Corner Balancing a Twisted Tub ..., Adventures in Weight-Distribution Land ... Options

[SirAndy]

so, McMark and i spent all day today trying to corner balance my tweaked and twisted tub.

i started out with all 4 corners the same ride-height. but the car felt awful. twitchy like hell and the left front always wanted to slide on me.

so, we got a bunch of scales and went to investigate.

almost 3/4 tank of gas and my fat ass in the drivers seat ...

the end result is still not perfect, but *much* better than before.
interestingly enough, now that the corners are balanced, the tub looks all crooked. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif)

i guess it makes sense, it's either:
- twisted tub, same ride height on all 4 corners, corner weights waaaay off
or
- twisted tub, corners balanced, tub looks bend.


we'll see how it holds up at the AX this AM, but it felt *much* better on the ride home from napa ...

thank you Mr. McMark!
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif)


here's a printout from the high-tech software we used to track the data ...

[McMark]

Would you mind showing us how you used scales...without the special racing scales....

Ghetto corner balance. It actually worked pretty well. Scales went up to 360+ lbs even though they were only rated for 300 lbs. $6 per scale on sale. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

did you alter the corner balancing after the alignment? where did you make the biggest move? the adj perches, up front, or a combo?

The car was aligned when we started, now it's a little out of alignment. That the price you pay for night-before adjustments. The image Andy posted shows how obviously tweaked the chassis was. The left rear was above 600 lbs constantly, the front right was below 500 lbs most of the time and the front left/right rear were pretty stable and balanced at around 550 lbs. The left rear suspension pickup is probably tweaked downwards and the front right suspension is visibly tweaked upwards. So we made a lot of progress, considering the chassis.

Next step for Andy's car is the Celette Bench! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[Dave-O]

Ghetto corner balance. It actually worked pretty well. Scales went up to 360+ lbs even though they were only rated for 300 lbs. $6 per scale on sale. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

That looks like a good idea for a corner blance on the cheap. How do you take into account for the motion of the suspension while the car is being lowered onto the scales? Does that bar slide easily on the scales?

[SirAndy]

How do you take into account for the motion of the suspension while the car is being lowered onto the scales? Does that bar slide easily on the scales?

easy is not the word i would use but yes, we made sure everything was perfectly centered once the car sat on the scales.
we centered the bar on the scales, then centered the scales & bar under the tire, then moved the scales out/in along the bar until they both read the same.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) Andy