Track Setup: Tools and Equipment needed

[twist-a-grip]

I'm pretty green to car setup as I've never had a car with the adjustability of my incoming ACR-E. I have a 4-500 set of Craftsman tools, a big air compressor, quality torque wrench, and a jack and jack stands - just your basic everyman's garage. I will also have a set of 9" Race Ramps that I'm buying with my enclosed trailer that I think will be handy for installing and adjusting the aero bits. I assume that most of you die hard track guys are adjusting all of your suspension settings, alignment settings and aero settings yourselves. So, what other tools and equipment are required and what items aren't necessary, but make setup much easier? Price is always a concern, but I'm in the infancy stage of this hobby and willing to spend money up front because I'll be using these tools and equipment for years to come, so don't hold back answers based on something being too much or overkill. Also wondering if most of you have a complete second set of wheels/tires that you can swap at the track, or do you just go home when the set on the car is cooked? Thanks in advance for your input.

[Rapidrezults]

How much will you be tracking? Will you be doing your own brake fluid bleeding/changes and pad changes? I think you will find the aero bits aren't too complicated and won't require much tweaking until you get more seat time, and even then, most of us are all still experimenting with a few of the variables there. Other than your initial alignment/corner weight(that should be done professionally), the wing will be set in 1 of 2 positions, and you may slightly play with the rake to increase front grip. As far as tires/wheels go, it might not be a bad idea to invest in another set of front wheels, considering the fronts wear 3-4 times as fast as the rears, you will more than likely run into a situation where your fronts cord at a point in your track day that will be unpredictable.

I'll assume you may have some of this stuff but just what comes to mind for me:

A lightweight (aluminum) low profile jack (for track)
A good air pressure gauge (I use a Longacre)
Motive Power Bleeder w/ Chrysler cap(if you are doing your own bleeds) - Popular fluids are Motul RBF600/660 and Castrol SRF
Cable bleeder bottle
19mm thin wall sockets with protective sleeves (protect those wheels)
A good cordless impact (I recently bought a Milwaukee 2763-22 1/2" Impact and love it!) I break them loose and ease them off to avoid damaging the threads.
A small punch tool set (for cleaning your CCB rotors) and popping pins for pads.
An inch/lb torque wrench (i like to torque my caliper bleeder screws to spec to avoid leaks and over tightening)
A tow hook (IPSCO) or Woodhouse
Tamper resistant hex with pinhole. (for wing adjustment) You can buy a little bit kit at Harbor Freight for this.
A small measuring stick w/ slide (6") for checking and measuring ride height (i got mine at Harbor)

I'm sure there are some things i'm forgetting but should be a good start.

[kverges]

I'd add to that list, if you go crazy, scales and strings for alignment (I use SmartStrings, but jack stands and fishing line will work), and a camber gauge. Also slip plates are great on top of good wheel stands so you can adjust the suspension eccentrics with car loaded at ride height.

[twist-a-grip]

Thanks guys. I'm certainly willing to give everything the ole college try, but I also want to make sure things are done correctly (for both performance and safety) and a fishing line alignment is probably not in the cards for my first stab at setting up my car. Do you recommend the Dodge Viper Tech or should I go to a race shop (if I can even find one)? Anyone consider a Quickjack for both home and the track, or does a nice low profile jack work just fine?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Qye_-Lyb58&feature=youtu.be

[38D]

If you have someone else do the alignment & corner balance, use a shop that races. The average dealer has not a clue on how to properly setup a car for the track.

Don't underestimate how accurate the fishing line alignment can be. If done carefully, it will be just as precise as an alignment done on a fancy machine. The main advantage of the fancy machine is speed. And a good shop should get the diagonal corner weights <5lbs difference.

I use the following setup tools for my cars

ART Laser String II (http://www.advancedracing.com/string2.php)
ART Ride Height Gauge (http://www.advancedracing.com/ride_height_gauge.php)
Intercomp Wireless Scales (http://www.intercompracing.com/billet-scale-systems-c-1-l-en.html)
Intercomp Tire Pressure Gauge (http://www.intercompracing.com/pressure-gauges-digital-pressure-gauges-c-35_36_37-l-en.html)

The one tool above that is a must have is the Intercomp digital tire pressure gauge. Analog gauges become inaccurate if you drop them. This thing is rock solid, will take a beating, and is still accurate to a tenth. It's the one F1 quality tool that everyone should own.

[Rapidrezults]

ART Ride Height Gauge (http://www.advancedracing.com/ride_height_gauge.php)


This is exactly what I was looking for, I just ordered one. Thank you for sharing this!

It's a pain in the ass measuring ride height with a ruler!

[38D]

It's a pain in the ass measuring ride height with a ruler!

Tell me about it! Plus the ruler method not that accurate or repeatable. The ART gauge is cheap and super reliable. Two tips when using it. 1) it's spring loaded, so keep some tension on the thumb screw to ease it out 2) make sure the floor is clean (no rocks/debris) so you get a really good measurement. I can set my ride height to within 0.5mm now.

[Arizona Vipers]

I use the following setup tools for my cars

ART Laser String II (http://www.advancedracing.com/string2.php)
ART Ride Height Gauge (http://www.advancedracing.com/ride_height_gauge.php)
Intercomp Wireless Scales (http://www.intercompracing.com/billet-scale-systems-c-1-l-en.html)
Intercomp Tire Pressure Gauge (http://www.intercompracing.com/pressure-gauges-digital-pressure-gauges-c-35_36_37-l-en.html)



Great info here, thanks for sharing!

[Nemesis]

I just received my intercomp scales last week, 38D have you compared the readings of the ART Laser String to a full alignment rack reading?

[38D]

I just received my intercomp scales last week, 38D have you compared the readings of the ART Laser String to a full alignment rack reading?

Sort of. When I last had my car aligned at a shop (2012 IIRC), I checked the corner balance & alignment after a few events and it was still spot on. I think the ultimate test is how the car feels after a home alignment. I've completely disassembled my suspensions, realigned my cars many times, making camber & toe changes, and I've always been happy with the setup feel post-change. You do need to have a level surface, and it takes some time to get good at the process, but it's not really that hard to be honest.

What convinced me I could do it myself was watching a race shop align one of my cars. You realize pretty quickly that the alignment rack is really just a level surface that lets you quickly get under the car...nothing more. The 4 wheel alignment rigs are again, just a way to do it faster. The only hard part of the ART laser process was marking the center line of the car

I should have also added the Intercomp camber gauge (http://www.intercompracing.com/digital-caster-camber-gauge-p-167-l-en.html)

[MomentaryRacing]

Your most important tool will be a notebook - to really get full benefits of all the adjustments and modifications you will be playing with, record keeping is very important. It is funny how unreliable your memory can be, in the excitement of a day at the race track, or a late night track prep session in your garage. If you can write down your own track notes, even better - you now have a self-coaching tool too, and lap times will show that!

Your best tool for dialing in the adjustments to suspension and tires may be a friend (ok, not a tool) who can take your pressures and tire temps the moment you come off the track. You can then take that info to a competent track/race prep shop and they can make the exact adjustment you need, instead of guessing or looking up generic settings on Internet forums (you'd be surprised how many "reputable" shops do that). Of course, if you are comfortable doing your alignment you can use that information too.

We keep several sets of records - there's always someone with a notepad at the race or test event, and then all notes get transferred into electronic format afterwards, and sorted by component, etc. Depending on how organized/OCD you like to be, there are different levels of doing this, of course.

[38D]

Some really good advice by Momentary!

[docwviper]

Thanks guys. I'm certainly willing to give everything the ole college try, but I also want to make sure things are done correctly (for both performance and safety) and a fishing line alignment is probably not in the cards for my first stab at setting up my car. Do you recommend the Dodge Viper Tech or should I go to a race shop (if I can even find one)? Anyone consider a Quickjack for both home and the track, or does a nice low profile jack work just fine?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Qye_-Lyb58&feature=youtu.be

quick jack works well. It's what i got. Get the 5,000 model for our cars.