Corner weighed the "A" body

[dennis68]

For those interested, I corner weighed the pig today. Not too bad all in all.

RF-880lbs
LF-908lbs
RR-708lbs
LR-744lbs

The scale set-up was used to weight the top 4 finishers at the last 1/2 mile local event...they are supposed to be pretty accurate. Front to rear seemed a little too close to me. I also didn't like seeing the LR so much higher than the RR considering anything I move the back always goes to the RR corner.

I should note this weight is less bumpers, interior trim, carpeting, sound system, and inner fenders. I did have a full tank of fuel however.

[David Pozzi]

Maybe their scales were not level with each other.

[dennis68]

Possibility, I may look into it. It would be nice if shops would "rent" use of their equipment during the off season, like a dyno sort of. You pay "X" dollars and at their facilities they will "assist" you in setting the car up on the scales and possible solutions to moving weight as needed.

Just a thought for those who own shops out there.

[jeffandre]

I'm thinking that the heavier left front is taking weight off of the right rear (similar to leverage, adding weight to the left front should make the right rear lighter), if that makes sense. Try adding ballast as an experiment to even out the front corners to see the affect on the rear corners. Just a thought, I haven't even begun to venture into this area yet...but I do believe that balanced corner weight is very important for those into autocrossing and short track events.

[wally8]

You've got that thing pretty light for an A-body Denny.

Your weights aren't too out of whack either. I know you have weight jacks on the front, do you have any jacks on the rear yet? If not, get out the hole saw and get some ordered from Speedway. You can put turns in just like a Cup car :-)

Don't add ballast. Put a turn in your right front or take one out of your left (whichever is more advantageous to ride height). That's usually good for about 20-30 lbs. Your car could be quite a bit different but at least you'll be getting closer.

Same thing for the back except pay attention to what I mention below and how your rear will be affected after the front change. We usually have to do some more adjustments since we're trying to get high rear percentages but you don't need to get into that.

For Jeff:
Adding weight doesn't really take weight off somewhere else. You're on the right track but think of it in the context that if you jack weight into one spring (putting turns in as if you're trying to raise the car up) it will transfer some weight to the spring diagonal from it and take some off the two that are closest to it (proportional to the distance of course).

Adding weight is never a great idea unless you have to. We have to due to engine setback rules and minimum weight rules (sometimes) and the fact that we want rear percentages in the 56 - 59.5% range.

Too bad you don't live around here Den, you could use our scales. That offer stands for anyone who does actually live around here though.

EDIT: forgot to add that my location is NW IA.

Wally

[dennis68]

Too bad you don't live around here Den, you could use our scales. That offer stands for anyone who does actually live around here though.

EDIT: forgot to add that my location is NW IA.

Wally
Be careful, a road trip may be in order. :)

[jeffandre]

I only mentioned to add weight as a test, definitely not as a permanent solution (unless absolutely necessary). The ballast comment was to give Denny a quick idea as to whether or not the heavier left front is really affecting the lighter right rear that much. Maybe it doesn't make that much of a difference, only thinking out loud on this one.

I hope to balance my car with 200# in the driver's seat and get my corner weights fairly close. I will remove weight where I can once I know the numbers, but $900 for a scale setup is not in the cards yet (maybe next year). I did not realize that weight jacks were in use, so it sounds like there is some adjustment work to be done. I have an adjustable front suspension setup that will allow me to 'adjust' the weight a bit, hopefully I will get it close enough to really nail transition cornering for my puny powerplant (don't ask, it's an inline 6 for now).