Nitromater
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How is a top fuel car weighed at the scales?
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MM
Nitro Member
Obviously, a long wheel base car won't fit on a scale, so how is exact weight figured?
they fit on the scale.....just not by much
d'kid
Nitro Member
You're no fun Mike, I was about to tell PF that they slowly pick up the front end and walk toward the rear of the car, until it's balanced on the good$years and the rear wing sticking up like a tower... or a vertical PIPE RACK
d'kid
roll the front tires on, record weight, roll the back end on, record weight, combine em . . . happens alot at divisionals for TAD and TD, national tracks appear to be required to have scales capable of 300" cars . . . as is always the case, reality is not near as entertaining as some of the imaginations on this site.
clwill
Nitro Member
Rajunz
Nitro Member
That does not even seem like it would be close to accurate.............there has to be some overlap in there. Lifting the front on an A-Frame makes alot more sense.
Watching, I think Denver, they were showing the cars being weighed and I noticed the crew member was not getting out of the drivers seat. Pulled on, then they were told to go.....is this common? I doubt these cars are that far over the minimum to not need the actual driver on the scale too
clwill
Nitro Member
"Overlap"?? Unless you change the angle (so as to alter the balance), the sum of any combination of the weights of the four wheels will equal the weight of the whole car. You could weigh the four wheels separately, the fronts/backs, the lefts/rights, etc. and it's the same. It's just math.
clwill
Nitro Member
But if you think about it Paul, whether on a scale or not, the weight of the car is distributed across the four wheels/tires. Sure, it might be different on the four wheels (front or back heavy, right or left heavy), in fact it always is to some degree.
But whether you're on a scale or not, the entire weight is distributed between the four wheels. If you get the weight on each of the four wheels and add it, it will equal the total.
NitroHunter
Nitro Member
At a national event, I pull the car onto the scales and get out, the header covers get removed, and the driver comes over and stands on the scales with the car... As a little guy, it wouldn't help us for me to stay in!
TF CREW
Nitro Member
Ahhh. Thanx everyone.
I should have been clearer in the wording. Meant when there is short scale.
Like at Bakersfield:
That part on, part off method seems inaccurate, but I defer to your knowledge. Thanx again.
Paul its done that way every single day at every SHP truck scale in the country
Chi-Town Brown
Nitro Member
Nope Its rite on!!! Each point (bottom of each tire) is carrying X of the total gross. Its always the same no matter what is under each wheel or axle. (scale or solid ground) Big trucks do it every day.
Outlaw Eric
Nitro Member
Smiley
Nitro Member
Isn't that the method Garlits used to his advantage back in the day? I remember something about loading 10 or so punds of lead shot in the lower frame rail that would "roll" to whatever end was on the scales.
If the roll up to the scales was uphill of the scales, and the roll out of the scales was downhill to the scales this would mathematically work, but man, lead shot rolling down a tube is loud . . . there better be a motor running nearby . . . that said I think you'll find it pretty rare for the areas around the scales to be uphill.
Shifting ballast in a 12.90 junior dragster really helps them to cut better lights yet slow down to 12.90 on the big end. Steel shot in a tube won't roll past a pretty small rare earth magnet.
My kids are all the way out of juniors now . . . still haven't sold that 12.90 car from years ago . . . it was ahead of its time.
If you've ever run a 12.90 junior you know it makes your head work overtime. No, it was not illegal ballast.
Shifting ballast in a 12.90 junior dragster really helps them to cut better lights yet slow down to 12.90 on the big end. Steel shot in a tube won't roll past a pretty small rare earth magnet.
My kids are all the way out of juniors now . . . still haven't sold that 12.90 car from years ago . . . it was ahead of its time.
If you've ever run a 12.90 junior you know it makes your head work overtime. No, it was not illegal ballast.
The scale question i have for today, is how do you weigh a FC for example that shed the body in the lights? Many times, the FC that blows the body sky high, and 16 qts of oil, and etc and etc, will get the win light. How do they weigh that???? They have no idea what it weighed before it turned into confetti. Densham @ Sears Point for example. (NOT saying he is/was/ever has been light), but how do you know he wasn't 30#s light?
Just a question that has been bouncing around my head for a few years, and i've never found an appropriate answer.
Just a question that has been bouncing around my head for a few years, and i've never found an appropriate answer.
