Wrench
47 ratings
Building an entire chassis from scratch. (Stock N/A Catfish.)
By EssBee
Now fully compatible with build 141. (January 2022.)

This game is constantly changing and evolving, and I'm always on the back-foot trying to keep up and make changes as needed. With no prior warning from the devs, it's all trial and error on my part.
However, for your peace of mind, I can assure you that I have tested everything myself in-game before adding it to this guide, so I'm confident that the info that goes in is correct at the time of writing. Beyond that, it could all change at any time.

Please Note: Not all items purchasable in the game are 'wear items', meaning they don't accumulate wear during use. (Not yet, anyway.)
I'm building starting from a completely blank canvas so have no previous parts to re-use. However, since you're more than likely just doing an overhaul of an existing chassis and so therefore have some 'non-wear' items that you can reuse, it would make sense for you to reuse those rather than buying new ones.
So please double check to make sure the items you're about to purchase are actually prone to wear. You don't really want to be spending money on items that you don't need to replace.


This guide is designed to try and help you build your entire chassis from the ground up.
This particular guide doesn't include the building and fitting the engine and transmission as this is covered in a separate guide that I have already created, and which I will place a link to below.
It does, however, cover the entire rolling chassis including subframes, suspension, steering, brakes, wheels, and also bodywork.
Couple this guide with the engine building guide I have already created and you should be able to build an entire car from top to bottom.

I created this guide using Desktop mode as I don't have VR myself, so can't guarantee that every piece of information will be 100% accurate for VR users. As far as I'm aware it should basically only relate to the differences between using virtual hands as opposed to clicking with a mouse though, so all other info should be interchangeable...... in theory. Just don't hate on me if I'm wrong! ;D

For the purposes of this guide I am going to be using all brand new parts, so if you read that you need to purchase a part that you already have then it's your choice as to whether or not you re-use the old part or purchase a new one.
I decided to go with brand new parts over using partially worn ones. Not only will it mean they will have the maximum possible lifespan, it also means I won't have to go through the process of component removal and replacement again sooner than necessary.
For reference, I will refer to the Left and Right sides of the car as viewed from perspective of the driver when sat within the car and facing forwards.

Finally, here is the link to the engine building guide:
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1631544923


ps. Even if you don't read this guide right the way through, take a moment to read the section entitled 'True Story - Food For Thought' which I've added right at the end.
It is not intended to scare you away from working on your own vehicles in real life as there are several tasks that even novices can do relatively easily if they seek and follow professional advice and guidance.
However, I thought I'd share this story to remind everyone just how easily a small lapse in concentration while performing maintenance tasks can pretty easily become a big problem. It quite simply is exactly as the title suggests, a true story - food for thought.
That's 20 or 30 seconds of my life right there that I'll never forget.
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Before we start.
It should be noted that the original parts of this guide were written way back at the start 2019.

Both the game and this guide have seen numerous changes since then, and there have been plenty of additions and changes to the game, and to this guide in response as a result.

Having this guide walk you through an entire chassis build right off the bat seems to have slightly confused a few of the newer players who have maybe read this guide even before buying the game, or right after they bought it and hadn't really got to understand the concept of how the game 'rolls'.
Also some returning players who may have read this guide that maybe played the demo but never bought the game, or who bought the game in it's infancy but then shelved it for a few years and lost touch with the progress the game has made, they too seem to be a little confused once they finally jump in to the game.

So let's clear this one up.

Back in December of 2018 when the game was first released in to Early Access on Steam, and in January of 2019 when I first wrote this guide, it was possible to fully strip and rebuild your own car which you could then rent out on a 'per race' basis after just doing a couple of very basic jobs like oil changes and tyre changes just to help you get a basic feel for the game.
This is why the guide starts off walking you through building a car from scratch.

However, this is no longer the case.

There is now an xp based tier system and an economy system in place, with certain unlockable tools and car parts available based on your current xp and level.
You will also need to have accumulated enough cash to buy the tools and parts once they become available.

You won't have access to all of the tools, or all of the parts you need to build an entire chassis right from the word 'go'. You will have to start off slow and build up xp and cash before you can progress to that level.
(As I've been playing since early Jan 2018, and well before any of the new xp system, or unlockable tools and parts became part of the game, I couldn't tell at which level things unlock at. I was already way past any of that by the time these things were introduced, so already had access to everything by the time they were based on my previous play time and experience.)

However, if you've played the tutorial right the way through then you should already have something like 5k in your pocket, so if you take your time and concentrate while doing the first few customer jobs (so as not to mess up and take an xp and cash penalty hit which will ultimately slow down your progress) then you should have more than enough money to buy the items as they unlock.

So hopefully that makes things a little clearer as to why the guide is written and laid in this way.



Now back to the guide.

It should also be noted that some of the screen shots you may see in this guide contain content that is no longer available in-game as it has been superseded by newer features.

The old scanner system that used to be used to identify parts and to show torque settings and installation instructions is one item that has now been removed.
However, the HUD at the top of the screen now replaces what the scanner used to do.
It is always available on screen rather than having to dig the scanner out of your tool belt, aim at the part you want information on, and then have to press a button to reveal the info you're after. In that respect it is much more user friendly.
The new HUD system tells you what part you are directly looking at, and if it has an applicable torque setting then this will be shown there too.
The HUD now also lists the current amount of 'wear' of the item you are looking at, but this still a work in progress and not all items currently wear through use.

As for the installation instructions that used to be in the old scanner system, these can now be found in separate set of 'manuals' which can be accessed via the Tablet.
However, please bear in mind that these manuals are still a work in progress, and as such are a little misleading in places.
The devs are aware of this and will update and polish them in time, but there's only two guys working on this whole project so they have to try and prioritise their time and workload accordingly.


I hope this section hasn't bored you too much, but also hope it helps clarify some of the issues that players have been experiencing based on some of the comments I've been receiving recently.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and thanks again for taking the time to read and use this guide.
Please feel free to rate and favourite it if you find it of use.
Your support really is appreciated. :)
Can you buy your own bare chassis?

The simple answer to this right now is no.

It has been discussed by both the devs in private, and by the devs and the community on Discord.
As a result it may be something that is available in the future, but it isn't something you can do right now.

The closest thing you can get to that right now is to buy a car from the 'Classifieds' via your Tablet, and then strip it yourself to the bare chassis. From there you can do with it as you wish.

Right now the chassis doesn't accumulate any wear either, so no matter how good or how bad the condition of the car you intend to buy, the chassis will ALWAYS be exactly the same, regardless.


Just thought I'd drop this in here as it's something that pops up quite often.
Naturally I will edit/remove this section as needed as and when things change.

How to use the Engine Stand and Gantry Crane.
This something that a lot of people seem to be struggling with recently, so thought I would add this to the guide.


Engine Stand.

You can raise and lower the height this by grabbing the semi-transparent blue area on top of the stand which surrounds the elongated inverted 'U' shaped hook, as per the screen shot below.

You can also rotate the engine when it's on the stand by grabbing the semi-transparent blue areas covering the handles, and rotating them in the desired direction.
You can rotate it in either direction, and there is no limit as to how far you can rotate it.



Once the engine is free of the chassis and the gearbox has been removed, you will then be able to place it on to your engine stand.
To do this, place your engine stand near to your engine block, then use the context menu to find the option to mount it to the stand.



Admittedly this screen shot shows only the Block and not an entire engine being placed on to the Stand, but this is actually just a copy/paste from the next section where I run through building the bottom end of an engine. The process is exactly the same either way though.


To remove the engine from the stand, just grab the block and it will come free.

Just be aware that it can be quite easy to accidentally grab the block unintentionally and remove it from the stand if you're not fully paying attention. I know, I've done it plenty of times!
Luckily I've never done it with loose parts in the engine, but I would assume that if there are loose parts and you accidentally drop the block from the stand then you could end up with tiny little engine parts being distributed nicely (or not so nicely) all around your workshop.
You've been warned!


Gantry Crane.

I have to admit, me and the gantry crane do not see eye to eye at all.
In-fact, we avoid each other at all costs wherever possible. It's that bad.

However, from my very brief encounters with it, this is what I have learned.

First off, and very importantly.... keep a very close eye on the legs of the crane at all times while moving it around, especially if you have tables nearby with engine parts all over them.
The crane can, and will, throw those parts all over the workshop at any opportunity it gets if it hits anything!
Again, you've been warned!


So, back to our car.
You will need to ensure that anything that could potentially connect the engine to the chassis in any way, shape, or form, or anything that could obstruct it's removal from the engine bay, is either removed or disconnected.
This includes but is not limited to: engine mount nuts (one each side on the under-side of the Front Subframe), exhaust (just the headers or flex-pipe will do), radiator coolant pipes-top and bottom, transmission (excluding Clutch), PPF, Driveshaft, Intercooler pipes (if a turbo is fitted).... so on and so forth.
You may be able to away with leaving the exhaust header pipes and the intake manifold on but they can restrict removal/replacement, so for the sake of a few nuts it's not really worth messing around with. Just remove them and it will likely save you some time and grief in the long run. Your call though.

ps. You can leave the transmission oil in the transmission when you remove it from the engine. It is a sealed unit so no fluid will leak out anywhere. The only time it will leak is if you remove the drain plug, or the fill plug and then roll the unit over so as the oil then comes out of the fill hole.

Once everything is disconnected, place the crane in position directly over the top of the engine.
Lower the hooks by pressing the relevant button on the crane's control panel and you will see the hooks slowly lower.
Stop when the hooks are just above the engine.



Grab a hook (any one will do, there is no order to do this in) by left-clicking on it (just click and release. Don't hold the button down.) and then drag to place the hooks - one in each corner of the head where the cam cover joins it. (there are no 'eyes' to attach the hooks to, they just kinda attach themselves to the head/cam cover.)



With all four of them in place, one in each corner and distributed in a manner that will help keep the engine reasonably well balanced to prevent it tipping, grab the block (left click on the block in desktop mode) and move it slightly just to 'free' it from the chassis.
Now go back to the control panel on the crane, and lift the engine clear of the chassis.





If the chains go haywire then there's something still preventing the engine from being pulled clear. Go back and double check that everything is disconnected, and that nothing could be preventing it from being pulled clear.
Try also grabbing/clicking on the engine block again just to make sure it has been 'knocked' free of the chassis. You should be able to see it move slightly when it comes free.
Once you're satisfied everything is free and clear, try going back to your crane and lifting the engine clear again. If the same happens you'll have to repeat this process.
Yeah I know. That's why I hate this wangy crane!


Once the engine starts to lift, you can aid it by lowering the lift that the car is on. This will give you more room to move the engine and crane around unhindered.
Again, watch those legs while moving the crane around if you have loose parts laying around anywhere nearby.


Refitting of the engine should just be the reverse of the removal procedure.
Just don't forget to fill the coolant back up via the radiator afterwards!

Other than that, you're good to go!


ps. you can cheat and just use the engine stand instead of the gantry crane if you really struggle with it. Plenty of people do as the crane can be a bit** to use at times.
The downside is it can be tricky to get the engine back in to the right position to remount it to the chassis when using just the stand and not the crane.
You'll just have to experiment and see which works best for you.




Hopefully this will help anyone out who is struggling with using either of these tools.

Understanding Wear and the UI.
I'll try and give a brief explanation.
Hopefully this will help shed a little light on the myth for those who may be in some doubt.

A lot of people seem to be confusing the wear indicator as the 'actual condition' of the part.
This isn't the case.
What you're actually seeing is the percentage of the overall life expectancy of the part.
All parts are given an expected lifespan in hours, meaning that the more hours of use you put on the part the higher the wear percentage will be.

In the screen shot below we have three items which are all part worn. A wheel, a set of headers, and an oil filter.


.

First off, let's take a look at our wheel.



We can see from the UI in the screen shot that the wheel is showing three sets of numbers.
4 / 100 (4%).
So how should we read this?

Well, the first set of numbers, in this case, '4', is the actual amount of hours we have put on that wheel so far.
The second set, in this case, '100', is the recommended amount of hours that part should be used for before it should ideally be replaced.
The third set of numbers is our percentage of actual hours/wear out of our recommended hours/wear, which in this case is, 4%

So in simple terms - It's been used for 4 hours out of a recommended 100 hours, thus it has 4% wear. 4 / 100. (4%)


Next up we have a set of headers.



This time the first set of numbers is '15'.
The second set is '100'.
The third set of numbers is 15%.

So in simple terms - It's been used for 15 hours out of a recommended 100 hours, thus it has 15% wear. 15 / 100. (15%)


And finally we have an oil filter.



This time the first set of numbers is '2'.
The second set is '10'.
The third set of numbers is 20%.

So in simple terms - It's been used for 2 hours out of a recommended 10 hours, thus it has 20% wear. 2 / 10. (20%)

Now while the second set of numbers is a recommendation rather than being definitive, to be safe you should ideally treat it as the latter.
It is what is considered to be the maximum amount of usage a part can have and still remain in safe working condition.
It's basically a safety net. - A number given to each part to ensure it remains inside it's safe range of use.
Sure, you can push every part past the recommended maximum amount of hours, or 100%, and it may be fine... but it's only a matter of time!

Reaching 100% wear on a part doesn't automatically mean your car will instantly break the next time you try to use it, but there is an increased risk of the part failing, and the further you push it the greater the risk becomes.

I should also point out that just because something has an 'expected' lifespan of say, 100 hours, doesn't mean it WILL last for 100 hours.
Just like in real life, things sometimes break before they should.
This may happen in-game sometimes too. It seems to be rare, but it can happen.

Also, just to clarify, no parts will wear if the car is not in use.
It will only accumulate wear while it is actively being driven on track.
So they can sit in storage, in your workshop, or in your race trailer indefinitely and they won't deteriorate at all.
It's purely only while they are on the car, and actively being raced and in motion.


So, in conclusion:

What you ideally want to do is look at the 'wear' and read it as 'hours', and then also remember that 'wear' actually means 'percentage of it's expected serviceable lifespan' and not 'how broken/close to breaking it actually is'.

So play it safe.
Stay under 100% and you should be fine.
Go beyond it, and you're starting to push your luck.
The further you push it, higher the risk of it biting you on the a**.
The choice on just how far you push it, is all yours!
Enough chat. Lets build!
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So, now we have all of that out of the way let's get on with our chassis, shall we?!
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Subframes, Front and Rear.
Throughout this guide I will assume that we have a completely blank canvass to work from and will have to purchase all of our components before being able to install them.
Feel free to use your old, existing parts if you so desire, although doing so will mean they will have a shorter lifespan than if you purchased new ones. I will leave this decision purely in your hands.

For the sake of consistency I will start with the left hand side / drivers side of the car first and cover the parts and procedures there, and only list the parts needed for the right hand side / passenger side of the car, unless there are different procedures or parts needed on either side.
I'm pretty certain that the right hand side will just be a mirror image of the left in every respect, but I will make a note of pointing it out if there are differences.
I will also (in most cases) cover the front end of the car first, then proceed to the rear.

So, with all of that out of the way, let's begin!

Start off by purchasing the following:
1x Front Subframe.
1x Rear Subframe.
8x Front Subframe Bolt.

Place your Front Subframe into position on the underside of the chassis.
Place four of your Front Subframe Bolts into position, two on the left and two on the right hand side of the car, and then torque them all down to 50Nm.



Now move to the rear of the car and place your Rear Subframe into position.
Take your last four Front Subframe Bolts (ignoring the fact it says 'front subframe bolt' in the description as both subframes use the same bolts) and place them into position. Again, two on the left and two on the right hand side of the car, and then torque them all down to 50Nm.

The 'hit point' for both front and rear subframes to get them to snap into place can be a little tricky to find at times. I found if you line yourself up with an imaginary central line from front to rear down the middle of the car, and then approach from the front for the front subframe, and the rear for the rear one, they should snap into place relatively easily.



Suspension - Front.
Now we're going to turn our attention to the Control Arms, Uprights and, Shocks.

As I mentioned earlier, throughout this guide I will list all the parts needed for both sides of the car during each stage.
I will then cover any pre-assembly work for both sides at the same time as it's just easier to do these steps together.
When it comes to assembling parts to the chassis I will start with the left hand side of the car and cover the procedures there, and then leave you to follow the same procedure again for the right.
Any screenshots will be for the left hand side of the car, but the right hand side should just be a mirror image of this. If there are any major differences from one side to the other, I will point them out and cover each side in turn separately.

First off, purchase the following:
2x Front Upper Control Arm. (F.U.C.A).
4x Bushing. (Type 1).
2x Front UCA Long Bolt.
4x Front UCA Washer. (Large).
2x Front UCA Washer. (Small).
2x Front UCA Long Bolt Nut.

Pre-Assembly:
Place your Bushing (Type 1) into position within your Front Upper Control Arms (F.U.C.A's), two in each. These will slot in to the holes from the outsides. Do this for both arms.

Assembly to Chassis:
Place your F.U.C.A into position within the Front Subframe.
Place one Front UCA Washer (Large) against the left hand side of your F.U.C.A. (This the one on the bolt side. Refer to the screenshot below for assembly sequence).
Slide your Front UCA Long Bolt into position through the large washer you just placed. You need to have the washer in place BEFORE inserting the bolt into the F.U.C.A.
Place your other Front UCA Washer (Large) into position over the end of the bolt.
Now place your Front UCA Washer (small) into position.
Finally, place your Front UCA Long Bolt Nut into position and torque it down to 134Nm.
Now follow the sequence above to install the remaining parts onto the other side of the car.






Now go ahead and purchase the following:
1x Front Lower Control Arm. (Left).
1x Front Lower Control Arm. (Right).
2x Bushing. (Type 1).
2x Bushing. (Type 2).
4x Eccentric Alignment Bolt.
4x Eccentric Bolt Washer.
4x Eccentric Bolt Nut.

Pre-Assembly:
Place one Bushing (Type 1) and one Bushing (Type 2) into position in each control arm.

Assembly to Chassis:
Place your Front Lower Control Arm into position within the Front Subframe.
Take two of your Eccentric Alignment Bolts and slide them into position, one through each mounting point.
Take two of your Eccentric Bolt Washers and place them onto each one of your Eccentric Alignment Bolts.
Next, take two of your Eccentric Bolt Nuts and place them into position on the ends of your Eccentric Alignment Bolts.
Finally, torque both Eccentric Alignment Bolt Nuts down to 150Nm.
Now follow the sequence above to install the remaining parts onto the other side of the car.





Now purchase the following:
1x Front Upright. (Left).
1x Front Upright. (Right).
2x Front Lower Ball Joint.
2x M12 Castle Nut.
2x M14 Castle Nut.
2x M12x80mm Bolt.
2x M12 Lock Washer.
2x M12 Flange Nut.

Assembly to Chassis:
Place your Front Lower Ball Joint into position in the end of your Front Lower Control Arm.
Slide your M12x80mm Bolt through your Front Lower Ball Joint.
Place you M12 Lock Washer on to the end of your M12x80mm Bolt.
Place your M12 Flange Nut onto the end of your M12x80mm Bolt and torque it down to 81Nm.
Next, take your Front Upright (Left) and place into position between the ends of your Upper and Lower Control Arms.
Take your M14 Castle Nut and place it onto position behind your Front Upright (Left), onto the end of the thread of the Front Lower Ball Joint that is protruding through the Upright, and torque this nut down to 60Nm.
Next, place your M12 Castle Nut and place it into position behind your Front Upright (Left), onto the end of the thread of the F.U.C.A that is protruding through the Upright, and torque this nut down to 50Nm.
Now follow the sequence above to install the remaining parts onto the other side of the car.




Next up, purchase the following:
2x Front Shock Body.
2x Helper Spring.
2x Spring Coupler.
2x 700lb Main Spring. (Front). (Stock is 700lb, but you can choose any spring you like.)
2x Shock Tophat.
2x Shock Tophat Bushing.
2x Shock Tophat Washer.
2x Shock Nylock Nut.
2x Shock Adjuster.

Note: I'll cover the basics of the different spring rates and their relationship with each other and with Sway Bars of different kinds in a later section of this guide, with the possibility of a future in-depth dedicated suspension tuning guide to come at a later date.
Suspension tuning is a bit of a black art, so can't really be described in a couple of sentences.


Pre-Assembly.
Take your two Shock Bodies and place them in front of you.
Take your two Helper Springs and place one on each Shock Body.
Next, place your Spring Couplers in position over your Shock Bodies and on top of your Helper Springs. (One Coupler per Shock.).
Now place your 700lb Main Springs and place one on each Shock Body.
Next, place your Shock Tophats in position, one on each Shock.
Then place your Shock Tophat bushings in place, one on each Shock.
Place your Shock Tophat Washers in place, one on each Shock.
Next, place your Shock Nylock Nuts into position on the top of your Shocks, one on each, and then torque them down to 5Nm. (The rears are now set to 20Nm, so things may change in the future. I will update this if things do change.)
Finally, place your Shock Adjusters on to the tops of your Shocks, one on each Shock.



Now purchase the following:
2x M12 Flange Nut.
2x M12 Lock Washer.
2x M12x70mm Bolt.
4x M8 Flange Nut.

Assembly to Chassis:
Place your Shock in position (Springs towards the top) so as the bottom of the Shock Body snaps into place into your Lower Control Arm, just behind the Upright.
Slide your M12x70mm Bolt into place through the Lower Control Arm and Shock Body.
Place your M12 lock Washer into place on the end of the Bolt.
Then place your M12 Flange Nut on to the end of the Bolt and torque it down to 81Nm.
Next, looking down on the the top of the Shock from above the car, place your two M8 Flange Nuts onto the two mounting studs from the Shock Tophat (the Tophat will be below that chassis at this point) and torque them both down to 35Nm.
Now follow the sequence above to install the remaining parts onto the other side of the car.





Suspension - Rear.
Now we're going to turn our attention to the Control Arms, Uprights and, Shocks for the rear of the car.

Start off by purchasing the following:
1x Drivers Side Rear Lower Control Arm. (LCA).
1x Passenger Side Rear Lower Control Arm. (LCA).
4x Bushing (Type 3).
4x Bushing (Type 4).
4x Eccentric Alignment Bolt.
4x Eccentric Bolt Washer.
4x Eccentric Bolt Nut.

Pre-Assembly:
Place your Bushing (Type 3) and (Type 4) into position within your Drivers Side Rear Lower Control Arm. (LCA), and your Passenger Side Rear Lower Control Arm, two of each type.

Assembly to Chassis:
Place your LCA into position within your Rear Subframe.
Slide two of your Eccentric Alignment Bolts into position where your LCA joins your Rear Subframe, one in each mounting point.
Place your Eccentric Bolt Washers onto the ends of your Eccentric Alignment Bolts.
Next, place your Eccentric Bolt Nuts onto the ends of your Eccentric Alignment Bolts, and torque both of these nuts down to 150Nm,
Now follow the sequence above to install the remaining parts onto the other side of the car.





Now purchase the following:
2x Rear Upper Control Arm. (RUCA).
4x Bushing. (Type 3).
4x M10x70mm Bolt.
4x M10 Nut.

Pre-Assembly:
Place your Bushing (Type 3) into position within your Rear Upper Control Arms (RUCA), two in each.

Assembly to Chassis:
Place your RUCA into position within your Rear Subframe.
Slide two of your M10x70mm Bolts into position where your RUCA joins your Rear Subframe, one in each mounting point.
Next, place one of your M10 Nuts onto the ends of your M10x70mm Bolts, and torque both of these nuts down to 70Nm,
Now follow the sequence above to install the remaining parts onto the other side of the car.





Now purchase the following:
1x Rear Upright. (Left).
1x Rear Upright. (Right).
2x Bushing. (Type 1).
2x M10x70mm Bolt.
2x M10 Nut.
2x Rear LCA Long Bolt.
2x Front UCA Washer. (Small).
2x Front UCA Long Bolt Nut.

Place one of your your Bushing (Type 1) into position in your Rear Upright. (Left).
Place the Upright into position between your RUCA and LCA.
Place your M10x70mm Bolt into position within the top of your Upright.
Next, place your M10 Nut onto the end of your M10x70mm Bolt, and torque the nut down to 70Nm.
Now place your Front UCA Washer. (Small) into position against your LCA.
Next, place your Rear LCA Long Bolt into position, so as it slides through your Front UCA Washer. (Small), before sliding through the LCA, and the bottom mounting holes of your Rear Upright. (Left).
Now place your Front UCA Long Bolt Nut into position on the end of your Rear LCA Long Bolt, and then torque the nut down to 65Nm.
Now follow the sequence above to install the remaining parts onto the other side of the car.


Now purchase the following:
2x Rear Shock Body.
2x Helper Spring.
2x Spring Coupler.
2x Rear Main Spring. (Stock is 400lb, but you can use any spring you like.)
2x Shock Tophat.
2x Shock Tophat Bushing.
2x Shock Tophat Washer.
2x Shock Nylock Nut.
2x Shock Adjuster.

Note: I'll cover the basics of the different spring rates and their relationship with each other and with Sway Bars of different kinds in a later section of this guide, with the possibility of a future in-depth dedicated suspension tuning guide to come at a later date.
Suspension tuning is a bit of a black art, so can't really be described in a couple of sentences.


If you followed the section for the front suspension then you should already have an idea on how to assemble your shocks. All of the shocks follow the same sequence to assemble them. The only difference being a couple of slightly different named components.
If you have jumped straight to this section then fear not, I will walk you through assembling your shocks anyway.

Pre-Assembly.
Take your two Shock Bodies and place them in front of you.
Take your two Helper Springs and place one on each Shock Body.
Next, place your Spring Couplers in position over your Shock Bodies and on top of your Helper Springs. (One Coupler per Shock.).
Now place your Rear Main Springs and place one on each Shock Body.
Next, place your Shock Tophats in position, one on each Shock.
Then place your Shock Tophat bushings in place, one on each Shock.
Place your Shock Tophat Washers in place, one on each Shock.
Next, place your Shock Nylock Nuts into position on the top of your Shocks, one on each, and then torque them down to 20Nm. (This sounds a little high so may change in the future. I will update this if things do change.)
Finally, place your Shock Adjusters on to the tops of your Shocks, one on each Shock.



Now purchase the following:
2x M12x70mm Bolt. ....(currently marked as (Temp Rear Only) in catalog under Chassis.)
4x M8 Flange Nut.

Assembly to Chassis:
Place your Shock in position (Springs towards the top) so as the bottom of the Shock Body snaps into place into your Lower Control Arm, just behind the Upright.
Slide your M12x70mm Bolt into place through the Lower Control Arm and Shock Body.and torque it down to 75Nm.
Next, looking down on the the top of the Shock from above the car, place your two M8 Flange Nuts onto the two mounting studs from the Shock Tophat (the Tophat will be below that chassis at this point) and torque them both down to 35Nm.
Now follow the sequence above to install the remaining parts onto the other side of the car.









Now purchase the following:
2x Axle.
2x Rear Wheel Bearing.
2x Snap Ring. (Rear Wheel Bearing).

Place your Rear Wheel Bearing into position within your Rear Upright.
Now place your Snap Ring. (Rear Wheel Bearing) intp position against the outside face of your Rear Wheel Bearing.
Place your Axle into position between your Rear Upright and your Rear Subframe.
Now follow the sequence above to install the remaining parts onto the other side of the car.








Sway Bars. Front and Rear.
Sway Bars are not a compulsory item, but they can help improve your cars handling.

In this section I'll cover what you need to install the Sway Bars, both Front and Rear, and then I'll cover their relationship with the shocks and spring rates in a brief run-down in another section after this one.

So first up - Front Sway Bars.
Purchase the following:

1x Front Swaybar. (Two options to chose from. Your choice on which you choose.)
2x Front Swaybar Bracket.
2x Front Swaybar Bushing.
4x M10x35mm Bolt.
2x End Link Body.
8x Swaybar Conical Washer.
4x M10x50mm Stainless (Bolt, but word 'Bolt' missing from Catalog)
4x Stainless M10 Nut.

Place your Front Swaybar Bushings in to your Front Swaybar Brackets, one in each.


Next place your Swaybar in to position against your Chassis. This will snap in to place when you have it in the right position. (Up behind your Radiator, as per the screenshot below.)


Now place your Front Swaybar Brackets (complete with bushes) in to position against your Swaybar. (one bracket on each side of the car.)

Finally, place your M10x35mm Bolts in to position within your brackets, two bolts per bracket, and then tighten them down to 40Nm.


Now place your eight Swaybar Conical Washers in to position within your End Link Bodies.
There are four Washers per End Link - one in each side of each eye, and mirrored on both ends of the Link. (as per the screenshots below.)




Now place these End Links in to position between your Swaybar and your LCA.
Fit your M10x50mm Stainless (Bolts) in to position in each end of each link, and then fit your Stanless M10 Nut to the other side, and finally tighten them all down to 40Nm.








That's your Front Swaybars fully fitted and secured.

.
Now purchase the following:
1x Rear Swaybar. (Three options to chose from. Your choice on which you choose.)
2x Rear Swaybar Bracket.
2x Rear Swaybar Bushing.
4x M8 Flange Nut.
2x End Link Body.
8x Swaybar Conical Washer.
4x M10x50mm Stainless (Bolt, but word 'Bolt' missing from Catalog)
4x Stainless M10 Nut.

Place your Rear Swaybar Bushings in to your rear Swaybar Brackets.


Place your rear Swaybar in to position against your Rear Subframe.

Place your Rear Swaybar Brackets (complete with Bushes) in to ppsition against your Rear Swaybar.


Place your M8 Flange Nuts in to position over the studs from the rear Subframe that will now be protruding through your Rear Swaybar Brackets, and tighten these nuts down to 20Nm.



Now, just as you did for the Front End Links, place your Stainless Conical Washers in to your End Links. One in each eye, at both ends of the Link once again.




Now place these End Links in to position between your Rear Swaybar and your Rear LCA.


Place your M10x50mm Stainless Bolts in to position in your End Links, then place your Stainless M10 Nuts on to the ends of your M10x50mm Stainless Bolts and tighten them all down to 40Nm.





.
That's your Rear Swaybars now fully fitted and secured.
Swaybars and Spring Rates. (Basic suspension tuning overview.)
So now, as promised, here's a very brief run down on the different Swaybars and their relationship with different spring rates for the front and rear suspension.

Suspension tuning is a bit of a black art, so this is just a very rough guide as to what the different components will all do.
I'll look to maybe doing a more in-depth dedicated Suspension Tuning guide at a later date.

Swaybars:
So, as you may have noticed there are different thicknesses of Swaybar.
Essentially, the thicker it is, the stiffer it is.
Now, the purpose of these Swaybars is to help control the 'roll' of the body as the car enters corners.
Obviously, the faster it's going, or the tighter it turns, the more weight is going to be transferred on to the wheels on the outer side of the turn. Just as you get thrown to one side if you're in a car that enters a turn at speed, so the weight of the car does the same.

Now the purpose of these Swaybars is to help limit the amount of 'body roll' that the car experiences as all of this weight is thrown to one side.
Without these Swaybars all of that weight would need to be controlled by the springs on the shocks alone, but I'll get to that in a moment.

Now, this is where it all gets a little complicated.
Stiffer Swaybars mean you can go faster in to turns and have more grip, right?
Well, yes and no.
You see, you can go too stiff.
Essentially what will then happen is that it will place more weight on to the tyres, causing them to have to work harder than they ideally want to. This will lead to overheating, excessive wear, and ultimately a lack of traction and grip. This will only get worse as time goes on due to the tyres getting more and more worn, to the point where they can barely cope and will be sliding around at every opportunity.
That's the last thing you want - especially in a race scenario.

On the flip side, go too soft on your Swaybars and you're now asking the Suspension to do all of the work. This will essentially lead to needing stiffer springs to cope with the body roll instead of the Swaybars doing it. Again, this will lead to a compromise in traction and grip due to the suspension now not being able to do it's job efficiently and effectively.

So what you Ideally want to do is find a Swaybar that offers enough support, but not too little and not too much.

Easy, right? :D

OK, so we have an idea on what to do regarding Swaybars. But how about springs?

Springs:
Now, just as with Swaybars, you can also go too hard or too soft on your springs.
Basically, the job of the springs is to 'suspend' the car - to hold the weight up and stop it all crashing to the ground.
Although springs are often fitted to the Shocks as as one combined unit, the two do very different things and have very different jobs.
As mentioned, the springs 'suspend' the car, whereas the shocks control (and dampen) the movement of the springs - and in turn, entire the car.

Confused yet?
It gets better!

Springs, without the dampening effect of the shocks, would just keep going up and down like a pogo stick until the energy in them eventually dies down. Of course, that's assuming nothing else happens in the meantime to set the 'bounce' back in to motion again!

Stiffer springs also offer a much harsher ride than softer ones, but on the flip side softer ones don't offer as much support, so the shocks could 'bottom out' over big bumps or large and/or aggressive shifts in weight transfer. - ie. heavy braking, acceleration, or sudden and hard cornering.
There's also the fact that softer springs allow for more body roll. This can help on bumpy surfaces, but can also lead to a 'sloppy' feeling car when trying to turn in to corners, offering little in the way of quick, precise, and confidence inspiring handling when attacking corners at high speeds.

You can also get various amounts of damping adjustment in more expensive shock absorbers too, but that's going beyond the scope of what we're looking to cover here. That'll be for the in-depth guide that may come at a later date.

So, what we now need to do is find the best spring rate to go hand-in-hand with our Swaybars.

Just to complicate things even further....
As the car in this game is a Front Engine setup, meaning the heavy engine is right at the front, this adds yet another dimension to how we need to set up our car.
Bearing in mind that every time we need to brake heavily, the entire weight of the car tends to get thrown forward, and that in turn tries to bury the nose of the car in to the ground, That means we need stiffer springs up front to cope with that.
However, it also has all of the weight of the engine trying to do the same. So this now means we need the front springs to be even stiffer yet.

Now this is where suspension tuning very quickly becomes a black art.
You have to get the balance of everything just right, otherwise traction and grip are compromised and you can easily lose several seconds a lap in a race situation in the blink of an eye!
Once again, it's not just the suspension and handling of the car that suffers, it has a knock-on effect on the tyres and their life expectancy and efficiency too.
You can very quickly start to make things undriveable if you have multi-adjustable suspension, to the point where you can essentially make it dangerous!

That's why you never really see fully adjustable suspension on every day road going cars, and if it does have adjustable suspension it's often 'dumbed down' to make it nigh on impossible to get things in to a dangerous state.
It's also why, if you're planning to mess with the suspension on your own vehicles, you should ALWAYS seek professional advice and guidance. - It could be the difference between life and death!

So, we now know that braking causes the nose to pitch as the weight is thrown forward, but what about acceleration?
Well, with the engine at the front, and usually far less weight being thrown on to the rear axles under acceleration, you can get away with softer spring on the rear.

So on to corners. Well, as we now know, if we didn't have swaybars we'd need stiffer springs, but we also know what that can cause.
So we need to get a swaybar that balances things out between those and the springs. They need to complement each other without one being too over or under powered.

So that's pretty much it really, in a very brief nutshell.
It's all a big balancing act to get it right.

First step is to get the spring rate kinda right then tweak the swaybar stiffness from there to help the suspension out.


I know this isn't really the best description, but it's a very complex subject to try and tackle, and I'm getting quite short on characters left available to write with, so I'll have to look at wrapping it up here.

But hopefully that gives just a tiny insight in to what the different swaybars and spring rates all do, and helps you make a decision on what to put on your car in-game.

Basically, the heavier your car, the stiffer it's all going to need to be. The lighter it is, the softer you want to try and go. But you also don't want to go too far in either direction.
Check the 'Test Car' function in your Tablet and look at the Skid Pan values. The higher you can get it the better you're likely to be.

Unfortunately, the game is kinda lacking in the race sim department right now, and although you can get the highest skid pan value possible, it doesn't always equate to the best set up for individual tracks. This is because each track has different characteristics, but at the moment we have no idea what they are as there's no track guide of any kind to help us know how to set up our cars before we go and race.
I've voiced my opinion this a few times now but so far nothing has changed. There are plans for changes in the future as far as I'm aware, but how long this will take to implement is anyone's guess right now.
All we can do is hope and wait.

Steering components.
Now we're going to look at all of our steering components.
In slight contrast to the other sections in this guide we'll do both sides of the car together, starting with the left and then jumping over to the right for each stage of the assembly process.

Start off by purchasing the following:
2x Outer Tie Rod End.
1x Steering Rack.
1x Steering Column.
2x Steering Rack Bracket.
1x Steering Wheel.
1x M8x15mm Bolt.
4x M10x35mm Bolt.
2x M12 Castle Nut.
4x M10x30mm Bolt.

Start off by placing your Steering Rack into position on your Front Subframe.



Next up, place your Steering Rack Brackets in to position over your Steering Rack. For the sake of realism and ease we'll do both sides of the car at the same time here.





Place your M10x30mm Bolts in to position in your Steering Rack Brackets, both left and right sides of the car, and then torque them down to 50Nm.





Take your Steering Column and place it into position in front of the driver's seat.
Take your four M10x35mm Bolts, and place two just behind where the Steering Wheel will mount and just behind the ignition switch, and the remaining two down against the cockpit side of the bulkhead. Now torque all four of them down to 50Nm.






Now you can place your Steering Wheel in to position on the end of your Steering Column. No bolts for this. It just magically snaps in to place and stays there! Magnetic Steering Column, you see. ... Oh, duct tape was it? That was my next guess followed closely by Velcro and then chewing gum! ;D

Next up, head back underneath the car to where the Steering Column joins the Steering Rack, place your M8x15mm Bolt in to the knuckle joint, and torque it down to 20Nm.



Now take your Outer Tie Rod Ends and place them in to position on the left ad right ends of your Steering Rack, and your Left and Right Front Uprights respectively.



Place your M12 Castle Nuts in to position over the threads on your outer Tie Rod Ends, and torque them down to 35Nm.




Hubs and Brakes. - Front and Rear.
Now we're going to assemble our hubs and then assemble and fit all of our front brake components.

Go ahead and purchase the following:
1x Front Brake Dust Shield. (Left).
1x Front Brake Dust Shield. (Right).
6x M8x15mm Bolt.
2x Front Axle Nut.
2x Front Hub Dust Cap.
2x Front Hub.
8x Wheel Stud.

First up, take your Front Brake Dust Shield (Left) and place it into position against your Front Upright. (Left).
Take three of your M8x15mm Bolts and place then into position within your Front Brake Dust Shield and torque them down to 20Nm.
Take your Front Hub and place four of your Wheel Studs into position from the rear of the hub.
Slide your Front Hub / Wheel Stud assembly onto the end of your front axle.
Place your Front Axle Nut into position on the end of the axle and torque it down to 200Nm.
Now place your Front Hub Dust Cap into position over the Front Axle Nut.
Now follow the sequence above to install the remaining parts onto the other side of the car.








Now purchase the following:
1x Front Caliper. (Left).
1x Front Caliper Bracket. (Left).
1x Front Caliper. (Right).
1x Front Caliper Bracket. (Right).
2x Front Caliper Slide Pin. (Large).
2x Front Caliper Slide Pin. (Small).
4x Front Brake Pad.
4x Front Brake Pad Shim.
4x Front Brake Hardware Type 1.
4x Front Brake Hardware Type 2.
4x M10x35mm Bolt.
2x Front Brake Rotor.


Pre-Assembly: (Both left and right together).
Take your Front Brake Hardware Type 1, and two of your Front Brake Hardware Type 2 and place them into position within your Front Caliper Brackets, both (Left) and (Right), as shown in the screenshots below. (there will be one of each type of hardware on each side of your Caliper Brackets.).






Next up, place your Front Brake Pad Shims onto the rear of your Front Brake Pads.
Now place your Front Brake Pads complete with Shims, into position within your Caliper Brackets.
Take your Front Calipers, both Left and Right, and place them into position on their respective Caliper Brackets.
Now take your Slide Pins (Small), and Slide Pins (Large) and place one of each into position in each of your Front Calipers, and then torque them all down to 55Nm.



Assembly to Cassis:
Place your Front Brake Rotor into position on your Front Hub.
Place your Front Brake Caliper assembly into position over your Front Brake Rotor.
Take two of your M10x35mm Bolts and place them into position within your Caliper Bracket and torque them down to 50Nm.
Now follow the sequence above to install the remaining parts onto the other side of the car.



Now we turn our attention to the rear of the car.
Go ahead and purchase the following:
2x Rear Hub.
8x Wheel Stud.
2x Front Axle Nut.

Place your Wheel Studs into position within your Rear Hub.
Place your Rear Hub onto the end of your Axle.
Now place your Front Axle Nut into position on the end of your Axle, and torque it down to 200Nm.
Now follow the sequence above to install the remaining parts onto the other side of the car.








Now purchase the following:
1x Rear Caliper. (Driver Side).
1x Rear Caliper Bracket. (Driver Side).
1x Rear Caliper. (Passenger Side).
1x Rear Caliper Bracket. (Passenger Side).
2x Rear Caliper Slide Pin.
4x Rear Brake Pad.
4x Rear Brake Pad Shim.
4x Rear Brake Hardware.
4x M10x35mm Bolt.
2x Rear Brake Rotor.

Pre-Assembly: (Both left and right together).
Take your Rear Brake Hardware pieces and place them into position, two pieces in each, within your Rear Caliper Brackets. Do this for both (Driver Side) and (Passenger Side), as shown in the screenshot below.






Next up, place your Rear Brake Pad Shims onto the rear of your Rear Brake Pads.
Now place your Rear Brake Pads complete with Shims, into position within your Caliper Brackets.
Take your Rear Calipers, both Driver Side and Passenger Side, and place them into position on their respective Caliper Brackets.
Now take your Slide Pins and place one of each into position in each of your Rear Calipers, and then torque them all down to 30Nm.



Assembly to Cassis:
Place your Rear Brake Rotor into position on your Rear Hub.
Place your Rear Brake Caliper assembly into position over your Rear Brake Rotor.
Take two of your M10x35mm Bolts and place them into position within your Caliper Bracket, and torque them down to 50Nm.
Now follow the sequence above to install the remaining parts onto the other side of the car.



.
Bleeding the brakes. - Front and Rear.
With our braking system now fully assembled it's time expel all of the air from the system to maximise efficiency and to eliminate the possibility of a 'spongy' feeling brake pedal.
('Spongy' = A soft, slow travelling motion of the brake pedal as it is depressed, caused by the brake fluid 'compressing' any air bubbles that may be trapped in the system, As the air bubbles slowly compress, so the brake pedal slowly moves as it is depressed to compensate for the loss of pressure in the system).

To make the task of bleeding the brakes even easier than trying follow this guide whilst in-game, there is a section you can read and / or follow within the tablet. To find it, click on the 'Manual' tab from the home screen. Look up 'Bauer Catfish' - 'Brakes' - 'Brake Fluid Bleeding And Flushing'.

I won't go in to massive amounts of detail here as it will be easier and more effective for you to refer to the tablet as you go along whilst actually doing it in the game. but I can put a few basic guidelines down with a couple of extra screenshots for those of you who may be reading this guide and not able to play the game at the time.

So, with all that out of the way, lets get cracking!
First up, if you haven't already got one you're going to need to purchase an 8mm Flare Nut Wrench from the catalog to enable you to crack the bleed nipples open with, and then close them again when you're done bleeding the caliper.

Go ahead and purchase the follwing:
1x Flare Nut Wrench (8mm). ....(only of you don't already have one!)
1x bottle of Brake Fluid. (Castrol React SRF Racing. 1L.) ....(You may end up needing more.)
1x Brake Fluid Recovery Bottle. (You may find it easier to buy x4 of these. Your call really.)

Now let's head over to our engine bay.

Remove the Brake Master Cylinder Cap from the Master Cylinder.
(As I said at the start of this guide, I'm going to be using all brand new parts so I'm going to trash this cap and replace it with a new one. I'll leave it up to you whether you do the same or choose to reuse your old one. Bear in mind though that I believe the cap itself isn't susceptible to wear, just as the Master Cylinder itself isn't.).



Take your Brake Fluid bottle and place it somewhere accessible.
Then take the blue cap that is attached to the tube coming from the bottle and place it into position on top of your Master Cylinder,where the cap was that you just removed.
Pressurise the bottle to around 10PSI using the black handle on top of the bottle.





Take your Fluid Recovery Bottle, and starting from the Rear Drivers Side Caliper, attach the tube to the Bleed Screw.
Take your 8mm Flare Nut Wench and place it on to your bleed screw, then rotate it counter-clockwise 1/4 of a turn to open it.

Watch the tube as the fluid starts to flow. You will see it slowly get lighter in colour and also the 'clear' patches which represent the air bubbles in the system will also slowly start to subside. When there is a constant flow of fluid that doesn't change in colour or have any more clear patches (air bubbles) appearing in it, wait for around 15-20 seconds, and if there is still no sighs of any air coming from the caliper, then go ahead and close your bleed screw by turning it clockwise 1/4 of a turn so as it is back in it's original position.





Note: In Real Life you definitely don't want to be using torque wrenches on these little bleed screws. They are fairly fragile little things which are sometimes even only made of brass. The thread that these use is usually a very fine pitch and depth thread too, so that makes them incredibly easy to damage. Even more so if they're only made of a soft material like brass.
When tightening these bleed screws down they really only need to be seated and then gently 'nipped' tight. Any more and they could potentially snap, causing all sorts of issues.
If they're over-tightened, removal fails due to over-tightening and/or corrosion and damage occurs to either the bleed screw or the caliper through trying, then it could mean a rather expensive complete caliper replacement.
So don't go too silly on these little fittings. They really don't like it at all.


Once you're satisfied that all of the old (dark) fluid, and any air bubbles have been expelled from the system, and that your bleed screw is fully tightened, go ahead and remove the tube from the Recovery Bottle that is attached to your bleed screw.
That's one Caliper fully bled and ready to go.
Now repeat the process above for the remaining three calipers, starting with the Rear Passenger side, then the Front Passenger side, and finally the Drivers Side Front caliper.

Once all four Calipers have been successfully bled, return to your Master Brake Cylinder and remove the blue cap from the Fluid reservoir (the cap that is attached to your Brake Fluid Bottle).

Now go ahead and replace your Brake Master Cylinder Cap.

That's your brakes all done!

Seats, Wheels and Bodywork.
Section currently being re-written.

Purchase the following:
2x Tillet Seat B6F Carbon.
8x M10x35mm Bolt.

Place your two Tillet Seat B6F Carbon in to position within your chassis, and then from the underside of the car, place your M10x35mm Bolts in to position (four per seat) and tighten them down to 45Nm.


Purchase the Following:
4x 15x8 +35 Ten Spoke Wheel.
4x 225 width street tire.
16x Lug Nut.

If you don't already have one you'll also need to buy a Tire Changer, (and optionally 6x M12x100mm Bolt: (tyre changeR) to hold the tyre changer in place within your workshop to stop it moving about.)

Mount your Tires to your Wheels.
Place your Wheel/Tire assemblies on to your hubs.
Take your Lug Nuts, and place them on to your Wheel Studs, and then tighten to 110Nm, using an 'X - Shaped' pattern.
This 'X - Shaped' pattern helps to ensure the wheels are tightened squarely on to the hubs to prevent them coming loose and potentially coming off altogether during use if they're not seated correctly.
(See the 'True Story - Food For Thought' section at the end of this guide for the consequences of not tightening wheels correctly.)



Now purchase the following:
1x Catfish Hood.
1x Catfish Front Bumper.
1x Catfish Driver Side Body.
1x Catfish Passenger Side Body.
1x Catfish Front Bumper.
1x Catfish Front Splitter.
1x Catfish Driver Side Undertray.
1x Catfish Passenger Side Undertray.
1x Catfish Rear Bumper.
1x Catfish Rear Lid.
1x Catfish rear Diffuser. (This item is optional. It can be used in Limited Class races.)

Place your Catfish Front Splitter, Catfish Driver Side Undertray, and your Catfish Passenger Side Undertray in to position on the underside of your Chassis, and secure with the clips that are a part of each item.
Place your Catfish rear Diffuser in to position on the rear underside of your Chassis. (This just snaps in to position and has no clips or fittings holding it in place.)

Place your Catfish Driver Side Body and your Catfish Passenger Side Body in to position on their respective sides, and secure with the clips that are a part of each item.

Place your Catfish Front Bumper and your Catfish Hood in to position and secure with the clips that are a part of each item.

Place your Catfish Rear Bumper and your Catfish Rear Lid in to position and secure with the clips that are a part of each item.


Congratulations!
That's it. That's your Chassis complete.
You're good to go!


True Story - Food For Thought.
I've actually seen this happen in real life - A wheel came completely off of a Mercedes as he came past me in the middle lane (of three) at about 60MPH on the M25 motorway, just south of London.

I saw the front wheel 'wobbling' as he came past and thought "what the..........???"
A second, maybe two later I thought "those wheel nuts must be loose!"
The wheel was wobbling but as far as I could tell the nuts / studs weren't which indicated that the hub was fine but the wheel wasn't secured.
Unfortunately, by the time realisation had set in it was too late.

How the hell he (or his passenger) never noticed it though is totally beyond me. It was a huge wide wheel on a sporty convertible. It must have been juddering, vibrating and pulling like no one's business, especially as it was on the front where the amount of juddering and pulling on the steering wheel must have been insane!!
Sadly, people that clueless share the roads with us on a daily basis. It's kinda frightening in all honesty.

Anyway... no more than a couple of seconds later it happened.... the wheel came clean off and started veering to the side of the road right in front of the car in front of me which, luckily, they managed to avoid with some sharp reflexes, commendable steering control, and a very swift dab of the brake pedal.
I was already on the brakes by this time as I knew as soon as I saw the wheel break lose of the car that things in front of me were about to get lively! Eyes flicking back and forth between events ahead of me and the view in my mirrors to keep tabs on what was unfolding behind me and make sure I wasn't about to get punted by the car behind.
Luckily I had plenty of distance between me and the car in front so I didn't need to brake insanely hard, and also the car behind me was sensible enough to keep a reasonable distance too so no one had any ABS testing to do, (besides, maybe the car trying to avoid the wheel veering across its path) which made it safer for everyone else further back along the line... which was nice!

The wheel then went up the bank at the side of the road and then started to veer back towards the carriageway again, only now it was bouncing about 12" in to the air as it did so, and still travelling at around 60MPH!

I hit the hazard warning lights, managed to gently slow the traffic down behind me and then speed up again to get alongside the stray wheel in the van I was driving and block it from veering back on to the carriageway and potentially across all three lanes.
It was running at an acute angle to the carriageway so I tried to match it in speed but also close on it at my own acute angle hoping to be able to get it to gently touch the side of the van and kinda 'lean' on it and use the friction of the tyre against the body of the van to slow it down without it bouncing off and creating more problems.
The wheel was now in the blind spot below my mirror's view so it was all guess work from here on in. I heard the gentle bang as the wheel made contact with the van, but it was a nice dull bang and not a harsh one so hopefully my plan had worked.
I had managed to slow to, maybe, 15MPH but the traffic behind me had started to speed up again and was now closing pretty fast so I decided to gently turn away from the wheel and fully on to the carriageway again while accelerating hard to give the closing traffic room to breathe again whilst not upsetting the path of the wheel, trying to strike a balance and limit the threat from both.

The wheel then came back into view again in the mirror. It had practically stopped and was now a fair distance on to the hard shoulder and away from the traffic. The plan seemed to have worked!
I carried on accelerating, doing my best to limit the danger to all of the traffic behind me and avoid any sort of back log which was likely to be a danger in itself further back down the road.

Unfortunately the wheel hit something at the side of the road after I'd gone past and started to slowly creep back towards the road again. I saw it in the mirrors while feeling totally helpless as there was nothing more that I could do at that precise moment in time.
Luckily I had knocked most of the energy and speed out of its travel so it had stopped bouncing and had slowed down to a crawl so it was much less of a threat than when it was bouncing along the carriageway at 60MPH.
All of the traffic now closing on the stray wheel now had plenty of time to spot it as, although I had accelerated to allow the cars immediately behind me to get some breathing space, the knock on effect of all of us slowing had lowered the overall speed of the traffic further down the line considerably, including the middle lane too, although that lane soon started to build speed again shortly afterwards.

So that was that. That was the last I saw of the wheel... the image of it rolling at a crawl along the hard shoulder, and getting smaller and smaller in the mirror as I continued to accelerate hard to assist the traffic closing behind me.

The scary thing is, if I hadn't have managed to slow the traffic and also the wheel and it had carried on across the carriageway at 60MPH, bounced over the central reservation and into the path of the oncoming traffic...... it doesn't even bear thinking about!
That was my initial fear when I first saw it bouncing, and what prompted the split second decision to take the risk I did. I had to try!

That's a 70Mph speed limit on that stretch of road.
If that wheel had been travelling at 60MPH and went through the windscreen of a car coming in the opposite direction at 70MPH, that's effectively a wheel hitting you in the face at 130MPH! (not to mention a face-full of shattered glass!).
That's three lanes of traffic on each side of the road there, all probably doing somewhere between 60 -90 MPH ('cos plenty of people go over the speed limit there). Someone copping a wheel to the face at 130MPH and spinning out of control across three lanes of heavy weekday traffic on one of the country's busiest roads....... yeah, that's got 'fatality' written all over it!

Luckily, the driver and passenger of the Mercedes managed to get over on to the hard shoulder at the side of the road safely, everybody (as far as I'm aware) managed to miss the stray wheel, and no one was hurt. I even checked every news source and travel / traffic service I could find that night to see if there were any reports of the incident. Luckily, there was nothing.

It was literally only 20, maybe 30 seconds for all of that lot to unfold, from the moment I first spotted the wheel wobbling while it was still attached to the Merc, to the time when it was all over and everyone started to carry on as normal. It was only then, and once I passed the Merc which was now safely on the hard shoulder, maybe almost 1/4 of a mile up the road, that I realised just how fast my heart was beating and the adrenaline was pumping, that I'd actually been holding my breath for the entire time, and that I was now also actually slightly perspiring.

It was fast, it was frantic, but some quick thinking by me and the driver in front of me managed to potentially save a lot of people from harm that day... all because of some brain dead dipsh** not having the intelligence to pull over and check their car when something clearly must have felt very wrong!

We all got lucky that day... Very lucky indeed!!!

BUT, it could have, oh so very easily, been a completely different story and someone, somewhere, could have had an empty place at the dinner table that night where a loved one used to sit.

So, all joking aside....... correct tightening of wheel nuts.... seriously.... make sure you do it!!!!!!

Conclusion.
I hope you found this guide useful.

If you notice something I've missed or anything that's incorrect, then by all means drop a comment below and I'll look into it.
Similarly, if you think there's anything that could be done to improve this guide (excluding translating it in to different languages) then, again, drop a comment below and I'll see what I can do.

As I've already stated, I have also created a guide which covers the entire engine building process which, coupled with this guide will enable you to build an entire car from scratch. Feel free to check it out here:
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1631544923

If you liked this guide and found it of use, go ahead and hit that 'like' button...and why not hit the 'favourite' button while you're at it!
Your support will be greatly appreciated.



Now, off you go.
You have a freshly built chassis and a race to win!
Go get 'em!
\o/

12 Comments
How would one clean the chassis? Or is it constantly dirty?
badfluffy 9 May, 2022 @ 3:29pm 
It's honestly the most advanced Early Access game I have played and it's miles better than other car mechanic sims that are finished products. I'm sure they'll get there. In the meantime your guides are very much appreciated and I am learning. What's not to like?
EssBee  [author] 8 May, 2022 @ 7:09pm 
Glad it helped!
Yep, the in-game manuals are still a work in progress unfortunately.
I have told the devs they need to step up their game though so as people don't have to rely on my guides to bail them out. :D
They'll get there eventually.
badfluffy 8 May, 2022 @ 6:22pm 
That was amazingly useful, thanks! I had been failing again and again on some jobs because I was learning by using the manual but it skips a lot of vital information and parts. Now I can see where the errors lie!
GingerBreadMan 2 Feb, 2022 @ 9:00pm 
Ive actually had a wheel stud break one time on my old Hyundai Accent and wondered why I had vibration in my car I stopped and looked and seen I had only 2 lug nuts on both front wheels which caused one of the studs to break. A nice $300 bill (I had brake work done on the car too)
EssBee  [author] 12 Feb, 2021 @ 5:24am 
Unfortunately, bare chassis' aren't available in game yet. You'll have to go to the 'classifieds' and buy a car from there and strip it first.
Bare chassis' that you can buy separately have been mentioned as a possible future feature though, so that'll be cool if it happens.
JuliettKiloFoxtrot 11 Feb, 2021 @ 8:45am 
For building a car from scratch, how are people getting a bare chassis? Does it become available to buy at later tiers, or do I need to buy a junker car and strip it down? If the former, at what tier does the chassis become available?
traublemaeker 1 Sep, 2020 @ 7:22pm 
I've had lug nuts work loose on a Ford ZX2 after I switched from OEM aluminum wheels to a set of steel cop wheels to mount wider tires for racing. I didn't think to also change the lug nuts, so there wasn't enough mating surface on the steel, allowing the lugs to break loose. (Fortunately, I noticed a jolt on a low-speed corner and stopped to investigate!) It also happens sometimes on aluminum wheels if the metal had a chance to relax- the wheel's mating surfaces can compress slightly after they're first torqued down, allowing the lug nuts to work back loose over the course of several drives.

It's a good idea to re-torque about 25 miles after a wheel is installed on a car just to make sure everything's properly tight, and some shops will make their warranty contingent on this because the phenomena sometimes happens even when everything was to spec when the car left their shop.
SkyeFox 24 Jul, 2020 @ 9:26pm 
Its okie! I have a weird game because like, 90% of the features that everyone talks about just aren't there for me. And yeah, it was fairly pricey, but they told me not to deal with insurance that they would cover it all.
EssBee  [author] 24 Jul, 2020 @ 10:56am 
Ouch! I bet someone at that shop got a real ticking off over that little oversight! Pretty damn scary for you too, I bet. Note to self - if something doesn't feel right, stop and investigate. :D It's good that the shop paid for it all though. It wasn't exactly a small bill was it. Anyway, thanks for the feedback, and glad you found the guide useful. I'm just starting to look at updating it again, so apologies if any of the outdated stuff tripped you up.