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Having
a balanced chassis will help your suspension do
its job. To find out how much force each wheel is
exerting on the track, you can use four cheap kitchen
scales. Wal-Mart has them for about $4 each. You
will need four of them.
Set
up the scales on a flat surface, such as a table.
Place your touring car on the scales so each tire
is resting on a scale. ALL of your radio gear should
be installed. Line up the wheels on each scale so
the axle passes through the center of the scale.
Before you check the weight of each wheel, make
sure all the scales are level and set up correctly.
Now it's time to start reading the scales.
Record
each of the measurements
Front left wheel. The scale reads ______ ounces.
Front right wheel. The scale reads ______ ounces.
Differences in the weight can largely be attributed
to the fact that the batteries are located on this
side of the chassis. Depending on the weight of
your Servo, ESC, Motor, and Receiver, they might
not be enough to balance out the weight of the cells
on the opposite side of the chassis.
Rear left wheel. The scale reads ______ ounces.
Rear right wheel. The scale reads ______ounces.
Depending on how your chassis is set up, having
the front and rear exerting different amounts of
force isn't always a bad thing. Having more weight
in the back of the car will give the rear wheels
more traction.
Now knowing how much force each wheel is exerting
on the track, the right and left sides can be equaled
out. The first way is equalize sides is to use lead
weight to balance out the chassis. The next is to
arrange the electronics, so the weight equals out
the sides. Use a fake transponder to simulate what
the car will be like during actual racing conditions.
Remember, the ROAR limit for minimum weight is 53
ounces (Don't forget the weight of the body and
don't included the transponder). If you go over
this limit when you add lead weight, try to bring
your chassis's weight down by replacing heavier
parts with lighter parts. Good examples of these
types of parts are steel turnbuckles (replace them
with titanium), steel CVDs (replace them with plastic
or aluminum), or chassis (replace it with a graphite
or milled version). The last way to compensate for
more weight on one side of the chassis is to add
more "Pre-Load" to the shock. Pre-Load
is the force the spring is exerting down on the
shock. You can compensate for the extra weight by
compressing the spring on the shock. This will help
to balance out the forces. This is sort of a trial
and error method, since it's hard to measure the
extra force the pre-load is compensating for.
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