b'TECH TIP PAGE Tech Tip 36Balanced Grip: As stated earlier, for almost all bodied cars with more than 50% front end weight, total front tire grip is THE limiting factor to corner speed capability.Once your front end geometry & setup is optimizedmeaning spring rates & bar rate have the car hitting your target dive travel & roll anglethe roll center is loading the inside front tire dynamicallyyour dynamic camber & caster are maximizing both front tire contact patchesand your Ackerman & bump have both front tires at optimum slip angle for maximum tire gripDONT F*@# WITH IT at the track.Track tuning is NOT for finding grip. Track tuning is to achieve the optimum front to rear grip ratiooften called balance or neutral handling. We dont do this by tuning on the front end geometry or setup. Read the paragraph above again. If the front end is already optimum, how is tuning at the track going to help?Its not. Its only going to lead you away from optimum front grip. Most track tuning for balance is done at the rear of the car. More on this later.There are three simple exceptions in the front. One, if the car is not traveling (or over traveling) to your dive target # under brakingdue to track conditionsyou may want to change front spring rate and/or the front shock compression valvingto get the car back to hitting its travel target # in dive.Two, if the car is not rolling enough, or over rolling, your roll angle target # mid-cornerdue to track conditionsyou may want to change front bar rate, rear spring rate and/or shock valvingto get the car back to hitting its roll angle target # mid-corner.NOTE: An easy way to measure shock travel front & rear is placing o-rings or tie wraps on the shock shafts. Pull them up to the shock body before every run. After every run, measure all 4 shock travels & RECORD them. You will learn what travels you need when the car is happy. These are your baselines. Measure shock travel & push the o-rings/tie wraps back up to the body after every run. Anytime the handling is off, compare your travels to your baselines.You will know if the car is diving too much or too little from the front shock travels. The rear shock travels tell you if the car is rolling too much or too little. You can tune from thereThree, if the tire temps (you are checking them, arent you?) show uneven loading of the front tiresdue to track conditionsand your car IS hitting its dive travel & roll angle numbersyou may want to fine tune the caster and/or camber. If the car is NOT hitting its dive travel & roll angle target numbersdetermine if it caused by the track conditions or the Driver. Tune on whichever needs it to get back to your dive travel & roll angle target numbers.Ron Sutton said, If I know all four shock travels & combine this information with getting all 12 tire temps after every run (yes on Autocross) I can accurately assess ANY cars handling & know what to adjust to regain neutral, balanced handling. You can learn this as well.Achieving the proper amount of rear grip with a straight axle car, to have neutral, balanced handling in corners, is EASY compared to the work involved in the front. As far as cornering rear grip goes, the keys are rear track width, spring rate, sway bar rate, shock valving, rear roll center height (relative to CG) and of course tire size, pressure, camber, toe, etc. 239'