Adding weight??

[Small Block]

Building a car with much H.P. and want to add weight to the car so as to get better traction. Now if we add it to the body we do get weight to the wheels but we also compress the body down on the tires. What is the best method of adding weight to the rear axle so as not to push the body down on the tires?

[Womanator]

  Why do you want to add weight to the cart to get traction?

 

[bOb shingler]

mopar says to add it as far back in the trunk as you can but some folks add it in the trunk just over the shock mounts.

[NYrr496]

I made two big ass plates that bolted across the bumper mounts inside the trunk in my Charger. Then I covered the whole thing with the factory plastic trunk liner that covered the inner tail light housings. No one ever knew they were there.

[oldkimmer]

U should never have to add weight to the car, just set up the chassie for it........more weight makes it slower......kim............

[Capt Jack]

mopar says to add it as far back in the trunk as you can

thats what I was doing and why I liked sandbags.  you could pack them all the way back with little wasted space.  that and they stayed put

[MVRCorp]

bOb, Hmmmmm.......don't know if this has been tried before but what if you add weight to the rear-end directly? This would not effect the stance of the car, add a lower center of gravity and probably less wheel hop........Just a thought.
Jim

[bOb shingler]

jim, you never want to add weight to something like suspension components only lighten them. the more weight the harder they are to get to move, plant the tires in this case. nothing will move anywhere until you apply more weight (='s force ) to it then it weighs. more weight = more force to accomplish movement. now adding weight in the trunk won't slow the movement of the rear end housing but there is more weight on the spring to push it into the pavement as it makes it movement towards the pavement equaling more traction.

[MVRCorp]

Well that certainly makes sense. I guess that shows my ignorance on the subject. Thanks for the education.
Jim

[qkcuda]

Let me drive it....that would add more weight.     Plus I don't believe you can ever have too much horsepower.

[Small Block]

MVR: That's what i'm getting at. Putting the weight to the rear only, rather than pushing the body down on the rear. What kind of weight are we talking? Leverage is a factor. For instance. If you place 30 lbs over the axle versus 30 lbs over the rear bumper you have a more significant effect on your weight. Any thoughts here?

[jwmotors]

I used to have some half in. threaded rods right at the back of the car and used bar bell wieghts and how ever it worked out it made the wieght dist. 48 % on the front and 52% on the rear . That was 25 yrs ago I might not have always done things right but we sure had fun . Traction was never a problem .

[fourspeed]

Put a Dana in it! 

[nd2stopfastr]

 

4spd and bob are right you never want to add unsprung weight unless youre getting a BIG strength payoff.  adding weight to the diff will just cause it to move sluggigh-er and might even worsen hop

adding weight in the trunk however is to fix bias, if you put the bulk over the axle, itll feel the best and not influence things like wheelstands, if you put it further back you wont need as much weight to get the same effect, but i feel it affects lateral stability in a non drag car.

what ever you do just be positive it is secure, nobody likes added weight coming up into the passenger compartment. used grader blades work well too.

[BIG DOG]

jim, you never want to add weight to something like suspension components only lighten them. the more weight the harder they are to get to move, plant the tires in this case. nothing will move anywhere until you apply more weight (='s force ) to it then it weighs. more weight = more force to accomplish movement. now adding weight in the trunk won't slow the movement of the rear end housing but there is more weight on the spring to push it into the pavement as it makes it movement towards the pavement equaling more traction.

 

I understand this same reason you move your battery to you trunk .................BUT!!
You do this to help weight tranfer the same reason if your going to race the car /6 bars and soft shocks are better ,gets everything moving back to put weight over the back wheels which aids in traction.So why do we put in the SS springs aren't they heavier duty as in stiffer?Why wouldn't we put in say 2800lb springs the car would squat more putting more weight to the rear and giving you more traction plus it would stay there longer as a stiff spring would release it's self or try harder to spring back to it's normal shape causing it to unload quicker???
Discalmer: I know very little or nothing about this just thinking out loud so feel free to educate.
Thanks!

[67Satty]

In the Challenger I had, I put the 3600# Superstock springs in it.  The guys at the speedshop tried to talk me into 3400# ones, but I wouldn't listen because the Direct Connection catalog said use 3600# for E-Bodies.  That thing rode like a dump truck and wouldn't hook worth a crap.  I could spin 10.5 slicks all the way through first gear and this was just a mild big block, high 12 second car.  Maybe, if it would've hooked, it could've done low 12s.  This time around I'm just going with the stock 40 year-old springs and see what happens.

[A13Dart]

jim, you never want to add weight to something like suspension components only lighten them. the more weight the harder they are to get to move, plant the tires in this case. nothing will move anywhere until you apply more weight (='s force ) to it then it weighs. more weight = more force to accomplish movement. now adding weight in the trunk won't slow the movement of the rear end housing but there is more weight on the spring to push it into the pavement as it makes it movement towards the pavement equaling more traction.

 

I understand this same reason you move your battery to you trunk .................BUT!!
You do this to help weight tranfer the same reason if your going to race the car /6 bars and soft shocks are better ,gets everything moving back to put weight over the back wheels which aids in traction.So why do we put in the SS springs aren't they heavier duty as in stiffer?Why wouldn't we put in say 2800lb springs the car would squat more putting more weight to the rear and giving you more traction plus it would stay there longer as a stiff spring would release it's self or try harder to spring back to it's normal shape causing it to unload quicker???
Discalmer: I know very little or nothing about this just thinking out loud so feel free to educate.
Thanks!

 

SS springs are old technology, but they can get still the job done to a point.

My understanding of SS springs is when weight transfer is achieved at the launch...travel is out of front suspension, maybe some air under the front tires...most of the car weight is now on the rear tires.  A heavier spring rate is now needed to control the added weight on the springs and the torque of the axle.  The snubber is bottomed on the floor pan at this point, and torque is pushing the springs/axle/tires into the pavement.  The rear is not squatting down, rather it is extending. 

Take the SS springs off of this car and put on some stock worn out springs, and I bet the rear of the car will slam down before the front end will rise.