The front end geometry software will allow you to make the correct changes to arm angles so the moment center distance from centerline does not change. As we have learned in the past, the location of the moment center in relation to the centerline of the car is critical. Do not start changing arm angles and lengths without tracking how each change affects your moment center location.
You can set your static camber...
You can set your static camber at the shop by using a solid adjustablelink in place of the shock. You will need to know the shock length whilethe car is at static ride height with all of the weights in the car,including driver. You can adjust the length of the link to fit the shocklength and set the camber before going to the track.
Taking tire temperatures tell...
Taking tire temperatures tell us a lot about where our static cambersshould be set. If the geometry is correct with minimal camber changeafter dive and roll, we can believe our tire temperatures and makeadjustments to improve traction. If the camber is changing dramaticallyafter dive and roll, then we will be crutching the static camber to tryand solve the problem.
How important is camber change in the overall scheme of things? To give you an example, I have seen front-end designs that produced 51/2 degrees of camber change at the right front wheel on a 12-degree banked racetrack. From straightaway to mid-turn, the tire went from 31/2 degrees of negative camber to 2 degrees of positive camber. Oddly, the tire temperatures looked fairly normal. Every part of the tire was being worked, but not at the same time. In this case, the tire was working the inside on entry, the middle at quarter-turn (they added excess pressure because the middle initially was cool), and the outside at mid-turn. However, the car pushed because it never had a chance to use 100 percent of the RF tire's contact patch.
If this team, or for that matter the guy who built the front clip, had a good geometry program, they could have seen what was happening with the front cambers. Some car builders draw the front ends out on paper to establish the moment center location, but it doesn't tell them what is happening as the car dives and rolls in the turns.
This is a whole new age in racing. You can now get the most traction potential out of your front tires by making sure the front end design is correct for camber change and moment center design, and that the setup is balanced so that both front tires will share the load in the turns. When these elements are correct, it will make a huge difference in the performance of the front of the car. It will also determine how close to the front you finish at the end of your race.