Scales for RC
 

Do any of you guys use scales to ballance your rides? I run mostly off road. So I have never messed with this but I am wondering if it is something to think about. What type of scale would be best (model/make/range)? Do you use one or two or four? Thanks for any help.

I use scales on my off-road stuff, but it isn't totally needed.
Soft springs & long throw suspension hide a lot of issues.
On hard pack blue groove tracks I would recommend it.
Soft loamy dirt, it really isn't as critical.

If you have a "hook & push" from one side to the other when turning, the scales show it fairly quickly.

On-road, proper adjustments are mandatory.

E-bay 2000g jeweler scales will hold up to a 1/8th Buggy or possibly Truggy.
Some where in the $7 to $10 each shipped is all they should be.
I use four to do all at once.

If you want to geek out every last bit & remove any odd stuff out of the chassis, scales are worth the investment.

I have the small silver rectangle ones with the blue backlight & four buttons...

http://i.ebayimg.com/t/0-1-2000g-Min...+JQ~~60_12.JPG

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=ebay+2000g+scale

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=scale+2000g

Thanks I really need to work on some other things before this, but it seems like it might help me some. So 2000g x4 is enough for 1/8th scale and tight enough tollerance wise for smaller scales?

i would suggest not doing scales. its just over complicating things. adjust the car to the track, not to the scales. scales just lead to confusion and overall just make setting the car up even harder. even in onroad, which i do alot, the scales are totally in disagreement with the track. id set it up the way i wanted it, drive it, and believe it or not, it would be worse. i suggest starting with a neutral setup and adjust from there..but thats my opinion. just dont want someone to spend (waste) 50-60 bucks on things that dont really work :nod:

I'd say dont worry about, Its offroad racing and unless your racing lap after lap within a few tenths of a second, scaling your vehicle is not going to make a difference, even then it will be minimal at best. with the terrain we race on and the amount of jumps its not going to matter. Get a good setup to your track and just get laps down, thats how you will lower your lap times and start doing better.

Thanks for your thoughts guys. I hear what all of you are saying.

I use 1 scale . one wheel at a time adjust ride height then adjust weight on each wheel. off road my SCTE was 28 grams off... on the back. I adjusted the springs and this thing hauls the mail. sometime it helps. some times it don't. I like tinkering, so do it if it helps you with your set ups.

Im still thinking it might have a purpose, even if it is just to get the left side/right side ballanced as best I can. When you say you adjusted the shocks to adjust the ballance? You actually end up with different preload on each shock. I thought you always wanted to keep both fronts the same preload and the same for the rear NO? Thanks

Step one is to get the chassis loaded as evenly as possible with weight side to side. (two scales under front or rear & a single pickup point on the opposite end.) I call this tripod'ing the chassis since it is only held by three points.

Once the chassis is loaded semi-properly, the next step is to check corner load, or tweak. (four scales, steering strait & suspension pushed down & released to a natural resting position.)
Look kitty-corner & look for major load changes.
It may be close if the chassis is good.
Things like Balance Boards will do the same thing.


Depending on manufacturing springs may be close, but not perfect.
Having slightly tweaked shock collars can also mess with the droop touch point depending on how messed up the chassis is.

If you ever had a car hook & push it is very easy to track down with a balance board or set of scales.

As I mentioned it isn't as critical in off-road, but a tweaked car in on-road is nearly undriveable at times.

I am at work right now and will have to read this a few times to understand it. But thank you for the info. I am only a couple of years into this hobby so I haven't messed with this before (outdoors only). I think I feel the affects of unbalance when I come off of jumps at a high speed and have to struggle to keep the ride on one plain. I know I have read that you can get some info off of the Hudy site, but it doesn't seem to sink in reading this (like taking a sleeping pill) and it seems to go way deep and looses my interest. Is their a more practical place to read this. i.e. RC SETUP FOR DUMMIES. Thanks again

You also have to take into consideration the jumps "face" often uneven due to the nature of the sport, even tho your truck could be balanced, you can always hit the jump just a hair wrong or a bad spot in the face and get twisted in the air. Fortunately we are able to manipulate these vehicles easy while in the air via brake,gas and steering. (more so in 4x4 applications) But It surely wouldn't hurt to use scales if your looking to tinker, Maybe just to learn or whatever it may be, but I'm not convinced it will take you from a b-main runner to a top 5 in the A-main. Would actually be neat to just see how close these vehicles come balanced from the factory tho...

I'm sure you are correct the face of the jump has a lot more to do with this then the ballance. Do you have scales? If so what kind and would you recomend them? Thanks

A simple easy method for side to side weight balancing on many off road cars: Many have a center spot on the shock towers where you can lift it up with a couple small hex wrenches or whatever. Adjust weight to get it hanging level left to right.

Losi, maybe others, makes a small tool to compare 2 shocks & springs, to be sure they are reasonably close also.

Not saying scales aren't a good idea, but a lot can be accomplished fairly simply.

Thanks for your thoughts. And GLwagon where is Baraboo?

Baraboo, Wisconsin 53913...
I race locally with the Madison group (MARCCA) as well as the Reedsburg Racers.
I've been into RC for a few years... I still have my Gold-tub RC10 on the shelf.

Feel free to PM me any time with questions on setup or technique.
Some times it is the car, the other times it is the driver.
Never take any thing as gospel, but form your own opinion through testing & research.
Gabe :)