Why weight on B4 / B4.1 ?

[Lonestar]

Hi guys

This is likely a dumb question... I am still struggling to understand why it matters so much to add ballast to the B4 / B4.1... Trishbits, ghea, AE's newly released ballast, 1:1 wheel balancing leads, everyone seems to be doing it.

One stupid Q - why? What can weight achieve that setup can't? Obviously mass repartition. But then why does every one add weight all over the car? And for those adding weight only at one end, what does this achieve handling-wise (not just static-scale-wise) that setup changes like shocks/springs/wheelbase can't do???

Thanks... Sorry, not much of an expert on car setup... I can drive it (almost) properly but can't setup a car to save my life

Paul

[RudeTony]

The long and short of it these cars just perform better with weight in the right places. They absorb bumps better, jump better and a heavier car is so much easier to drive. Not all are as gifted as some of our top UK drivers that have reactions quicker than cats - that sounds good eh.....it all seems to work and that is the bottom line in my opinion.......

[Lonestar]

Tony, thanks for sharing some knowledge...

My question was more about "why"... wheel rates are wheel rates... other than rotational inertia, I don't get it... why?

Paul

PS: your company is making lipo ballasts, right?

[Big G]

I don't think anyone in 1/10th uses wheel weights. my understanding was it was more of a 1/8th kinda thing than 10th...

why add weight is to do with the loosing of weight when we went to lipo power. adding more weight on the front will make the car handle different. also I found my B4 was underweight when using lipo so I had to add some to get through strutinering (I can't spell that word)

[MattADH]

A light can be faster but harder to drive. We use weight at the front to stop the car from lifting the front wheels and some at the back to aid rear traction - its like a tuning aid.

Some cars have not been designed around LiPo and the power they deliver/ lighter weight. I personally use additonal brass weights under the battery and servo to try and balance the B4's handling. I had to play around with this when we switched from NiMH to LiPo and I was not the only one who struggled with the change over. Its a case of personal preference as some of the faster drivers can run lighter than others as they have the skills to match.

I agree with what Tony says that for me, the additional weight makes the car easier to drive and therefore I am less likely to crash...

[RudeTony]

In any motorsport weight is a big issue. Where you place is changes the way the car reacts and so on. In buggies it can change the way it jumps, the way it stears and so on. The key is to get the weight as low as possible and as central as possible so on the wheels is not a good idea in 1/10th off road... Then by movement of the weight front and back you can balance a car the way that you feel comfortable. We can also all learn by the top drivers as well.......yes my company makes weights for various cars and we work very closely with the very best drivers of each manufacturer to make sure our weights are actually a performance extra rather than just weight. Testing is the best way in my opinion......sometimes what might be good for me may not be good for lets say you but using a good set up as a starting point, the majority of the time it's great for many.......hope this helps

[Rocking Donkey]

I think the wheel balancing weights being referred to are the 5g and 10g self adhesive weights used to balance full sized car wheels which are commonly used to add balast to out 1:10 cars.

I think part of the reason for adding wieght to a rear mounted motor 2WD is that the brushless motors are significantly heavier than brushed and LiPo's lighter than NiMH, the prevelent form of propulsion when the cars were developed. Brushless/LiPo also provide more torque that NiMH/Brushed. If you don't add any weight then these effects are going to combine and your car will want to wheely all over the place.

I've been thinking about trying brushed motors agian in 2WD and running a little lighter as I like the nimbleness when changing directions and through sweepers.

Ben

[Lonestar]

Originally Posted by Big G

I don't think anyone in 1/10th uses wheel weights.

now this is the one comment I didn't expect anyone to post... Have a read at the question again


Sidenote : people do balance their wheels in 10th scale, believe it or not but that's another discussion

Paul

[RudeTony]

Some people do balance their wheels in 1/10th -Simon Reeves always does - I am sure if he sees the post he will verify - I don't myself

[dinkey]

hi just read this thread , i would love to know the weight in grams ibs etc of of other cars out there i run brushless with nmhs , but i am told lipos are getting heavier, that will push the price of scrap brass right down ??,when every body junks there ballast????????