Guys that made the jump from karts....

[racerj5]

Looking to get in a crate car this year. Never been in a car, but ran karts 30+ years.Other than the money, what advice can you offer on things like setup, terminology, driving style, or anything else you can think of? I'm gonna be twice a month guy because I don't race on weekends my daughter visits, so my learning curve will be a little slower than most and I want as few surprises as possible.Anyone is welcome to post, but i'm looking specifically for comments from guys who got started in karts.Thanks!!!

[EAMShater]

Looking to get in a crate car this year. Never been in a car, but ran karts 30+ years.Other than the money, what advice can you offer on things like setup, terminology, driving style, or anything else you can think of? I'm gonna be twice a month guy because I don't race on weekends my daughter visits, so my learning curve will be a little slower than most and I want as few surprises as possible.Anyone is welcome to post, but i'm looking specifically for comments from guys who got started in karts.Thanks!!!

I came from karts about 6 yrs ago and I adapted very quickly and was running lap times near what the leaders ran right from the get go. If you could drive a kart and be smooth down the straight with the quick steering they had, especially if you ran straight up toe like I did and can tell the direction your front tires are pointing you should have no issue adjusting. My main issue was getting used to 6 ft of decking to the right side and getting accustomed to how close I could get before we touched. But that was basically it.

[racerj5]

As you know, if you're gonna run up front in karts, you've GOT to be smooth :) It kills your momentum if you'r not.How did you adapt to braking? You also know, you hardly ever use brakes in a kart, unless you're in a limited or open on a short track. The pedals are much further apart in a kart. That, and the size difference (6 feet of decking), are the 2 things I'm most concerned about. I usually ran 1/16 toe...which is pretty much straight up. There are alot of terms I see used that we never heard in karts. Ride height, body rake, wedge(which I assume is cross%), pinion angle, etc. And there are a ton more adjustments on a car. I wouldn't even know what to do with a lift bar. LOL. I don't wanna over think this, but I don't wanna be lost either.
I came from karts about 6 yrs ago and I adapted very quickly and was running lap times near what the leaders ran right from the get go. If you could drive a kart and be smooth down the straight with the quick steering they had, especially if you ran straight up toe like I did and can tell the direction your front tires are pointing you should have no issue adjusting. My main issue was getting used to 6 ft of decking to the right side and getting accustomed to how close I could get before we touched. But that was basically it.

[EAMShater]

As far as adjustments I surrounded myself with good people that had been racing for a long time that had ran supers regionally for several years and they helped with initial set up and checking weekly things as far as scaling and improving and adjusting things to my driving style. And as far as braking I don't remember it affecting me having to use the brakes. I guess it is just a seat of the pants type thing. The one thing that I do remember doing was I would try and let off and stab back into the gas really fast like you would do a go kart if you let off and it wouldn't let the car rotate enough before I got back to the throttle. I also learned trail braking through the corner too to keep the car under me while on the throttle through the corner a bit if it is loose and also if it is tight if you press a little harder it will help it turn.

[Matt49]

I raced karts from the time I was 12 until 24 quite successfully. As mentioned, the "smoothness" that it takes to be good in a kart helps with a late model. After that, it's two completely different animals in my opinion. Throttle control isn't something that was ever an issue in a kart (at least not 4-stroke stuff). In a late model it is everything on a slick track. On the flip side, there's no preparing you for a late model on a hooked-up fast race track. You gotta be up on the wheel and get after it.
Nobody is going to be able to teach you all the terminology on one post or thread on 4m. You need to pickup some reading material on how the suspension works and get a solid understanding. After that, you'll be able to understand the stuff people are discussing on here and learn from it. Go on Amazon and search for a book called "Dirt Late Model Chassis Technology". It is a bit dated but 80% of the information in there is a good foundation for what is going on and it is still the best one-stop for general information on late model chassis stuff (outside of some of the text books you get at some of the chassis "schools" which are still just complimenting the class).
Yes wedge is cross but "bite" is the term everybody uses in the stock car world. Bite is how much heavier your LR is than your RR (in pounds). Most guys don't pay much attention to cross as a percentage number but the numbers are obviously all correlated.
The shear number of adjustments that can be made on a 4-bar car can be overwhelming at first. Just do your homework and you'll be fine.
Best of luck to you.

[racerj5]

Thanks for the replies, guys. I appreciate anything Y'all can teach me.

[calif54]

Just a suggestion, but why not find a good quality latemodel team and volunteer to work on the car~ not just at the track but in the shop. Most teams will welcome additional help, especially if you are mechanically inclined which i'm sure you are after racing carts for so long. This will give you a good foundation and can also provide some insight on the type of chassis and basic setup for the tracks you intend to run. JMO and good luck.

[Austin34471]

There is really nothing that translates. I won all the state/national championships/whatnot in karts and it really means nothing in a LM. The only thing you get from karting is the spirit of competition, a passion for racing, and you learn what the flags mean. You will have to learn alot of throttle control, you will have to learn how to hustle a steering wheel, how to use the brakes, etc. Just get good equipment and surround yourself with good people that know what they are doing and you'll be fine. The setting up of a late model is similar to setting up a kart, just alot bigger with more tuning variables. They are a lot of fun to drive and alot of fun to work on. Do your research, make friends with fast/smart people, and drive your ass off. Good luck

[grt74]

i have helped a lot of the young guys at my track and 1st time late model drivers,the best thing from my experience is to setup the car free and tighten it up slowly,if you learn to drive a free car it will teach you how to keep the car under you,then as you tighten her up youll know how to keep the car under you,the tighter the car the quicker the car will jump out from you,let me explain,when you drive a tight race car it will let you go to the edge of the traction but once you go past that edge you now have no traction and have a ton of speed so youll need to be able to get it back under you very quickly(in a split second)or wreck,so that being said if you learn to drive the free race car 1st think about how fast youll be when you add some traction
plus most new drivers wont drive the car in deep enough in the corner to make it turn and a tight cars wont turn unless you drive them in
that being said most new drivers just flat wont trust the car because they think it wont turn because of the fact they wont drive it in deep enough,hence set the car up free until they can drive it under control and them tighten it up a little at a time