Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
Origineelreclamebord

'Custom' Camber/Ride Height Gauge

Recommended Posts

I need a camber gauge and a ride height gauge for racing. I didn't feel much for ordering something expensive, but I did want something cool. So eh... why buy one if I can make it myself? :)

GaugePNG1-1.png

A few simple plates and a couple of screws and I'll not just have a camber gauge, but there is also a ride height gauge on there for the common ride height range for my TRF201. It works pretty simple: Loosen the wing nut(s), line the red piece up with the wheel, tighten it and you have a reading showing in the small circular bar with the scaling next to it. The plan is to make this at school with the laser cutter. I just hope the workshop is open until the end of the week, as I heard they'll be shutting down this week to clean everything for the summer holidays.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

That is really cool, is it something you have designed yourself from scratch? or did you get the idea from somewhere?

Good thinking anyway and you say you are still at school, do you mind me asking how old you are?

Edit, just checked your profile and it says you are 20. Still, Good idea.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

If you can d/l a free student version of AutoCAD, you can get the template for free and even print it out.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

There's also a level meter app on my smartphone that I use. It is good in between +/- half a degree. Both on the I phone and android :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I made a similar tool by cutting up some plastic protractors and making them pivot at the origin. I do like the fold out ride-height gauge idea.

You could sell this! I'd buy one.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for the comments :D

@Wolfdog: I'm 20 and in the second year of my study at a university. I still refer to it as school though!

@dragnse7en: What do you mean with the template and printing out? Nice touch on your smart phone... but I don't have a smart phone :lol: (I'm probably one of the few individuals at my age still to use a monochrome age Nokia)!

@TA-Mark: That's a very practical approach, I love the sound of it! There are already plenty of camber gauges out there, but I guess I could contact a few small companies (Lee Martin Racing for example) to see if I can 'sell' the idea to someone. Either that, or I'll have to work something out to produce small batches of them at school. I have some ideas to further expand the functionality of this piece, so if there's interest from a company, I don't necessarily have to design it within the boundaries of laser cutting (and the materials I'm allowed to cut in the workshop).

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

First of all, let me say how great it is to see your enthusiasm for using your skills and education to make your own things.

Secondly, let me say that your design appears to have a couple of flaws. I'm sure you'll notice them in the prototyping stage!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

First of all, let me say how great it is to see your enthusiasm for using your skills and education to make your own things.

Secondly, let me say that your design appears to have a couple of flaws. I'm sure you'll notice them in the prototyping stage!

Such as? I'm curious to know where I may find problems, it will help me to improve it :)

If it's about standing upright on it's own - I already noticed that, even despite having a small foot at the rear, it also seems to need one at the front. The wing nut closest to the wheel is a little fiddly to tighten as well.

How do I know that? Because I've already got it here :D I've currently got it in pieces again so I can paint a few parts, other than that it's done! And it works, though indeed the pros and cons of the design are to be discovered. A good test for that will be in a few weeks, when I take my 201 to the track again!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Well, standing upright is one of the problems, but I had assumed you had intended to use it hand-held anyway.

The flaws are mainly related to the consistency of measurement you will acheive by clamping pieces with a single nut, and by having the pivot so far away from the wheel. I don't think you can measure negative camber either with the parts as pictured.

I reckon you have at least one plate and one pivot more than you need to fulfil the design criteria. In fact, I have a tool that will measure three different camber angles and a range of ride heights with no moving parts at all!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Well, standing upright is one of the problems, but I had assumed you had intended to use it hand-held anyway.

The flaws are mainly related to the consistency of measurement you will acheive by clamping pieces with a single nut, and by having the pivot so far away from the wheel. I don't think you can measure negative camber either with the parts as pictured.

I reckon you have at least one plate and one pivot more than you need to fulfil the design criteria. In fact, I have a tool that will measure three different camber angles and a range of ride heights with no moving parts at all!

Standing upright is not a problem in all but one direction: If it gets hit from the rear it easily falls forward. Maybe V2 needs a small 3D printed foot, pointing to both directions instead of just one.

The clamping doesn't seem to change the reading when tightening. I used an RPM Camber gauge from a fellow racer 2 weeks back to set up my car. The readings are the same, so for my use I consider it accurate enough. I understand your concerns, but it can easily be solved by adding a screw with a spacer that holds the plates at a fixed distance all the time, so the gauge's construction can't become so loose that it loses it's accuracy. Plus, you can ask yourself how accurate it needs to be. The most accurate reading would be without wheels, or with setup wheels. It's not practical though, so using the actual wheels and tires on the car for racing seems sensible. The most accurate measurement would still be done when the wheelm not the tire, is measured (As a tire is a rather flexible to measure from) :P However, many wheels don't have a flat dish though, so you can't actually measure from the wheel on every car. So in the end, many camber gauges measure from the tire, mine is no exception to that. The tire easily gives 0.5 degree inaccuracy I think, and I haven't suffered from bigger inaccuracies when I was using a set of calipers to measure the distance between adjusters (which can be very inaccurate)!

The thing currently holding back the accuracy is the ability to read the gauge clearly and quickly. Due to the thickness of the plates (3mm) you can only get accurate readings when you're looking exactly from the front. Using a different construction allows readings from far wider angles. Also, the space between the scaling and the reading bar should be reduced, or brought together in one piece.

The construction currently can only be read from one side - that, to me, is a real disadvantage (especially on the camber, the ride height can still be read with mirrored letters). You need to turn around your car or walk around your car to use it all the time.

I am very happy with the ride height gauge. Steps of 1mm seem to me like they are small enough if you're working on your setup, and it's easy to use. It would be even easier though if the whole gauge would be smaller (so it fits in your hand easier) and if the gauge would also be stable (stand on it's own) in this position.

About the amount of parts... Sure I could use less parts, but I like the sophistication of moving parts... It's just a matter of preference really, though if I start thinking about it, I kind of like the idea of having the important parts of the product in the same spot every time (to adjust, to give the reading, etc). Still, it's prominently preference :lol:

PS: I'll post pictures soon, so everyone can see how it exactly works, and to show that it works ^_^

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

You could taper the edge of the read slot to remove the parallax error of the 3mm thick material. Print the degree measurements onto the tapered edge too. Or you could fit a pin/pointer into the red part in the slot to get it up flush with the grey surface.

Using a second block (the grey part) mirrored on the backside would make it stand up quite well and make it readable from both directions.

Getting a setting within 0.5 deg is fine for offroad. The key is to be able to lock the device at a given angle then transfer that same angle to the other side of the vehicle to keep things balanced. You could make up some setup plates (setup wheels) from the same 3mm material if you wanted more accuracy.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The tapered edges would be really cool, but they have to be put on afterwards. To make it possible I'd also have to use a material that's less brittle than PMMA/Plexiglas :P

Here are a few pictures of the camber gauge:

DSC01146.jpg

DSC01152.jpg

DSC01153.jpg

DSC01155.jpg

DSC01157.jpg

The choice of material colours was extremely limited without using paint. I wanted to avoid using paint on the front in particular, as it would be likely to scratch off and become ugly on the face which you look onto the most (possibly messing up the ease of reading the gauge as well). I decided to go for a white front plate for now, a red painted camber adjustment plate, and a transparent back piece and ride height gauge (the last to the letters, which are cut out, not printed or engraved, have a transparent background behind all the letters).

It works pretty nicely, but I see plenty of room for improvement. I'll have plenty of time to thoroughly use this during the summer and make a revised version when the school's workshop opens again in September :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

looks good

you should cut 4 discs size of the wheels too; measuring with used wheels can be warped

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I see now that you intended to measure the camber with the red plate rather than the black one... now the design makes a lot more sense to me!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

×
×
  • Create New...