Anyone know if this is something I should attempt on my own with no experience?? The basic concept seams pretty simple and straight forward, Anyone please chime in and help me if so possible! THANKS!!!

 

yes, just go buy the scales.

 

Thanks but aren't the scales like over a grand??

 

yeah, they're expensive. but how else can you do it?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RPRacing &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">yeah, they're expensive. but how else can you do it?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yup, unless you're really crafty, that's about the only way to do it.

 

go buy 4 scales for fat people at your local department store.

 

Damn, so much for something simple, I seen one time on the quarter max site that they sell a wheel pad/ramp to use on a bathroom type scale, Each scale goes to 1150, Im guessing its not that accurate? Where can I get the good scales the cheapest??

 

quarter max has good prices on the scales.

http://quartermax.com

 

Thanks, I will just go with them most likely, BTW miller I pm'd you!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by miller &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">quarter max has good prices on the scales.

http://quartermax.com </TD></TR></TABLE>

Same scales we use.... Over 3 years old and still working perfect.

 

it is a good investment to get the scales if you do make alot of changes to the suspension and the car itself.

Most of us dont, but maybe theres a good place that can do the labor locally.
Here in SoCal, theres an aligment shop that specializes in race cars. Alot of race cars get theirs done at West End Aligment in Gardena, CA. for about $180, its corner balanced and aligned as well. Not a bad price for about 2-3 hrs of labor.

 

I bought a set a few years back that were a "budget scales" setup. Basically, they are a lever type setup that uses regular bathroom scales, but have a platform that reduces the weight so that you get between 100 to 200 pounds per scale, then you multily the weight and get the real weight.
Probably not as accurate, but plenty accurate enough. I have used them for years and think they were just a couple hundred bucks including four scales.

 

So what type of weight distribution should you have for a front wheel drive drag car?

 

The more weight on the front the more traction you have, and the lower the weight is the more traction you will keep under acceleration.

 

as a general rule, is it better to have the front lower and the rear jacked up with really stiff suspension in the rear?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by I love lamp. &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">as a general rule, is it better to have the front lower and the rear jacked up with really stiff suspension in the rear? </TD></TR></TABLE>

i think it looks stupid and never helped me, i lowered it back down in the rear and still got 1.6 60's, skunk2 drag springs

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SPOOLINmatt &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

i think it looks stupid and never helped me, i lowered it back down in the rear and still got 1.6 60's, skunk2 drag springs</TD></TR></TABLE>

I havent seemed to notice a difference yet either, but Im still in the process of sorting my suspension setup. I was assuming that it would help keep weight forward but you see people running so many different ways. Lots of big tire guys seem to have the rear lower, which is how my car sits on 26" DOTs.

 

i would think raising the back end would help alot more than t he front being higher.
keeps alot more weight on the front end.

 

I actually came up with this idea on my own, but it's good to see it was thought of long before I came up with it!
From a different forum, I posted...

My ghetto idea was to use a bathroom scale.
Now, obviously not going to hack it when going over 250lbs or so. But, if we distribute the load over more points, it would!

Build a cross of four points, something sturdy and low profile. When I tried this out I used 2x4s. Come up with 3 other crosses or use patio blocks, whathaveyou that will level the other three points of the car. Find a level surface and either drive up onto the 4 points or jack the car up onto them.

Lets use a 2600lb car and 200lb driver. 2800ish lbs, say 65% weight in the front. Idealy 910lbs over each front wheel. Now, since that 910lbs is distributed over 4 points (one being the bathroom scale) it will read about 227.5 lbs. Depending on how far you will go and how exact, you can not only get the corner weights but obviously the total weight. All with a bathroom scale!

Then someone else chimed in.
If you get a 6ft 2x8, put a block one end the height of the scale, the other end on the scale, and put the vehicle on it, with the center of the tire 1ft from the end with the block then the block should be taking 5 parts of the weight and the scale only 1 part.


I say try it.