- In this module we're going to take a look at the practicalities of setting up our
corner weight scales and there is no rocket science involved in this step however there
are a few intricacies that we do need to keep in mind in order to make sure we
get the best possible results as well as consistency when we are corner
weighting our cars from one session to the next.
Now this step naturally flows on from our last step where we established and set up
our flat patch.
The two really go hand in hand together..
So at this point we've already got an area market out on the ground and we know
that that area is flat.
It's important when we're marking out that area, taking into consideration
the size of the scales, because we're trying to set up our area so that when the car
is rolled onto the scales that the wheels will be relatively close to the centre of the scales.
Now we don't have to be millimetre perfect here, there's definitely some room for
error but we're not going to get the best results if we've got the wheels
set up with the tyre right on one edge of our corner weight scales.
While the scales are relatively robust, they're obviously a precision piece of
measuring equipment and they need to be treated with care.
For this reason, most scales will come in a robust carry case as we can see here.
Our first step of course is to remove the scales out of the case.
Now there's not a lot of areas where we can go wrong when we are setting up our scales,
probably the most common which can be time consuming and frustrating is simply
getting the scales on the wrong corner of the car.
As we can see here with our Intercomp scales, each scale is marked with the correct
location or orientation as to where it's going to sit on the car.
It's simply a matter of taking note of that orientation and placing it in the correct
position on our flat patch.
Before we place the scales down on our flat patch it's always a good idea to turn
the scales over and just visually inspect them for any debris.
It only takes a small amount of debris, rubber build up or even small stones to
cause our scales to sit unevenly on our flat patch and rock.
This will cause point loading which again can affect the accuracy and repeatability
of our measurements.
Once we've got our scales in location, it's also a good idea to check the surface
of the scales for level.
Now we can do this with our digital camber gauge or alternatively we can use a simple
bubble gauge such as a builder's level.
If we've completed the last step with our flat patch setup correctly then by default
our scales should be level but it's always a good idea to check and when we're going
this we want to check in both orientations.
Front to back and side to side to ensure that the scales are in fact level.
If they aren't, we can use a non compressible packer such as our vinyl tiles that we talked
about in our last module to even the scales out and make sure that the weighing
surface is in fact sitting perfectly level.
In our case, the scales that we're using are the Intercomp SW650 wireless scales
so there's obviously now wires running between the individual scales and the
hand controller or unit where we're going to be viewing our measurements.
In the case of a wired scales setup we are also going to need to connect the wires
to that hand controller, again making sure that our orientation of the individual wires is
running to the correct scale in and the correct location on the controller.
Once we've done this we can then turn our scales on and we can turn on our controller.
With our Intercomp system, we've got the option of using different setups and
essentially it's displaying the same information, ultimately we do only have the scales
measuring the four corner weights, however the different setups will by default
display different percentage data which can be useful for a particular job.
In our instance we're going to choose option three which is for road race,
this is the one we'd be using if we're setting up a road race or circuit car.
Ideally when we're turning the scales on, we should see all four sitting at zero,
however in this case we can see we've got one of our scales is turned off.
This makes it quick and easy to highlight which of those scales has a problem
and we can address that, get everything up and running.
If it turns out that we've got one of the scales that is not reading zero such as the
case here, we can use the zero function on the controller to zero either an individual
scale or alternatively all four scales together.
Before we roll the car onto the scales we do though want to make sure that all four
of those scales are reading zero.
While I've mentioned a couple of times making sure that our scale orientation is
correct and it really is important.
This is a great time to perform a simple sanity check by simply
standing on each of the scale pads individually, making sure that your weight
shows up in the corner that you're expecting on the controller.
Just doing this simple task before getting the car onto the scales can save a lot of time
and frustration when we actually start making adjustments to the car.
Now that we've got to this point we can actually get the car up onto the scales,
now for the purposes of doing this we're obviously going to need to remove those
front scales temporarily, roll the car into position, place our scales back and then
our ramps and we can simply drive the car or push the car up onto the ramps,
again making sure that the car is loaded as close to the centre of the scales as
possible.
Before taking any measurements, we want to make sure that the steering wheel is
centred and we want to make sure that we've got the handbrake on so that there's no
danger of the car rolling off the scales accidentally.
Now we can take a look at our corner weight readings and while every scale system
will be slightly different, predominantly they're all doing the same thing.
Here we can see each individual corner weight being displayed and the Intercomp
system automatically totals these and gives us an overall weight.
In this case it's being displayed in kilograms but if you prefer you can choose to display
this in pounds.
While of course we can use a calculator to quickly calculate aspects such as our left
weight percentage or our cross weight percentage, the Intercomp system does
this automatically for us using the four buttons around the outside of the controller
we can choose which weights we want to add together.
If we want to display our left weight we can do this by selecting the left front and the
left rear wheel.
We'll then add these together and display the total left weight as well as the percentage
of the total weight.
If we want to display the cross weight we can click on the left front button to remove that,
click on the right front button to add this in, we now have our total cross weight as well
as this being displayed as a percentage.
Again, there's nothing particularly tricky about setting up and configuring your scales but
following through the steps that I've just presented in this module will give you
the best chance of success as we move into actually making your corner weight
adjustments.
That was just one of the lessons from our Practical Corner Weighting course.
If you want to learn how to optimise the handling and balance of your race car then
this course is going to be perfect for you.
You'll learn how corner weight affects the balance of your car and what equipment you'll
need to be able to measure and make adjustments to the corner weights.
You'll learn how to analyse the handling balance at the track so you know what's wrong and what
changes need to be made.
You'll then learn how to set up a flat patch to work from so that you can be confident
that your corner weight measurements are accurate and repeatable.
Finally you'll learn a simple 6 step process that you can apply to optimising the corner weights
on any car.
This will ensure you get the right results without overlooking any critical steps.