RF 79 Set up?

[Keith Robinson]

I have raced this car six times and my times have been improving all the time (I'm within 1.5 secs. of the fast guys now). It actually handles quite well but when I brought it into my shop for the winter (no it's not snowing yet but we do get winter in Vancouver!) I started measuring things a little closer I found the castor appears to be quite different on each of the front wheels!
Anyone who runs a VD on a tight course like to share some information?
The ride height is similar to other FF's I've looked at and the wheels are all pointed in the right direction with about 1/8th. toe on each rear wheel; that's all I've worked on so far.
Any and all help would be appreciated.

[AlanVDW]

Search the site for Set-up info for RF75 Formula Ford and the thread should come up. Some similar set up info is also somewhere in the site.

Alan

[Albatross]

PM sent

[marty7]

As a good starting point you can run a bit of front castor, 5 to 6 degrees. Camber, 1 degree at the front, 1/2 degree at the back.

Toe is a tricky subject, the more rear tor you have the nicer/safer the car will be to drive. Also the more rear toe the more heat you will put in the tyre. If you lessen the rear toe you will not be scrubbing the tyres so you should have a quicker acceleration.
tyr 1/16 toe in at the rear and see if you like it. You definately don't want any bump toe out at the rear. I set rear castor via Bump, I add rear castor till I have no bump. The front toe depends on preference. Try 1/16 toe out per wheel at the front . Check the front for bump steer. You want to run the car as low as you can - before it bottoms out. Run some rake - 3/8 to 1/2".

Corner weights are important too.

Marty
RF80c

I have raced this car six times and my times have been improving all the time (I'm within 1.5 secs. of the fast guys now). It actually handles quite well but when I brought it into my shop for the winter (no it's not snowing yet but we do get winter in Vancouver!) I started measuring things a little closer I found the castor appears to be quite different on each of the front wheels!
Anyone who runs a VD on a tight course like to share some information?
The ride height is similar to other FF's I've looked at and the wheels are all pointed in the right direction with about 1/8th. toe on each rear wheel; that's all I've worked on so far.
Any and all help would be appreciated.

[Clyde]

Keith; You left out the most important part of the handling set-up; the tires! Hard tires, then a soft set-up; soft tires, then a stiff set-up. All settings are related to the tyres! Be sure to start ALL your measurements from a center-line of the chassis. Wheels closer to the center are stiffer; the further from the center is softer, the left and right side must be the same measurements. Bumpsteer should be Zero in the front and rear especially under braking; front down and rear up. Front castor is determined by your arm strenght but do not exceed 7 degrees. Rear castor is to elimanate bumpsteer. Camber is set by tire temps. per track! You may wind up with different cambers per wheel!

[356mal]

I typed in Set-up info for RF75 Formula Ford and nothing came up

could you please post a link as I have a rf 75 and would like to read the info

thanks
mal

[Keith Robinson]

Thanks guys, the advice is much appreciated. Marty and Clyde; you both appear to be running similar set-ups and they make sense to me. The castor on the front is the adjustment I am most curious about (5-6degs. looks to be a good start). I'm convinced I need to run the car a little lower and I have purchased a pyrometer to work on camber angles.
Marty, I'm not familiar with the term 'rake'; what is that?
Cheers, Keith.

[stephen wilson]

Rake is the difference between the front and rear ride heights. So if the front is at 2" and the rear is 2 1/2", that's 1/2" of rake. More rake tends to help the car turn-in (less understeer). On you VD measure the ride height at the front bulkhead, and the main roll hoop bulkhead ( excluding skid blocks ).

IIRC my last settings, with the common "softish" springs ( 300 Fr. /250 R. ) , were around -1° Front camber, -.5° Rear. , 0" to 1/16" total toe In Front, 1/8"-3/16" total toe In Rear. Some run 1/16" toe Out in the Front, which I plan to try at some point.

[Keith Robinson]

Thanks Stephen, I am getting a great 'picture' of how to set-up the car for next year, thanks to the Apex members!
I have scales now and I'm building a 'table' to put the car on; winter is going to be busy.
Thanks again for all the help.