This a good point that may be counterintuitive. You can, for
example, hang 10 more pounds behind the rear axle with
the effect of reducing the weight on the front axle by two
pounds and increasing the weight on the rear axle by _12_
pounds. Has to do with levers and moments and such.
== Rick Brown
(BP Corvette One)
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-ba-autox@autox.team.net
> [mailto:owner-ba-autox@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of John J. Stimson-III
> Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2003 1:01 PM
> To: BA Auto-X
> Subject: Re: Tiny, tiny trailers for tiny, tiny cars.
>
>
> Two more things about the trailer (sorry to interrupt the feng shui
> discussion):
>
> On the standard springs, the Harbor Freight trailer rides really
> rough. Those springs were designed to allow a maximum load of 1,000
> pounds. I estimate that my trailer weighs about 350-450 pounds. I
> actually slipped the smaller leaf out and flipped it over (to maintain
> the ride height even though it's not acting as a spring any more).
>
> Jake, your MR2 is light in the front end due to the lack of engine or any
> other thing that would make the car go fast under the hood. Hanging
> additional weight off the rear bumper is going to take weight off the
> front wheels and reduce steering effectiveness (especially if you lift
> them off the ground when you accelerate). My dad solved this problem
> on his tractor by hanging lead or iron weights on a rack sticking out
> the front. You might want to do the same, or perhaps just put weights
> in the front trunk...er, mailslot.
>
> --
>
> john@idsfa.net John Stimson
> http://www.idsfa.net/~john/ HMC Physics '94
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