Well ... I think I'll go the DIY way and build my own Corner Weight Gauge.

I have already ordered a hydraulic pressure gauge (1000 psi ... converted that's 1000 lb ... am I right?) from eBay for 4£ and I am now looking for a clutch slave cylinder.

A little bit of metal fabrication, a little bit of plumbing between the slave cylinder and the gauge and I'll have my Corner Weight Gauge.

I have just one question :

Will all clutch slave cylinders be good for my application? Or do I have to look for a specific model?

I will put a picture of a DIY Corner Weight Gauge found on the Net in my archive ... I think the article it come from was posted here a few weeks or months ago.

Thanks in advance for your advice,

Stefano

I would think a nice small cylinder would be suitable - bear in mind that it needs to fit under the wheel rim to lift the car up. not all wheels easily lend themselves to this.

It doesn't matter about converting 1000psi to lb's as you only need a comparitive reading from wheel to wheel IMHO of course.

Cheers

Mark

quote:

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Originally posted by mookaloid
It doesn't matter about converting 1000psi to lb's as you only need a comparitive reading from wheel to wheel IMHO of course.

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How do you fill the slave cylinder with fluid and bleed it?

Old (not BMW) Mini had a reasonably small slave cyl. also has 2 good size lugs with bolt holes as I assume you'll need to attach it to something? Bleeding shouldn't be a problem as it has a nipple on the rear end - strange place to have your nipples

Hi,

Thanks for the answers.

I found 2 different slave cylinders for the classic mini ... I understand some are pre-verto and some are for the verto clutch. (see in my photo archive)

Which one should I choose?

You might even be better with a wheel cylinder off mini front brakes they are tiny if I recall and the piston pokes out a bit which is good.

I would fill the system with a syringe with the piston at it's maxumum travel then push the piston back in a bit to expel any air through the bleed nipple which you have positioned at the highest point.

Cheers

Mark

[Edited on 28/9/06 by mookaloid]

It may be useful to be able to estimate wheel weights rather than just doing comparative measurements. Knowing the diameter of the piston in the slave you can easily translate pressure to force

Pressure = Force/Area

Area = 3.1415*Radius*Radius

Keep all units the same for simplicity, e.g if using a mini clutch slave, it has a bore of 7/8". If the pressure gauge reads in PSI, then the conversion factor is

Area = 3.1415*7/8*7/8 = 2.405

Simply multiply the pressure reading in PSI by 2.4 and you get the force acting on the piston in pounds.

This also gives you an idea what your pressure gauge needs to be rated for. If an average CEC Locost weighs 600kg, corner weight will be approx 150kg, which is 330 pounds. With a mini clutch slave this gives a pressure of 137.2 PSI.

[Edited on 28/9/06 by MikeRJ]

Alternatively, do what I did and buy 4 sets of bathroom scales (used 2 per wheel) from Argos for £4 each

ATB

Simon

Thanks to all for the advices

Thanks to all for the advices

quote:

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Alternatively, do what I did and buy 4 sets of bathroom scales (used 2 per wheel) from Argos for £4 each

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Stu,

Fine iirc

Just make sure you spread the load across each set of scales. They are (as you can appreciate cheap) so subject to jamming (and giving false readings) if weight is applied in wrong place.

ATB

Simon

You could try motorbike rear brake master cylinders, there are plenty to choose from. You could mount them in some form of frame with a plate for the wheel connected by lever arrangement to the cylinder to get the range you want. Cheapo scales sounds easier though.