It’s absolutely vital that your kart’s drive chain is properly set. Not only does it help to prolong its and your sprockets’ life, but it also improves performance, optimises power delivery and ensures a smoother ride, which is important for both beginners and experienced racers alike.

Setting your kart’s chain however, can be a frustrating and time-consuming task. The movement of the engine on the chassis as it’s tightened down tends to cause the chain to be either too loose or too tight on the first attempt, therefore causing you to spend more time trying to achieve the correct tension.

In this step-by-step guide we explain just how you can precisely set the tension of your kart’s chain…

Setting Kart Chain Tension

If your kart’s chain is too loose it can fall off easily, and if it’s too tight you risk damaging the clutch and losing horsepower, so it’s critical you get its tension right. Here’s our guide on how to set the chain correctly.

1 – Set your Chain Monkey

Before you begin, it’s important to set your Chain Monkey (you will only need to do this step once).

• Tension your chain using your normal method.
• Hook your Chain Monkey to the chain and tighten the centre bolt until all slack is removed.
• Align bottom of the domed nut with required setting line and adjust circular stop until it touches the orange base.
• Tighten the nuts up to the orange base while all slack is taken from the chain.

Your Chain Monkey will now be set to your kart’s required tension.

2 – Mount your Chain Monkey

• Loosen the chain and hook on your chain monkey.

3 – Tighten Chain Monkey

• Tighten the centre bolt of your Chain Monkey until the locking nut touches the orange base (this will cause an arc in the chain).

4 – Tighten Chain

• Tighten the chain until all slack is removed.
• To ensure the chain sits correctly, press down on top of the engine to certify that it is sat flat against the chassis rails and does not rock while being tightened.

5 – Remove Chain Monkey

• Undo the centre bolt and remove your Chain Monkey.

And you’re done! Your kart’s chain will now be set to precision.

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