corner balance qestions

[Jeff Alton]

I have got a question for you corner balance gurus out there. I Have my ride height set exactly where I want it (25 front/24.5 rear) and had an alignment done yesterday. Specs for camber and castor in the front and rear were dead on. Car drifts to the left. I guess I need a corner balance -- shop checked calipers for dragging, tried swapping tires all to no avail. Oh ya my questions..
Is there too much weight on the left front?
If so, can it be changed with out screwing up my ride height?
How?
Yes it will be going on the scales, but I would like to be armed with all the info before I get there incase I hear something I do not like!

thanks, Jeff

[RoninLB]

was the height adjusted with your weight in the seat ?
if not maybe your additional weight is loading the left front wheel

[Jeff Alton]

Good point, I was not in the car, I was under it. I will find a stunt double to help.

Thanks, Jeff

[Chuck Moreland]

To answer your question, yes CB can be adjusted without changing ride height. It requires changing two or more adjusters in unison to make it happen.

Here is a primer:
http://www.elephantracing.com/techtopic/cornerbalance.htm

But I really doubt CB is causing your pulling.

Did your car pull before the alignment?
Has your car ever been in an accident?

[CHILI]

Yes, it could be. Measure the Torsion bar center to the center of the wheel, not the fender height. (a search will give you the correct procedure). After mine was corner ballanced, the fender height on the front two fenders is about 1/4 to 1/2 inch difference. Welcome to hand made cars that have been around the block many, many times.

Tracks very straight and brakes strait. Had to roll one fender lip, but not the other.

[Jeff Alton]

Chuck, the car has never even been in a minor collision. I put new front rear torsion bars it the car and it tracked straight. Then i tweaked the ride height a little bit and whammo, she drifts left. Took it in for the alignment and still drifts to the left although not as bad. I will check the heights using the torion bar centerling vs. wheel centerline method and see if that makes a difference.

Jeff

[RoninLB]

Originally posted by catca
I will check the heights using the torion bar centerling vs. wheel centerline method and see if that makes a difference.

and load your body weight in the seat.. gym weights are great..

you could post the difference with driver's weight vs no driver's weight for some entertainment
and do 3/4 tank of fuel
good luck.......Ron

[Jeff Alton]

I will look at it tomorrow morning and post some results! Car is being corner balancd on monday, so I will see if we can get readings with me in the car vs. not in the car.

Cheers, Jeff

[Joe Bob]

What is the condition of the brake pads? I was running Pagid oranges and they looked to be 60-70 worn but with good pad left....it pulled when braking. Replaced the pads and no more pull.

You can never have enough extra pads. Try it and if it still does it...you have spares....

[Jeff Alton]

Mike, thanks for the tip and I will do that, But.... it drifts all the time not just under braking. That said I will try your idea and let others know.

Thanks, Jeff

by the way, can you get Navy blue or dark grey carrera stripes for a repeat customer like me??

[Joe Bob]

I have baby blue.....black, white and a really neat chrome.......and red.

That weasel that does my scripts is still missing in action or in jail.

[Jeff Alton]

Hmmmmm, let me know when he "returns his state funded holiday"

Jeff

[Oldporsche]

As I remember you should use about 70-75% of your weight as dead weight in the drivers seat. Thus if you weigh 150 lbs you should have around 85-90lbs in the seat when you allign it or corner balance it.

I think you will find that this makes a difference.

Good luck,
David Duffield

[dean]

I am betting it is your corners being off that is causing the pulling. To change the corners and keep the same height you have to, for example lower LR and RF and raise RR and LF the same amount. That will keep the height the same but change the corner weight. And the drivers weight will change the left heights by about 1/4"

[Eric Coffey]

Yeah, the pulling could be caused by your corner weights being way off. If they are that bad, you will usually notice a handling difference (or weight transfer) in the way the car corners one way, versus the other.

You can have a lot of weight jacked onto one corner of the car, and still have similar fender heights on each side. On that same note, a perfect CB might result in slightly varying fender heights.

I'd get the CB done, as mentioned (ballast equaling your weight in the driver's seat + 1/2 to 3/4 tank of fuel) and see what happens. It would probably be wise to get a new alignment after the CB too. (set RH, then CB, then alignment). Be sure to get the print-outs of both the CB and the alignment for reference.

[David]

I've heard you should disconnect the front sway bar before corner balancing. Can anyone confirm or dispute this?

[911pcars]

Disconnect one end link of the sway bar, front and rear. Connected, they act like a spring to preload the chassis if the ride height is not perfectly even. If your bars have adjustable drop links, you can shorten/lengthen then to compensate for slight ride height differences, but only after corner balancing.

Oh yes, realign the suspension after CB adjustments.

Sherwood
http://members.rennlist.org/911pcars

[dean]

I heard that also but on my car it didn't make a difference if the sway bars were connected or not

[911pcars]

".....it didn't make a difference if the sway bars were connected or not."

If one end of the car is not perfectly even and your sway bars have fixed-length drop links, then the sway bar is introducing preload in the suspension. You may not feel it, but there's a difference.

BTW, what didn't make a difference, the handling or the corner balance?

Sherwood

[dean]

Originally posted by 911pcars
[b.

BTW, what didn't make a difference, the handling or the corner balance?

Sherwood

The weghts didn't change