scaling question,shocks hooked or un hooked

[racer21]

This has probably been discussed before but here is what i'm wondering i've always scaled with shocks unhooked with about 70lb left rear when i hook the shock up i have 110lb of left rear,40 lb is a lot of difference so wood it be better to scale with it hooked up,stumped,thanks for replys

[racer21]

Anybody??

[drive3b]

Our thought has been that since we race with the shocks hooked up that we should scale with them hooked up also. After we make a change we bounce the back of the car once then the front once and that seems to work pretty good. We run oil shocks so Im not sure if it is different with gas...

[1Blacksheep]

You answered your own question 1st post. Just depends on how exact you want to be. You can bounce 4 different corners and get 4 different scale readings depending on how radical the shock package is the readings will get crazier. Unhook them and things will be alot closer to actual corner wt.You can tell a little bit about what the package is doin with them hooked up tho.

[Egoracing]

Fastest bodied cars on dirt are Super late models, kinda hard to scale them with the shocks unhooked. I am with drive3d. Once we started leaving them on on our asphalt mod we started getting more consistant races.

[racer21]

Thanks guys,i scaled it with them hooked and raced last night the car was way different than before but i think i know whitch dirrection to go now,thinking about going to a oil shock qa1 or pro any suggestions,thanks again

[DaveBauerSS6]

Scale it unhooked. Any oil shock will not settle into a neutral position. Try just pushing down on a corner several times and see the weight change each time. More corner opposite shock combos will make it worse. RF hold down shock on a soft spring left in the down stroke can change all the numbers. Same goes for all the suspension points being free. Lubeing stacked leaf springs can make a big change. It's a reference number, but it has to be consistant.
Good luck.

[stockcar5]

so if having shocks hooked up changes your numbers why would you want to scale without them hooked up? that would be as smart as scaling with the wrong springs in the car!

[tumbleweed]

I think why they are saying to scale with shocks unhooked is for repeatability. If you have setup sheets from chassis builder and have exact springs and shocks as he runs and says to leave shocks hooked up, that is one thing. But, if you do not have a specified setup sheet for your chassis, it is best to get your baseline setup without shocks hooked up. Yes, your numbers will be totally different hooked up but you can come back Monday morning and get more accurate readings with the shocks unhooked. I've tried to scale with shocks hooked up and each time you bounce car I get a different reading on all four scales. Not so with them unhooked(may get a pound or so, but not 10# or more). Once you have your car fast with it scaled unhooked, you can sit it back on scales the next week with shocks unhooked and acheive the same numbers that worked the weekend before. JMO

[1cln_sdime]

I agree with tumble, if we scale our car with the lr hooked up we cant get a accurate reading and it will never repeat.You would have to let the car settle for ever to get the lr to settle. To me it seems like trying to use a set of calipers that will not repeat 0 not a good idea

[washeduptoo]

We scale ours with them hooked up, of course we run a c/o on rr too. We just let the car settle for a short time. Good luck.

[crazy cooter]

If you have "gas" shocks, they will contribute static spring weight to each wheel, and must be hooked up while scaling. Otherwise the numbers will only be consistently wrong. Not the consistent a racer is looking for. If you dont believe me, jack the pressure to them while on the scales. It will make you realize what you are doing when you make changes at the track.

Twin tube type shocks also use gas, and many manufacturers make a traction shock for the LR, so be aware of what you have.

The important thing here is to find a way that works for you and stick to it.

[1cln_sdime]

Better with the lr unhooked bc u can get a consitent reading when u get ur car set its easy to go back to on the scales. With our traction shock it would take 30 min each time we set it down to let it settle.

[Flyin Iowan]

gas shocks hold the car up so leave them hooked up

non gas pressure shocks unhook otherwise the car will take forever to settle with hold downs and hold up shocks...a 3-15 and 14-2 RF & LR shock will settle but it takes to long so unhook oil shocks

obviously coilovers will stay hooked up

this is my way of looking at it..after i scale i hook up my oil shocks and bounce it and let it settle for 20 min and it settles down to what i had without them hooked up so it saves time by unhooking them

Whatever you do just do it the same everytime

[Mosidebite]

I scale the way I race it. Hooked up. Get it where you think it needs to be, shake, I always shake from the center of the car on the roll bar above window. Let it settle while we all get a glass of tea. Check the settle and make final adjustment.