when squaring the rear end should you have the left side leading?

[buxtonman]

   when squaring the rear end should you have the left side leading. or should they be even?? witch way does what? if the rt. side was leading wouldnt it be loose? thanks, buxtonman #22 legend home track beech ridge moter speed way, maine

[djracing]

If the right side was ahead of the left, lets say 1/8 in. it should cause more understeer/tighter. Just the opposite applies for having the left forward.

[VMS Motorsports]

I tend to over-simplify alot of things, but this may help you understand.

Think of it this way...
If you are leading the right side, the rear end of the car is turning to the left, or towards the infield, which would cause a push.
If you are leading the left side, the rear end of the car is turning right, towards the wall, which would cause a loose condition.

I personally think its best to square the rear end and make other adjustments to compensate for the track conditions/driving style

[John_Schwemler]

I'll agree with this, and will add in my own opinion that an off square rear end is a crutch that costs lap times in the long run.

Many handbooks written for Racecar Chassis Setup have also suggested running a square rear end,
   -Paved Track Stock Car Performance by Steve Smith (pg 132)
   -Stock Car Setup Secrets by Bob Bolles (pg 51 and throughout Chapter
   -Chassis and Suspension Handbook from Circle Track (pg 56, 62, 116, 136, 141)
   -Finish Line Racing School Chassis Manual by Mike Loescher (pg 110)

Once we had learned this and to align the right side contact patches with one another, our car really took off.  We gained time /lap since last year w/o changing the baseline setup.

[justfreaky]

John,

For the most part I will agree with you. For some of the newer drivers, it may be a helpful crutch. Kind of like the  radical right front tire stagger trick.
Most all my experience, and books, suggest the squared rear end also.

Steve

[John_Schwemler]

I'll add on to what I said by mentioning that my driver has been driving for 27 years and at times a high caliber Late Model level here in Canada.  He has also driven the Legends cars for 4 full seasons.

It took us awhile to get the car comfortable enough for him last year with other adjustments while being competitive.  This season he has been even more competitive w/ the square rearend etc.

If it came down to it, and we needed to tighten or loosen the car up at the track w/o changing springs, cocking the rear end is a plausible option.  I cannot forsee us and never remember us going past 1/8th inch though.

I would strongly encourage setting the rear end up square from the garage and try using other options before purposely cocking the rearend.  If it was late in the night and you've been adjusting the car and it is still out to left field, thats when the choice to cock the rearend would come up in discussion with our driver.

Returning the rearend to square and changing springs the next week is easier when the car is still in one piece at the end of the night.

[Racinjj]

Always keep the rearend square.  It is never a good idea to run your rearend out of square just like the others have said.

[DanH]

We run the rear square but also we run the radius arms parallel so that there is no bump steer through suspension compression.

[knoxracing]

The most important thing you can remember about NOT running the rear square is the car will change during the race MORE than if you run the rear square. Generally the car will become tighter and tighter the longer the race goes on. 
Dennis Knox
Buckeye Legends

[qweedqwag]

Square square square.

[Sagermotorsports]

I have to say I run with my left a little forward only because where I race there is a drastic temp difference between our heat races and our feature usually it is about 30 degrees ! If my car is a little loose in the heat it means that it will be about perfect for the entire feature. If I did not run a little left side lead, by lap 15 in our feature the car would be pushing so bad I would lose track position. But I have to agree with everyone that if your running at a track that say your track temp at heat time is 110 degrees and is at 95 degrees at feature time then it is definitely best to run a square rearend and adjust tire pressures just before the feature. Remember loose to a handleable degree is always faster than tight.

Brett