Nitro buggy balancing
 

hey guys i live in aus and i cant find any balancers for my car ive looked online and cant find a balancer in stores any ideas on where to buy one thats in australia or if not, any tips on how to make one?


cheers dylan;)

http://www.redrc.net/2012/09/zeppin-...tweaker-scale/
Don't know if you can find it in Australia.

why do you need balancers (scales)? What are you hoping to achieve?

Balancing an 1/8th scale buggy??? The weight of the car is constantly changing due to fuel consumption. They are designed to be launched off of jumps, and survive massive collisions. Balancing them is a waste of time. The shock oil heats up so much during a long run that even if you get the shocks perfectly equal they won't be after a 10 minute run.

.....and also that most decent modern 1/8 buggy kits are designed for optimal weight distribution as best as buggy designers can design them.

Are you talking scales or tire balancer?

Normal buggies shouldn't be balenced. The left side of the buggy should be heavier to counteract torque steer a little since 1/8th scale is on the throttle far more often than off throttle.

You can use 4 digital letter scales to weigh each corner of the car.

Even if he is talking tire balancing, which I'm hoping he is, that is a bit much for buggies. I have seen the difference in balancing truggy tires, but not much of a difference in balancing my buggy tires.

Even buggy tires can be "out of balance" and can benefit from a little lovin.

on the topic of balancing your buggy...yes they are designed to be as balanced as possible...but you can never compensate for every single persons kit they run in a buggy...ie some people run Lipo...some NiMH...theres alot of extra weight right there. my .19 speed is also a proper few grams lighter than my .21...servos are lighter than others etc etc. if you are REALLY having balance issues with regards to setup and drivability because your buggy is for some reason way out of whack then sure...try anything possible...otherwise just charge it, fill it, start it and race it lol. if you wanted that balancer to check your weight bias then thats a different story...i like moving weight around especially now with the JQ buggy that is so light..almost underweight depending on your rules. you can achieve so much by adding weight in specific places on a car it is scary...just another tuning option.

on tyres, ive noticed lately that the latest in pre-mounts from the likes of Beta and even Procircuit tyres are almost perfectly balanced out of the bag..especially the beta tyres...no need to waste time balancing them..they are close to perfect almost. i guess it is still necessary if you glue your own though.

sorry guys what i meant to say was wheel balancing

Amainhobbies.com :D

in that case

http://winshiprc.tripod.com/large_balancer.jpg

we use'em all the time........

Progressive Engineering (comercial Non-Retail)
made my first early ones from Modified OnRoad tweek boards
with the little levels in them.......

like on road from side to side a little can go along way...
maybe for some it may not make much of a difference?
maybe it might...??
for me at my "Level" it helped where all my laps at say a given track
was a 32.5 , to see if my car was "Tweeked" from a hard landing?
or a collar in some way "Loosened Up"
so setting the Tweek at the Shocks ensured i was not just "Blanaced"
at all 4 ends but ensured my droop setitngs were consistant.......
so went from a 32.5 to 31.2
may not seem like much...??? but could mean the A or the D mains.

fanboyz will always argure this...that is without doubt......
but, manytimes in this hobby if one has it in there "Head"
this will work then this will eliminate one less thing they will
"Think About"........

i remember when 99% of the R/C racers thought using a set up station
was a "Joke" because they ran off road, and Jumped and got tossed around
in general.....
yea, ok maybe if your having fun and do not mind i can understand....
but if your driving for your own Personal "Perfection" no matter how
it may or can be Acheived? then it was a "Useful Tool"
as in any other tool..........
and judging by most seeing the Back of my Buggies or Truggies, i think it helped....;)
but i know for "Me" if Nailing down a camber-toe or anyother setting
including a Chassis tweek can get me that extra .2 tenths?
yea it's worth it.......
been in "Events" where from the C main to the A main was Speroated
by "LESS than a Second" between 30 drivers !!! thats close...;)

well if one wanted to make one like we did a few years ago?
have a Machine shop make the bars Similar to this one from MIP
http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_...tion-1-10-1-12

so what they did is made the bars for the tires "Wide Enough"
for my Truggies and Buggies, then made the bar running the Length
of the cars long enough to Acomidate a Buggy or a Truggy......
so now i can get within a 3/4 ounce of tweek on my cars....

but even less of a chore, is slowly lifting the rear or front
"Cenetered" and watch which tire lifts up first.....
sometimes be suprised.....!!!!

I won't run a set of buggy tires that aren't balanced! Taking the vibration out of the drivetrain affects a lot more than just the wheel/tire