Unsprung weight

ShayM · Post by **ShayM** » Wed Feb 02, 2011 2:42 am

How much unsprung weight would a second generation have at each corner? It's easy to find the weight of your specific wheels and tires, but there's more than just those to consider, and I'm sure someone's already figured this out. I've been searching but can't find it.

Post by **occasional demons** » Wed Feb 02, 2011 8:13 am

IDK if anyone has specifically figured out the weights/percentage thereof, for the LCA's, struts, lateral arms, etc. If they have, it hasn't been a recent topic. Boneyard Racing (sp?), I think would be the one most likely to have done it.

drifttec101 · Post by **drifttec101** » Fri Feb 18, 2011 12:25 pm

For a rule of thumb you can just take half of the suspension component's weight as being sprung, and half as being unsprung.

What do you need to know this for? Just curious

ShayM · Post by **ShayM** » Fri Feb 18, 2011 8:02 pm

Of course I have to find the weight of all those components too...

No particular reason. I've just been reading a lot about the math behind how suspensions behave. I had a Sundance years ago and put on some stiffer springs and swaybar from other cars I found in the junkyard. I liked the change but I think I'd rather have a better idea of what to expect if I replace anything on other cars.

Post by **occasional demons** » Sat Feb 19, 2011 7:21 am

I'll guarantee you the neon's unsprung weight is far less than the P body's.

If I had an accurate scale, I would weigh my old LCA's. But IDK how well a bathroom scale would work.

drifttec101 · Post by **drifttec101** » Sat Feb 19, 2011 4:07 pm

Cool, I know of some good books to learn more about suspension stuff...

Anything from Carroll Smith such as "Tune to Win" "Engineer to Win" "Prepare to Win"

"Race Car Engineering and Mechanics" by Paul Van Valkenburgh

"How to make you Car Handle" by Fred Puhn (I think)

"Competition Car Suspension" by Allan Staniforth

For a more hardcore read "Race Car Vehicle Dynamics" Miliken bros

Search for a forum called F1 Technical... great information there

Obviously I'm more into race cars than street stuff, but it's all good information anyway.

ShayM · Post by **ShayM** » Sat Feb 19, 2011 4:49 pm

Thank you for the book suggestions. I imagine the same principles apply to track, street, and off-road vehicles, you just choose different settings.

And yes I'm sure a P body has a ton of unsprung weight with that rear axle heh

OB · Post by OB » Sat Feb 19, 2011 7:37 pm

Most of us have no reason to get into the specifics since we don't race our cars regularly. 'Most' meaning 99.5% of the members here on 2gn. Beyond that, I would consider myself something of a suspension nerd, and I'm usually content just making sure the performance suspension/brake parts I buy are lighter than the ones they're replacing. Since there aren't any aftermarket LCA's, knuckles, hubs, etc widely available for these cars, we really don't have too many options for reducing unsprung weight in a street car build. Coilovers, aluminum rear lateral arms, and obviously lighter wheels/tires/brakes are the common replacement items for the more hardcore street cars.

My 2 cents

Post by **occasional demons** » Sun Feb 20, 2011 6:52 pm

It's not like the neon LCA's are all that heavy anyways. Tubular ones might be a bit lighter, if they were available. But whether or not it would be cost effective is another matter. As far as strength, I would much rather the LCA/rear lateral arms give before the crossmembers.

ShayM · Post by **ShayM** » Mon Feb 21, 2011 1:04 am

I'm not really worried about reducing the unsprung weight, I just want to have something to put into the formulas.

OB · Post by OB » Wed Mar 02, 2011 9:25 pm

occasional demons wrote:It's not like the neon LCA's are all that heavy anyways. Tubular ones might be a bit lighter, if they were available. But whether or not it would be cost effective is another matter. As far as strength, I would much rather the LCA/rear lateral arms give before the crossmembers.

I was thinking more along the lines of aluminum vs steel.

hybrid-Srt2001 · Post by **hybrid-Srt2001** » Wed Mar 02, 2011 11:33 pm

derek is correct. the best mods for handling would be
lighter wheels and tires.
a lighter coilover assembly.
The bc inverted.s reduce the unsprung weight even more....
lighter rotors.... not much in the market for our cars here.
aluminum/ tubular control arms etc.

imo, the wheels and tires play the biggest role here.

if you wanted to get really in depth you could swap to 1gn knuckles and hubs etc. they are lighter by a few pounds at best.

imo, reducing the overall weight of the car helped just as much by letting the tires not work as hard to hold traction for a 2700#+ car

the other big thing i noticed was stiffening up the chassis.
when i welded in my cage, the car handles better than it did before and i didn't even have sways on anymore. it just went where you pointed the wheel; no lean, or hesitation.

hansken_yo · Post by **hansken_yo** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 12:31 am

I have to throw this out there, but a corner balance does wonders. is it necessary for daily driving... no, but it is soooooo nice.