Understanding corner weights

Staff
By Staff Writer
Dec 27, 2022 | suspension, Shop Work, corner weight | Posted in Shop Work , Suspension & Handling | Never miss an article

By Don Alexander

 

One of the most important aspects of car setup is the static weight distribution and the cross-weight percentage. Why? Picture the following: Your car is really fast in right-hand turns, but understeers in left turns. If you get the car neutral in left turns, it oversteers in right turns. The situation is frustrating.

You've tried springs, shocks, different bars, neutralizing the anti-roll bar, and nothing seems to work. Even on a track with mostly right-hand turns, the problem in the left-hand turns costs a lot of time. While several different setup parameters could have caused this situation, a likely cause is excessive cross-weight.

Static Weight Distribution

None

Static weight distribution is the weight resting on each tire contact patch with the car at rest, exactly the way it will be raced. This means the driver should be in the car, all fluids topped up, and the fuel load should be such that the car makes your minimum weight rule at the designated time-usually after a race. The car should be at minimum weight, using ballast as needed to make the proper weight. When working with static weight distribution, we use two percentages to analyze the car's corner weights: Left weight percentage and rear weight percentage.

These tell us all we need to know about the setup relative to the weight distribution. The left weight percentage is found by adding the LF weight to the LR weight and dividing the sum by the total weight. The rear weight percentage is found in a similar manner: Add the LR and the RR weight together and divide the sum by the total weight. Many electronic scales will perform the calculations for you. For road racing and autocrossing, the ideal left weight percentage is 50 percent. This makes the cornering force balanced from left to right and offers the best performance overall.

However, many cars cannot make the 50 percent left-side weight percentage due to driver offset. Still, it is a worthwhile goal to strive for 50 percent left-side weight. Rear weight percentage for road racing and autocrossing is less definite. The more power a car has, the more that static weight over the drive wheels helps acceleration off the corners. Additionally, it is much more difficult to change rear percentage much, since rear weight is mostly a design function. It still pays to be thoughtful about weight placement fore and aft in your car. The only way to change the static weight distribution percentages is to physically move weight around in the car. Jacking weight will not alter the left side or the rear percentages.

Cross-weight Percentage

None

Cross-weight percentage compares the diagonal weight totals to the car's total weight. To calculate cross-weight percentage, add the RF weight to the LR weight and divide the sum by the total weight of the car. Cross-weight is also called wedge: If the percentage is over 50 percent, the car has wedge; if below 50 percent, the car has reverse wedge. More wedge means that the car will likely understeer more in a left turn. The advantage to wedge is that the left rear tire carries more load, so the car drives off the turns better. But in a right turn, the opposite occurs and the handling is worse. In almost all cases, the loss of cornering performance in one direction is greater than the gain in the other direction.

On oval track cars, cross-weight is usually used in conjunction with stagger (where the right rear tire is larger in circumference than the left rear tire) to balance handling. More stagger usually loosens the handling in left turns, so more cross-weight is used to tighten it up. But stagger is not a good idea on a road course or autocross either, where the ideal is 50-percent cross-weight and no stagger. One of the problems with cross-weight is that it will change the handling balance from a left to a right turn.

This can make maneuvering in traffic difficult, even dangerous. On a road course, the cross-weight percentage should be very close to 50 percent, within a half-degree either way, to keep the handling balance similar in a right-hand turn compared to a left-hand turn. In the example at the beginning of the article, this was the problem: a cross-weight percentage that was less than 50 percent, and probably off by at least two percent. One of the keys to obtaining a good setup is using the correct procedure to weigh your race car.

How to Weigh Your Race Car

None

Here are some points to remember when weighing your race car:

  • Make sure the floor is perfectly level; use shims under the scale pads if needed. Small angles can throw off your readings significantly.
  • Set tire pressures first.
  • Check stagger at each tire, even if using radials.
  • Put the driver weight in the car, preferably the driver.
  • Use a load of fuel for where you you want the car balanced, either at the start of the race, the end of the race or an average between the two.
  • Disconnect the shocks, when possible, and the anti-roll bars. - Use blocks the same height as your scale pads to move the car off the scales to make adjustments.
  • Bounce the car at each corner to free the suspension from any bind, then roll the car onto the scales.
  • Make sure the tires are centered on the scales.
  • Recheck air pressure often to assure ride heights stay consistent.

Setting Static Weight Distribution:

  • Check static weight before working on cross-weight.
  • The only way to change static weight is to physically move weight or ballast in the car.
  • To increase left-side weight, move weight as far to the left as possible.
  • To increase rear weight, move weight as far back as possible.
  • Move ballast first, since it's easier. Then move components like the battery or fuel cell.
  • It is best to get 50 percent left-side weight when possible.
  • Get the rear percentage as close to the manufacturer's specs as possible.

Setting Cross-weight:

  • Once static weight percentages are set, work on cross-weight percentages.
  • You cannot change the left or rear percentages by jacking weight around in the car, although this will change cross-weight.
  • Changing the ride height at any corner will change the cross-weight percentage.
  • If you raise the ride height at a given corner (put a turn in or add a round of wedge), the weight on that corner will increase, as will the weight on the diagonally opposite corner. The other two corners will lose weight.
  • If you lower the ride height at a given corner, that corner will lose weight as will the diagonally opposite corner. The other two corners will gain weight. This will not change the left-side or rear weight percentages.
  • To add weight to a given corner, raise the ride height at that corner or lower the ride height at an adjacent corner. For example, if your initial setup is 52 percent cross-weight, and you want 50 percent cross-weight, lowering the right front or left rear corner will decrease cross-weight percentage. You could also raise the left front or right rear ride heights to do the same thing.
  • It is best to make small changes at each corner, instead of a big change at one corner. This keeps the ride heights as close to ideal as possible. In the above example, to go from 52 percent to 50 percent cross-weight, try lowering the right front and the left rear one-half turn on the weight jack bolt or spring perch while raising the left front and right rear the same amount.
  • Always record the cross-weights and ride heights for reference at the race track in case changes are needed.
  • Measure control arm angles after each change. The angles are another way to set the suspension for the desired ride height and cross-weight percentage.
  • The distance from the ground to an inner suspension arm pivot point will also accomplish the above goal.
  • Remember that changes in stagger, tire pressures and springs will change the ride height and alter the cross-weight percentage.

Change at the Track:

  • Make small changes at the track, and make only one change at a time.
  • If the car understeers or oversteers in only one direction, check the cross-weight percentage. One of the most important aspects of racing is having a good handling balance. Setting static weight distribution and adjusting cross-weight percentage is one way to assure good handling. Taking the time and making the effort always pay dividends.
Join Free Join our community to easily find more suspension, Shop Work and corner weight articles.
Comments
te72
te72 New Reader
1/3/18 11:33 p.m.

Thanks for posting this. I've read all the info before, in various places, but it's good to have a refresher. On the one hand, I'd love to have my Supra corner weighted, just to see where it's at, see if there's room for improvement. On the other hand, it drives really, REALLY good for being setup by this idiot behind the keyboard, and I really don't wanna spoil a good setup by chasing after a perfect setup... at least not yet.

 

Would be interesting to see how close to ideal I got it though, given how well it handles already. Basically so long as I don't completely overcook a corner entry, it does better than any car this heavy has any right to...

Justin
Justin None
5/15/18 2:07 p.m.

Good stuff. I've had my cars corner balanced a lot, but never really looked into the science of it. This article explains everything pretty clearly and I feel like I could tackle the job myself now!

Toebra
Toebra Dork
11/16/18 4:12 p.m.

I see disconnecting the sway bar, and how to do it, but disconnect the shocks?

Cloud9...68
Cloud9...68 New Reader
11/16/18 5:23 p.m.
Toebra said:

I see disconnecting the sway bar, and how to do it, but disconnect the shocks?

I had the same question.  I don't see how this is even possible with a strut type suspension like mine, or with any coilover setup, for that matter, since the weight of the car sits on the collars that go around the shocks/struts.

freetors
freetors Reader
11/16/18 7:52 p.m.

In reply to Toebra :

Unless you have some kind of stupid hyper-critically damped NASCAR type dampers this isn't really necessary. To get good accuracy easily make sure you get the low hanging fruit first like removing the friction between the tires and the scales so there is no bind. Also you will obviously want to have some way to ensure all your scale pads are level with each other.

te72
te72 Reader
11/16/18 9:05 p.m.

I would imagine that disconnecting the shocks is only applicable to setups where the shock and spring are separate, like a lot of solid axle cars, or Mk2 Supras in my experience.

iwannarace
iwannarace New Reader
11/16/18 9:36 p.m.

Funny. I dropped my integra off at edge to have this done today. looking forward to getting it back!

Stefan
Stefan GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
11/16/18 10:44 p.m.

Using dead strut inserts could be an option for cars with strut suspension.

Cloud9...68
Cloud9...68 New Reader
11/17/18 12:42 p.m.

My big stumbling block on this subject is how to get accurate readings by removing all the friction/bind from the tires, sway bars, bushings, etc.  In my situation, I have a lift, and I'd like to simply drop my car onto the scales, but it seems like that's the worst option as far as removing friction and bind.  Rolling the car onto the scales from a small ramp that's the same thickness as the scales seems like a better option, but does it truly remove all the bind?  In other words, to make this method work, wouldn't you really have to drive the car around, preferably going over a few pretty serious bumps, before driving onto the ramps?  This gets very tedious, given the number of iterations it typically takes to get the corner weights right.

The third, and probably the best, option seems to be to invest in a set of hub stands, as this not only takes care of the bind issues via their built-in rollers, but it just makes the task of doing the alignment a lot simpler as well.  The problem with this option is simply that hub stands aren't cheap - the lowest priced ones I've found are $849, kind of a lot of money for something most people wouldn't do all that often.  

Maybe I'm over-thinking this, but I was amazed when I got my new scales, and let my car down on them for the first time.  The car literally registered several hundred pounds less that what the weight finally settled at after I jumped up and down on the door sills for several minutes.  Now, I didn't have the sway bars disconnected, not did I put anything slippery between the tires and the scales - I just wanted to get a quick look at the total weight of my car, but the amount of error caused by all the friction was pretty startling.

Interested in hearing peoples' opinions and (preferably) experiences.  

Stefan
Stefan GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
11/17/18 1:22 p.m.

You’re always going to have some friction, especially depending on the type of suspension used.

Struts and trailing arms generally aren’t great in this case as they have a lot of inherent bind.  Using dead struts and lots of bearings will help.

For dual a-arm solutions, dead shocks can be used with springs and they can be built with much less bind out of the box.

Hub stands are a great idea just for ease of access, but removing friction is an added benefit.

Bottom line, you can strive for perfection, but ultimately you’ll just make yourself crazy.  Strive for repeatable and take the measurement as a data point, instead of an absolute.

You'll need to log in to post.

Our Preferred Partners
iF0iF1sv7hVD2zVouEpreqop7vT2mH0QPz0Q2ItgMYDFlUyqpirEw54XRUQVBT5L