I have a new L4. I set the tweak with out the battery in it first and the car ran great I handled good and all and was able to set the dual rate at about 36%, but when I set the tweak with the battery in the car really pushed in the corners and I had to set the dual rate at about 65% to get even close the same hadleing that that I had the other way. The track is about 125 runline and I run .20 springs for now, I am waiting on the stuff to put on wolf springs, I run 6 cells, stock, purple on the back and purple rf, and pink lf. NAybe I just don't understand tweak, btu I went back to the way I had it before and it ran great again. Right now I have the track record and have been tq and a main winner all but one night for the last three weeks or so.

Some people set their tweak either with or without batts in the car. I would write down your front & rear tweak weights and save them in case you make a change to the car and want to go back to what it was before.

Set the tweak with the car in race trim, except for the body. Changes in the placement of the battery (in or out, front or back) makes a huge difference in the way that the car will scale out and handle. Above all though, be sure to take notes on what does/doesn't work and the changes that you make along the way.

Race trim? Is that with the battery or without?

With battery, motor, pinion, etc....everything installed (and in the position that you plan on racing it) on the chassis except for the body. Battery positioning changes the weight distrubition on the car, so it is important to have it in the exact place that you plan on racing it.

I understand that is the way the book and all says to do it, but I have alot better handling and faster lap times by setting the tweak without the battery. I am also running +1 camber on lf and -2 on rf. With the battery in I have to screw the right side shock in about have way to get the tweak equal, but with the battery out they are about the shocks are about the same.

What I would do is set your tweak so the car is handling the way you want it to, (without the batteries in if that's what works for you). Then I would put the batteries in and read what the tweak is on the scale. Write that number down and then use that as your baseline tweak setting.

It sounds to me like you are setting your tweak so that each rear wheel lifts off the ground at the same time (tweak neutral) with the battery installed. Typically this is not what you want. However, as you have found by setting the tweak equal without the battery it works cause then when you install the battery you now have more tweak on the left side which is what you want.

RC

wait a minute...with the batt in your trying to make tweak equal???as in same LR as RR.... If thats the case NO KIDDING your car is faster when setting it without batts...because if you make it equal without batts by the time you add batts your LR will be heavier..

Im not saying no one ever does it...I race with a guy who runs fast with RR weight...But most people run LR heavier than the rr.. hence why the car would have problems if your making it neutral in race form.

Yeah, I gotta agree with Kenwood. Gotta have LR weight on an L4. I think I'm running close to 12oz. LR on my L4. Roadsplat has the right idea. Get it to where it handles well, then scale it & use that as a starting point. Still can't believe you guys are running 6 cell, especially on that size track. It's gotta be unreal.

Oh yea it is great we are running around 4 sec laps I have run as low as a 3.7 which is a lap record. The way I have been checking tweak is what it said in the manual. I take a hobby knife in the middle front and lift and ajust by what tir comes off of the table first with the batteries not in I had it level and run real good, but when I put the batteries in the right front would come up about 1 inch first and the car didn't handle near as good. Maybe I am doing ti all wrong according to the norm but it is doing real good right now. everyone is chasing me.

Well, do what works for you. Tradition be damned !! The track I'm running on is maybe 10 or so ft. longer & we're turning 4.0-4.2 sec. laps w/ 4 cell. Interesting to see that the times are fairly close.

billy the way your doing it is fine if you never more your battery. the first time you more your battery in or out your tweak setting will be off.

Our guys times are getting better. Almost all of our guys are new to racing I would say that 80% of our guys have only been racing since we opened about 2 month ago. The other huys raced oval a few yeras ago a couple guys ran bolinks for a couple weeks until they bought L4's and one guy is still racing a woods. I have been only racing oval since we opened. I raced onroad alittle before this. So everything I have done so far is just what the manual says and what you guys have told me. our times are getting better which gives a liitle more excitement to each guy knowing that the lap times are dropping with each guys experience. This is the most fun racing I have had in a long time. Some guys are still running 1900 packs and others, like me , are running 3800's. The only restriction is it has to be a stock motor.

It's great that you're having fun with it. You guys will just continue to get better with time & practice. Keep it up & don't let this become a job, or too competitive !!

try this during practice tweak it just like you always do put the car on the track. keep adding weight to the right by tightening the left shock 1/2 a turn or so and loosening the right shock a 1/2 a turn or so untill the car spins out in the turn. then tweak it back to the left a little bit till it's on the vurge of spinning out. thats where you want it. that will help free up the car. good luck.

I'm new to oval racing and just finished building my L4. I saw where someone is using weights on the right rear can you guys tell me more about this?

I have a question...When you move the batteries forward and backwards what does the car seem to do.. I understand tweak but not so much that...

There is a topic in the General Oval Racing section - New to oval racing, started by Erock. there is lots of information there and Erock can answer just about ant oval racing question. If you have time check it out.

Doug P

http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=119093

In most oval cars you can see if chassis is tweaked by looking at how much the one side drops over the other. If pod looks even then tweak is neutral, if left side drops more than right - you have left side tweaked and will have more on right front. I believe manual says to install battery, motor and electronics in race trim to check tweak correctly.
As most mentioned it probably won't hurt either way, but to understand how much it can change try taking several weight readings, without battery, with battery, with or without motor and then move battery to different positions to see what effect it has on weight distribution. Sometimes misplacing battery a fraction can have ill effects on how it handles.

But don't get too technical right now, continue to have fun - enjoy yourself.