Simple Corner weighting

[webrest]

Hi all,
Any body out there know how to corner weight our cars without the use of a couple of thousand dollars worth of corner weight scales?
I have my own two post hoist if that is any helponthe process.
Thanks Dave

[HarryD]

Others here have been able to get close without scales. Do a search for "the tripod method".

[gestalt1]

the 2 best ways is to 1. pay a shop that has scales to do and alignment. or 2. buy the $2k scales, adjust the suspension and then sell the scales. they do hold there value. trying to get cheap bathroom scales to be workable is a waste of time.

[Todd Simpson]

This is the way to go, about $150 new and accurate.

Chuck from Elephant has positive things to say about it, and my experience mirrored his-we used this tool and then double checked it on scales and it was spot on.

Home alignment is another topic, but again with less than $100 in tools you can do it yourself, over and over.

Over the years with my track car I've had the suspension substantially apart for upgrades or repair about once a year. I can't afford to keep taking it to the shop.

FS: Speedway load checker (corner balance tool)

[webrest]

Like the sound of the Speedway Checker. I have seen them before but to my knowledge they are not readily available in Australia where I live at least not at the price the posts suggest..
They seems like a sound idea. I like to fiddle, not practical to keep on having the corner weights done every time I move the suspension around.
I could organise it more easily when fiddling in my open wheeler days but the weight of a road car moves it into a different dimension, requiring a different technique.
So, as it happens I am writing this email in Savannah GA. whilst on vacation in the US.
It might be an opportune time to pick one up while I'm here.
I am heading to Miami and back through New Orleans and onto Dallas before flying out to Australia.

Any ideas where I may be able to pick one up on the way through?
Thanks Dave

[afterburn 549]

This has been my experience , yours may be different,
MOST people do not know jac#$ sh$% about corner balance even those who have been in the supposed Porsche circle for some time,,,they throw in the towel /repeat to you what they have herd , tell ya to take it to so and so................B.S !!
I have done it a couple diff ways cheaply and verified latter with ex results
Cheapest way, bathroom scales ( depends on your cars wt)
try 4 under ea rear wheel and 3 under front wheel. 14 total
You span them with 2x6 or the like so as to distribute the wts and add them together per tire.
Of course there is some deflection in the 2x6 so the scales will all read less to the out side..no mater, the weight is what you want per wheel- just add the wts up the 4 scales at the rear per tire and the front per tire
Not as pretty as digital scales...math is math no matter... Now change your ride/ spring Ht to get wgat you want.
So simple .
Here the scales are about 12 bucks ea ( walmart )
Last year I bought race car mechanical scales,,....after paying for calibration and so on I was spot on compared to my caveman style...
So when some one tells ya you cant just means you some one will

[SteveinTO]

I made a set 35 years ago with four very mechanical scales obtained from a meat packing house for pretty cheap. Digital stuff wasn't invented yet. Had them calibrated and certified by some guy from the City on a regular basis. It was pretty accurate on single seat race cars, but you could still scratch your nose and make all four start clattering. Generally had things dialed down to 6-8 lbs at the front, maybe a max of 20 lbs at the rear.

How do you corner balance a 911 with any accuracy? If you get it dialed with just you & a half tank of gas, what happens when you pick up a sack of fertilizer at Home Depot w/ the wifey and then make a panic stop of the Harbor Freeway?

Trick question. You must put the fertilizer on your lap to cancel out the wife. Hope she is a petite little thing!

[Formerly Steve Wilkinson]

I can't get the thread that Todd Simpson posted to open--my problem, not his--but I think it's the same device I use, since the next post references the "Speedway Checker."

This is what thousands of serious racers use--not fancy-pants road racers, but guys in sprint cars and battered modifieds racing at thousands of tracks every Saturday night in the U. S., having to check and vary their corner weights between heats in order to make $1,500 with a win. If you're in Savannah, find out where the local oval-track guys buy their tools.

[PcarPhil]

Here's one:

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/p/230,212_Hydraulic-Wheel-Load-Checker.html

Does anyone know which weight range should be used for a 911? Perhaps 0-1000 lbs?

[rothaus]

This is what the device looks like



What is it called and where can you buy it ?

Cheers

[ChkbookMechanic]

Originally Posted by Kaefer

Here's one:

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/p/230,212_Hydraulic-Wheel-Load-Checker.html

Does anyone know which weight range should be used for a 911? Perhaps 0-1000 lbs?

I'd think 0 - 1000 lbs since on my fairly stock 3.2 I had close to 1000lbs on one rear wheel before the corner balance.

[webrest]

Searching for load checker on my travels.
Tried at Daytona Beach today, no joy. Thought I might have been lucky in that area. Called at the Nascar track there and had a look at the their shop, boy does that place specialize in bad taste, if Elvis was still alive he would be proud of their work.
Did however meet a bloke named Ryan who has a business on Highway 1 working on Porsches.
Is running for himself a beast with 600 plus hp. Nice guy had a good chat.
Will keep searching
Dave

[afterburn 549]

What was it, their bad taste ? Their cars (or should I say morphidites ) the tudes ? If I were those guys I would feel pretty silly working on a car that's not a car to look like a car that was never produced and yet is ............................... LOL
Mathematically it makes no since, guess that why they are so spendy
Tell me again , How do I know if I am a "Red Neck" .

[RoninLB]

Originally Posted by edbaus

Hi,

I have used one of these for years. It is very accurate for the price. I have scales and this and I end up using this because of ease of use and time of setup.

You would put it under the wheel lip and lift the car. I use a section of tire that I cut out to not damage the wheel when lifting. The handle is about 3 feet long. About the same amount of pressure is used as to jack a jack.

You can only get the wheel about an inch off the ground at the most.

It is, remember for relative measurements, not absolute, but the overall reading of the car is within 5% of the scale reading. and I have not had to re-adjust my cross measurements when re-checking with the scales.

Ed

I took this from the above FS site. I'll PM Ed that it's over here.



"I use a section of tire that I cut out to not damage the wheel when lifting"

I don't understand that?

[edbaus]

I love this thing.

I have the $2k scales, but this is what I bring to the track. Great for me if I go off track and mess up the alignment of the car. I can put it right back. I have grown to really trust the accuracy of this reading. I actually sold mine when I bought the scales (actually a group of 4 of us racers here bought the scales). I ended up re-buying the checker because I missed the quick convenience of it.

About the cut part of the tire, The small 3/8" diameter pin is what lifts your wheel up. In the rear it can see as much as 1000 lbs. You can imagine what that does to your aluminum wheel.

I have a 3" square piece of tire tread that I put between the checker and the wheel to save them from getting scrapped up.

Speedway motors is the only place I have seen these for sale.

I have also owned the cantilever standard scale setup. Much less accurate than the checker. Would not trade one for the other. Ever.

Webrest. If you want to mail order it from Speedway I can bounce it from me to you. Have it shipped to me and I will ship it to you.

Ed

[afterburn 549]

Wow ! Why did not I think of that ??
Sell ya a set of mechanical race scales LOL