I know that we dont necessarily setup our cars to have a 50/50 balance like a road car, but a little more emphasis on balancing front to rear, with a little more weight to the front of our fwd's. Now I have heard of two ways of doing this, and I was wondering what you guys think is the best way.
1). Setup the stance of the car to be completely level, then put it on the corner scales. Add balast weights to the front corners of the car to equall out the front end then redo the ride hight to be level. Go back and forth till you get it just right.
2). Get the car somewhat level for a good starting point, then start adjusting the height on the coilovers individually to move weight around without adding ballast like above. For examble; lowerinf the right front and raising the left rear, will add more weight to the right front. You can get the car balanced pretty easily using this method, only it might sit a little funky slights using the bare eye when not sitting in the car.

So what method do you guys like to use?

 

Are u sure ride high adjustments affect corner weight

 

yes

 

im interested in feedback on this...

 

very much so

 

Absolutely. I know with open diff, I was recommended to put more weight on the front right, by raising the left rear. This put more weight on the direct drive axle, and actually did help with traction. I also shimmed the sway bar linkage slightly, in hopes that the sway bar would put more pressure on the right front.

 

Just talked to Mike Laskey over Facebook, and he droped some knowledge on me. He told me to set it up 70/30. Do 70% over the front with both sides being equal. He also said to try to achieve this with simply adjusting the coilovers, but if I cant get it to 70%, I will have to add weight. The back does not matter so much, but it would not hurt to try to get it even. If the car sits a little cooked, he said it dont matter because the scales readings are more important.

 

Exactly, in a drag only car...you really just need to make sure it's 50/50 in the front two corners. You can generally acheive this by only adjusting one rear corner.

Make sure to make your measurements with you in the car and your tire pressures need to be set in the front (even) and in the back as well

 

Havnt got around to doing this yet..... but when the jack stands are on the front jack points being the front tires..... when I let the car down on the stands.... the rear tires come off the ground.... is that too much weight up front ???

 

Endo FTW!!!

 

Your right !

 

These suggestions apply to setting a car up for drag racing only
There's no such thing as too much weight up front. You want as much as you can while still being able to stop at the end of a pass. When your setting it up make sure tire pressures are exactly where they are when you run it and check it often because at the low pressures we run, the tires tend to lose pressure. By raising tire pressure you can watch the weight increase substantially. By raising the ride height on the front left for example will increase the weight on that corner. Also remember that weight in front of the front wheels will pick up weight on the rear as the car pivots on the front tire. And... Obviously, scale the car with the driver in the driver seat and fluids in the car.

 

False. Raising the left makes the left heavier.

To the OP:

You need dual adjustable coilovers. Ones that adjust spring rate and ride height seperately. You can add ballast if you want, but you'll notice that it will mostly increase the front weight but won't help much with left/right. The best is to increase the spring pressure on the corners you want heavier and soften the corners you want lighter. This way you can balance the car and still keep the ride height you want.

 

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/art...orner-weights/

here is a good read on corner balancing. its a bit more focused on road racing, but gives good information on which corners effect what.

"To add weight to a given corner, raise the ride height at that corner or lower the ride height at an adjacent corner."

 

How much preload to you guys like on your springs? I have my 12k/18k setup up right now with almost no preload...just tightened up enough to take the "slop' out of the springs.

 

Our front springs are 1000lb/in and 600lbs/in in the rear. I preload the front almost as tight as it can go. The rear has no preload unless to balance some weight.

 

This is some good info. I have always wondered about this

 

So preloading a spring, without changing its height adjustment will also add weight to that corner? I'm going to have to play with this on the scales. Keep the good info comin fellas!

 

Anytime you touch the coilover/spring, it'll effect the weight.

 

Any spring preloading tips?

 

Does anyone have info on what works best for a car @ 2400lbs? ie. RHFWD XXX RHREAR XXX LHFWD XXX LHREAR XXX. I know that the driver, and the cars setup itself make a huge difference. But I was just wondering what seems to work well for most drivers.

 

I scaled my car last night. RF 810 LF 810 RR 367 LR 419 = 2406


I tryed prloading not preloading and NOTHING works. Ride height is the ONLY way that it effects MY car.

To add or remove weight, raise or lower the opposing side.

 

Bringing this thread back from the dead... I've talked to a couple people already but I want to hear some h-t advice as well.

After you corner scale your car and get it where you want. You then throw it back on the alignment rack. Does this affect the corner weights?

 

Scale first make your spring adjustments then align it and you'll be good.

 

Glad i stumbled across this thread since im about to take my car to a friends shop so we can balance her out.