Expert: Dan Liddy - 10/12/2008

Question
Hey Dan i never got the dodge stratus fixed yet because i gotta buy a new battery. i wanna hurry before the winter time comes up. My dad wont help me. like i said before i will get no support on this racing stuff at all. But i'm about to be 18 on December 3rd, therefore i get to go racing on the track of Watkins Glenn. Thank God there is an International track nearby. But anyways i was wondering how do you know exactly how much camber you should put on a car for racing.

Answer
This is a basic answer.  There are other considerations.

Start by taking tire temperatures after about 5 hot laps. . On the outside of the tire about 1" in from the edge, again in the middle and finally at the inside, again about 1" from the edge.  If you are running radials, the inside should be about 15 deg. F hotter than the rest of the tire.  If the outside edge is hot, you don't have enough camber (negative camber) if the inside edge is over the 15 degree range you have too much. If the middle is hotter than the outside edge you have too much air pressure, if it's colder, not enough.

That is just about directly out of the book I recommend, "How To Make Your Car Handle" by Fred Puhn

Hope this is a help

Dan