I am trying to set the tweak on my pan car, and I am having problems! I have red springs on both sides, and when I set the car up for neutral handling, I.E. both tires lift at the same time, The preload has to be set almost all the way on one spring and almost none on the other. what have I done wrong? all my electronics, are also on the left side. Help!

I'm assuming you have an oval car. We don't check tweak that way...like you would on a road course car. Most use scales. If you don't have scales I'd just flip the car over, look at the chassis from the front, set the pod level with the chassis, then take 1 turn out of the left side shock and put 1 turn in the right side shock. Try the car and adjust from there.

By left and right side you mean looking down at the car with the front end pointed at you?

Think of it in real car terms, left side is always the "drivers" side, right side is the "passenger" side.

As a general rule, when I make a spring change, I tighten the adjuster until the spring has no movement on each shock, then put it on the scales and adjust until I get the weight bias I want.

Hope this helps

Like Pennyliner said, left side=drivers side, right=passenger side. Just like your sitting in the car.

Here is how I would approach the situation. Take both shocks off the car and be sure they are built right. That’s not causing this problem but you might as well take care of everything while you are at it.

Now measure the length of your springs, if they are old one of them may have collapsed. Or, just buy a new set to start with, they are only 2 or 3 bucks and you’ll be sure the springs are not the problem.

When I put springs on I set run the adjuster up until it removes any spring movement before I put them on the car. Now with all the play out of the springs, measure the length of the shock from the very end of each ball cup. Normally, they should both be the same length

Check the ball studs on the car and be sure they are in the same place on both sides of the car. That way you are sure that the shocks will be equal on each side.

Snap them back in place and adjust your tweak. Since we only turn left, you are not real interested in the “zero” point of the setting. Use someone’s scales and try starting off at around 12.5 ozs on the left rear.

Hope this helps.

Thank you guys. At the moment I do not have scales but I will rectify that. What about the old quarter trick? I am running a 10L4 and am just following the setup tips in the back of the manual. Am I to believe that it is a bad way to set tweak? One more thing, I had my shocks so screwed up in order to keep the drivers side of the chassis from touching the carpet. Is there a better way to do this?

One more thing, I had my shocks so screwed up in order to keep the drivers side of the chassis from touching the carpet. Is there a better way to do this?

Axle ride height adjusters?
Lower front a-frame shims?
Are you using them/changing them for tire wear?

I have been trying all of this but the part of the battery tray in front of the left rear tire "leans" for lack of a better word towards the carpet. In other word the whole chassis is weighed down on one side by the batteries esc, etc and scrapes.

I have been trying all of this but the part of the battery tray in front of the left rear tire "leans" for lack of a better word towards the carpet. In other word the whole chassis is weighed down on one side by the batteries esc, etc and scrapes.

With the springs off the shocks, do they both function smoothly?
are they both the same length when extended?
You said you are using adjusters... do you have about 5.5mm clearance
(~1/4")to the bottom of the pod plate right below the axle?
If you do, then you just don't have the droop set right..
there is no reason for you to have this problem,
without something being drastically wrong...
The batteries on your car aren't even out as far as most others...
So it isn't like you have a 'ton' of weight there..

I also run a 10l4. if you don't have scales the best starting point for tweak that I have found, is to set the springs so that both front tires lift at the same time with out the battery installed. then istall the battery and ajust from there acording to how the car turns. also on my 10L4 I had the sme problem with the tray hanging low. I made a spacer out of a pice of the left over trimings from a body. I made it the same size as the plate that mounts to the chassies. this raised the tray up about 2 mm wich was perfect.

Thank you all for the reply, Dan, how do I set my pod droop and how much do I need?

Aschwarze, I was thinking along the same lines as you as far as a spacer .

Thank you all for the reply, Dan, how do I set my pod droop and how much do I need?

Everyone has their own opinion, I'm sure,
but I usually set the pod height first, with the axle height adjusters..
Let's say around 5-5.5mm (around a 1/4" if you don't do metric)
Then, viewing the car from the side, with a pack in it, on a flat surface,
you try to get the pod ~parallel to the chassis plate..
Using the center shock spring adjuster, or spacers, or longer ball ends,
whatever you prefer.

I put a quickie drawing in my gallery if you are unclear
of what I am talking about.

Again... it's only my method, others can certainly chime in to help you.

I ran an L4 for quite a while, and liked it a lot.
Never had the problem you are describing, even with the battery tray
pushed out to the left with a extended bracket..

Also, if you run your left front ride height lower than the right front,
the amount of tilt you run there, is magnified at the outer point
of your tray... so try to keep your front ride height the same on both sides.
Lots of guys run the right front a tick lower, and that 'elevates' the tray..

Dan, Thank you. The drawing did help a lot! When I get home tonight I will try that setup.

I tried evry thing I could think of to get the battery plate to sit even on my 10L4. I had 5.5 on all 4 corners of the main plate and on the pod but the tray was about 3.5 from front to back. I talked about this to another racer that had a 10L4 and he said he had the same problem. together we came up with the shim idea. he sanded down some washers to get the proper hight. I came up with the lexan spacer idea. My car seems to handle better since I did it. Why some 10L4s would have the problem and not others I dont know, but mine sure did.

AL

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