Hi Kev
Mark Payne here....
Well.. I do ream the block so the king pin is free to move in the block. However the block does not slop around. If I flex the front wheel against the axle (trying to increase and decrease the camber by force)... the only play I feel is in the wheel bearings.
My thinking is that if the king pin sticks in the block... how will I ever shim it correctly? If the king pin moves up on one side while racing and does not return due to friction in the block then we are left with more preload in the spring on that side.
Hope that helps
Mark
Originally Posted by bikedoctor
I built my L4 front end per Mark Payne's excellent blog sight. However at a recent race my car was a complete handfull. After careful inspection of the front end my LHS owner pointed out that my steering block was not secure on the king pin. He says the steering block should be snug. Mark says, "It is also important for the king pin to move freely through the steering block. I use the optional Delrin CRC block. This is more accurate than the stock Associated molding." I took this to mean that I did want the block to move along the king pin. Did i misunderstand?
The only change was I used some much smaller tires than what i am use to. I could only get the front to 4mm because I used the Assoc. lower arms and not the IRS. I kept the rear pod at 3.5.
The rear end wanted to drive past the front end even after backing off the shock and not putting a stipe of Paragon on the inside.
Am I experiencing something common with running smaller diameter tires, or did I jack up the front end?
Kev