”” above crossmemberLeading Right Rear 1/16” in car

The rear and left percentages are as high as I can get them while keeping the overall weight of the car and driver with 40# max over the minimum weight.

Notes Notes: If the car is unstable in the corner, you might try increasing toe-out to 1/8”.

Notes On 2011 Outlaw Yeatts Racing Setup

The front end of the Yeatts Racing setup this year is noticeably different in 4 major areas:1. Lighter springs2. Bigger camber 3. Larger caster split4. Higher front ride heights

We’re keeping the pinion angle high at 1 ¾” to 2 1/16”. I’ve also experimented with adding 20# lead on the LR of my sedan and 35# on my coupe. All in the LR as described above. Currently only the coupe has any lead at all. So long as my cars are less than 1340#, including driver, I feel like I am not at a disadvantage. However, if the car is handling well and I’m carrying speed through the corner, lead is a non-issue. We’re getting our tires this year from Ol’Dawg and Kyle Beattie and have worked with both extensively. If the pressures do change, we will adjust our car back to the cross and ride height numbers in the manual.

With warmer weather, stiffer front springs may be necessary. At Langley speedway, recently, I upped my springs to 325-350 on the front (L-R) and put a 225 on the right rear, keeping the cross and the other spec numbers the same. With the body roll restricted, the car was more controllable. The turning both into and out of the corners was better than with the light springs. Keep in mind that in cold weather the lighter springs worked as well or better than the stiffer springs in warm weather. I think these shocks work differently in colder weather vs warmer weather. I cannot get anyone at Bilstein to verify this but my observations indicate different levels of rebound and compression in warm weather and cold weather.

YR Road Racing Setup

2011 Road Racing Setup Toe Out1/8”

LF Spring Rate :250

LF Tire Pressure: 25

LF Ride Height: 3 ¾

LF Camber: -4 LF Caster : +3.5Left Wheelbase: 73

LR Ride Height: 3.875

LR Tire Pressure: 23

LR Spring Rate : 200

RF Spring Rate :250

RF Tire Pressure: 25

RF Ride Height: 3 3/4

RF Camber: -4RF Caster : +3.5Right Wheelbase: 73

RR Ride Height: 3.875

RR Tire Pressure: 23

RR Spring Rate : 200

Car will turn more responsively with higher air pressures / ride height in the rear and also with more rear weight pct. These are the factors I dial in once I get to the track. The road course we run in Charlotte is mostly right turns and therefore the car is cheated slightly that direction.

Cross: 51.2Left: 50Rear: 50.5Pinion 1 1/8” above crossmemberRear SQUARE in car

Notes: The car will bite a bit harder with 185# springs on the rear, but the suggestion is to start with 200#.