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Need advice/thoughts

Need advice/thoughts

Need advice/thoughts

(OP)
I am working on a jig to quickly align a soap box derby car axles and wanted to get some advice.

Design layout for Jig


Final Production





The last picture shows the crank that can be turned to push the jig out in both directions. This tightens the jig up against the axles. Unfortunately, it is not working the way I wanted it too and it doesn't perfectly align the axles. In testing, the jig is able to slide left to right to skew the angle it pushes against the axles. To prevent this, I was going to weld braces on each side of jig that wrap over the edge of the soap box to prevent it from shifting left to right.

Any other ideas?

Thanks in advance!

RE: Need advice/thoughts

I think what you really want to do is align the wheels themselves with the complete car and driver resting on a flat surface. It's relative alignment between the 4 wheels (F/R & L/R) and to the track surface that matters most. There are lots of books on race car setup that give a relatively simple explanation of basic wheel alignment principles.

Section 4.6 of the Soap Box Derby rulebook explains "spindling" to optimize toe and camber of each wheel.

RE: Need advice/thoughts

(OP)
Exactly. That would be the next step after axle alignment. I want to perfectly align axle and hold them in place while I align steering and adjust steering cables.

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