Preparing for Your K&C Test

What Will Happen on Test Day?

To be best prepared for your K&C test, you should understand how we prepare and load your vehicle for testing. There are several steps involved in this process. The loading process will vary significantly depending on the type of vehicle; so, we will describe the most typical process.

Wheel Fixturing

 Wheel fixturing is the process of preparing your vehicle’s wheels to connect to our string encoders. With a typical production vehicle, we complete this by attaching our red string encoder fixture via lug collets. 

Our standard collets fit lug hex sizes between 16-23 mm, or between 0.630-0.906 inches. Our standard wheel adapters are made to fit bolt circle diameters of 90-150 mm, or between 3.54 and 5.90 inches. We are able to test most vehicles with wheel dimensions outside of these ranges by building custom adapters and fixturing solutions.

Steering Wheel Robot

We use an Anthony Best Dynamics steering wheel robot to control the handwheel torque and position during tests. We have several means of fitting the robot to your vehicle. We’ve fitted the robot in NASCAR stock cars, UTVs, and convertibles.

Clamping and Weights

For testing, the vehicle chassis is fixed to the K&C rig’s center table. Most often, we use a clamp onto a pinch weld or seam on the vehicle. The rig’s center table is machined with a grid of holes used to secure the clamp to the table. As with each step, we have alternate means of attachment for atypical vehicles.

Spare Encoders & Analogs

The standard output from a K&C test is extensive, but we also offer additional digital encoders and analog string potentiometers for your particular needs. Common measurements we take are chassis deflection (laterally, longitudinally, or vertically) and individual component deflection.

Working on the Rig

With our custom steps and stands there is a great deal of accessibility once your vehicle is loaded on the K&C rig. With this much room, suspension components can typically be swapped in between tests. The accessibility also offers a fantastic view of the vehicle suspension at work.

CMM Hardpoint Measurement

CMM measurement of suspension hardpoints is often requested with K&C testing. Our K&C rig offers an ideal setup for CMM measurement of the suspension. We are able to gain access to much of the vehicle underside while maintaining accurate datums and references.

Need More Info?

If you are interested in more information about setting up and preparing for a K&C test at Morse Measurements, please let us know. We are happy to provide you with a PDF with a detailed explanation and actionable steps.