SK400

Eureka! the ball joint remover tool worked like a charm. If careful, you can even remove the ball joint without damaging the rubber gaitor. So started at factory setting with a negative camber of 1.25 ish and turned in 6 turns.. setting the negative camber to 2.75. Can't really go further, i'm at the max of the threads. (curious how folks get to negative 3.5). so now, i'm at 130 mm in front and 145 mm in the back As for toe, i'm now right around 1 degree toe out (changing the camber changed the toe). Do you think it too much? feels like i need to reign the toe back in a bit to toe out of 0.5 or so. I've left everything else equal eg bump steer and castor. thanks!

So I ordered all the tools suggested. I'll attempt (again) this weekend. In the meantime, I started to drive with the new ZZRs around town. the car feels different already, perhaps because the front wheels are slightly narrower and my rake is way off. The Steering feels more twitchy and responsive. Kind of cool.. but not sure how this will do on the track.. With all of your recommendations, my goal is to aim at a) 120 mm front clearance (versus recommended 145 mm for the street and caterham academy rules. BTW, that's what I had with my CR500) b) 2.75 or 3 degrees of negative camber to be able to interchange the ZZRs with the CR500 15", and 15 mm of rake to max weight distribution on the front end. I'll do all of this with 150 - 160 lbs ballast in the driver seat (4 bags of 40 lbs wood pellets). Let's see what this setup shakes out on the track. As an aside, I really got tired of cleaning the streets for the city, picking up all sorts of debris and rocks because of the sticky tires. So I went to a custom shop and had quasi the entire car protected with the transparent stone guard film. Can't barely see there is a film on the car... and I don't feel as bad when I see (and hear!) rocks flying. Strongly recommend it .

Really?! There is no other more graceful way? A pusher and puller? A dentist tool? Calls for an invention. Removing the top wishbone is not completely crazy if it helps save some banging. Let me know if you hear of any other method to help. Thanks guys.

I bought the ZZR tires from Roger Kraus as suggested by Mike. Roger was a table pounder for these tires. I wanted to go down and try 13" on my car so opted for the R620 setup (Apollo wheels and 215/55/13 in the back and 185/55/13 in the front) honestly without more thought going into it. But the swap from my 15" CR500 is not a straight forward swap .. the front wheel are 1.15" smaller in diameter and it throws the suspension setting and rake angle way off. On a separate note, i tried to adjust the camber this weekend but to no avail... got stuck at trying to loosen up the upper ball-joint from the upright but ended damaging the rubber gaitor.... Any tool or advice on how to remove the ball joint from the upright? officially standing in my way of setting up the car the right way .. and I have one more weekend left before trying Monticello. thanks !

Thanks a ton Tom. I just installed my new 13" Apollo avon ZZR tires combo (looks great!). However the front tires (185/55/13") are probably 3/4 inch or 1" narrower than my stock 195 Avon CR500 15" and my carbon fiber clamshell fenders look too wide for this new tire /rim combo. Should I be looking for narrower carbon fiber clamshell fenders and perhaps wingstays. Does such thing exist? Also, any thoughts on the recommended front camber angle for these Avon ZZR tires? Simon, i'll look this weekend and send you a PM if I can figure it out. I have the cosworth dry sump.

Greetings Can someone remind me: 1/ rake angle: what is the recommended front and back chassis to road clearance? and where on the frame is the height measured at? 2/ camber angle: on the post 2006 superlight models, what is the camber angle change from one full screw turn of the tie rod end into the upper A arm? any front camber suggestion for 13" avon ZZR tires ? 3/ tool to adjust spring compression: any recommendation on what tool to use? thanks a bunch everyone

Curious.. I believe I have a 10 or 13 row oil cooler from factory with my R400... pretty sure exactly the same supplied on the R300 model. I do run 5W50 Castrol as Jon Nelson suggested and so far so good (hope I did not jinxed myself). I never checked oil temperature although I noticed a drop in pressure (not too serious but noticeable) after a long track event (and I push the revs). I heard pretty standard with duratecs. I do have a cosworth dry sump though.. wonder if that helps keep oil pressure at a minimum protecting the engine

Oh my. Simon.. 700 miles on the car and already blew up an engine? Truly sorry to hear that. Will you be able to rebuild in time for the event ? I don't want to be the only red stripped r400 on the track!! Way too much attention. Main trying to rally two to three other Caterhams / stalkers from Connecticut to come down and have fun with us (Neil, Paul, Steve... Yes talking about you). I need some help from you all to encourage them to come (and for Neil to rebuild his engine in time) We all know they ll have loads of fun.

Mike, Tom, Looks like I will be coming with the whole family... eg: at a minimum my wife, and maybe the two kids and.. yes the AuPair! the Kids and AuPair will probably be with us for a few hours and then explore the area etc.. One question thought.. my wife wanted to try the car on the track for a few laps. (awesome wife right?). Do you think she'll be able to follow one of the instructors for a few laps the same way I did last yr? Do we need to do anything special or just play it by ear once we are there? thanks!

Xcarguy, seeing this now and late to the thread.. Truly sorry about the accident and the loss but happy to see that you are back on the forum. Rest well. Hope to see you soon back on the road.

Not having much luck. Do you have a sense of the Max resistance I should see between an instrument and the ground using an ohm meter to determine if I have a bag ground? Thanks

Here's what I have WRNOT 572 - Speedometer sensor ground wire installation(1).pdf

Alright then. Thanks for the tips. I love try this Friday or Saturday and report back. Thanks a bunch!

Greetings, I have a 2013 R400 superlight and since the very first day, I’ve been having issues with my speedo and ACES shiftlight systems. Essentially: 1) The speedo won't read or work past 45 mph (stops reading, needle fluctuates and then drops to zero) 2) The ACES change lights won't detect the Engine RPM (there is power but no RPM reading). When I look on the ACES website, one of the most common reasons is because of poor ground. I've been trying to figure it out but to no avail (super frustrating). Obviously, it shows how little knowledge I have of electrical systems overall. As an aside, I asked caterham and they said that most of the new speedos had issues with grounds.., ok great. They sent me a special instruction sheet suggesting to ground the speedo sensor on the frame member closer to the sensor to improve ground. This worked for Red Duck here in CT with a new CSR but did not work for me.. I’m still having the same issues. (and yes, God knows how many times I've adjusted the sensor gap +/- the nominal 1 mm required gap) Any thoughts on how to diagnose or investigate the issue? Any thoughts on the root cause? I much appreciate your help. THANKS!

...The real question Tom is by how many laps... :devil: Look forward to the event

Jeff! I hope you've hired a lousy real estate agent and that you'll make it to the event. I've been trying to pimp my ride this yr to keep up with the group and you. Don't let us down! and... see you on the track.

Love it. I can't wait to have my neck elongated. It will be like having a Thai massage at 120 mph. I remember someone telling me that driving a Caterham would be a new life experience.

Guys Thanks a ton for the insights and pictures. Mike I guess it makes sense that these whiskers are more about redirecting airflow above the top wishbones than exerting downforce of some sort. Looks like they are mounted with a 30 degree ish angle with the top of the whisker aligned with the top mounting of the wishbones (Xcarguy's picture). Mike, yes, I had my car corner weighted by George Alderman. I still feel I m running high in the back, I may have to adjust my rake angle but that's a different story. I'm also swapping my windshield for an aersoshield which should help with top end. I was hitting 7300 rpm (or ~124 mph with my six speed) last yr at the end of the straight on the lightning track. I'm curious to see what removing the windshield and adding the whiskers will do in terms of top end (assuming same exit speed form the Bowl)

Friends, In the continued pursuit of trying to correct high speed understeer, I decided to try to a pair of those nose cone carbon fiber aero whiskers (normally installed on R500's / 620's and CSR's from factory). Any guidance on where to install on the nose cone and at what angle of attack? Haven't found much on the web in terms of instructions etc.. thank you very much in advance.

Ha! I guess the best defense is an offense. 3 against one.. will take more than that... !!:driving:

Tom. This was a long long time ago in a galaxy far far away (Canada). Weight advantage helps but it's mostly about momentum!

Count me in as well! Including Friday go kart event. My mission this year: keep up with Kitcat, and continue to learn what this little red car can really do. Working on a set of sticky 13" and a carbon aeroscreen to help with top end. Lots to do to get ready. I can't wait. Thanks for organizing and setting things up again Croc.

Oops I mean yellowss7 Orange monster. Not Croc.

I agree, not sure how effective these canards will be but wonder if others have experienced a change in car handling by installing these nose cone canards. For more drastic aero effects, I think Mog Racing offers aero deflectors that snap on the front A arms to help with downforce and aerodynamics. I think croc has them on his 300 hp orange monster but could be completely wrong.

Guys Since we are talking about tyre choice, I'm having Santa deliver a set of 8x13 rear and 6x13 front Apollo wheels. I had the intention of mounting ZZRs and now wondering about setup. What front camber and toe in or toe out should I shoot for to maximize the handling of the car and optimize wear of these types? Also, Ive been running cr500s (195x45x15) on the 4 corners and although I liked how balanced the car felt , I remember significant understeer in the bowl at njmp. After reading this thread, I'm now wondering if going for wider types in the back and slightly narrower types in the front will exacerbate the issue. What do you think? Will additional front camber with Zzr correct the understeer? Would adding nose cone aero fins (like the r500 or the CSRs) help with downforce? Thanks a bunch for your advice