Dumb, Stubborn, and bound to end up penniless…….

[aw614]

I regret not buying hubstands when I saw a guy selling a used set for half the price on the local autocross forum grr.

[aklackner]

Yeah, I'm very excited to get my set. I've learned a lot about hubstands while researching my order. I was surprised how many small design elements can influence the feature set and there's really not much info out there on benefits\impacts of various designs, at least that I saw.
To share some of the info I learned:

1. Mostly older designs but, fixed stands will resist camber movement so won't accurately represent suspension position on the ground well. Make sure there's going to be enough movement.
2. Hubstands will generally increase the pressure on the ground due to limited contact area with the ground compared to a tire so may not work well on DIY slip plates. It's better if stands themselves are designed to allow free movement for the suspension to settle
3. Due to weight dist. (especially of FF cars) your hub heights (from ground) will differ (f/r but also potentially l\r) since tires will compress more or less based on weight applied to them. For accurate alignments\height adjustments\cornerweight you need to account for this so each hubstand's height needs to be adjustable in some way and you should check hub heights before putting the car on hubstands to get an idea of where they are at comparatively (to each other, with correct air pressure, full weight, driver, passenger, fluids, common cargo, ballast). This also applies if a staggered wheel setup is used
4. Roller\bearing based hubstands will transfer weight from the corner supported on to near pin point surfaces below the bearing. You'll need a very solid surface to support these without damaging the surface and to actually allow free movement. They also won't work (well) on surfaces that aren't very smooth or has flaws (Try to plan for thick or well supported steel that can be leveled together in a single plane, )
5. Leveling stands on a plane a actually more important than perfectly leveled to gravity. You can use a laser with a flat side (~$4-15) and a ruler as a target to do this, even when not using hubstands.
6. Standard hubstands will typically have support centered on plane with the face of the hub\rotor. If running
   significantly changed track width you may want to look for hubstands with scrub adjustment so you can replicate the way your wheel supports the suspension.
7. Depending on brake caliper clearance and hubstand mount you may need to remove brake calipers to mount some hubstands
8. When using roller based stands it's highly recommended to have some form of stop that will limit movement on the scale pad surface to avoid rolling off one of the corners.
9. When corner weighting make sure stands are centered on the pads. Most scales will register different weights when not centered on the pad, hubstands have smaller and rigid contact surface with the pad so this will have a larger impact than when on tires which will apply more even pressure on the pad.
10. If used with a string kit for 4 wheel alignments you'll want to get as close over the hub as possible to limit any impact of camber differences. Even stands with stick type extensions for measuring toe over the hub may need extensions for hub\axle\axle nut or caliper clearance
11. OEM (softer) rubber suspension bushings will help soak more of the variances up than will solid or spherical bushings so the harder you go the greater accuracy will be required.
12. Due to all the real world variance between wheels and hubstands it probably make sense to do a reality check and take a final set of measurements on the actual wheels after adjustments to ensure you're getting what you expected.

[aklackner]

Stopped by the bodyshop Friday and things seem to have slowed a bit but they say about 3 weeks to get to paint. For now they are doing another round of blocking and sealing.

Second box for the scale kit came so I got to set it up and checked accuracy, all 4 pads read dead on for my weight. Yay for the scales but still depressed. LOL

Hubstands are supposed to finally ship today, fingers crossed.

[aklackner]

Well, now I have everything but the car to setup. Lol

[noahf]

i have one of those if you want to test

[noahf]

actually i dont even have adjustable coilovers on the ctr yet!

[aklackner]

i have one of those if you want to test

Hit me up next time you think you'll have some time on a weekday. We could do an alignment, even without adjustable suspension, and check where a your CTR sits for weight.

[coolhandluke]

Are you familiar with alignments? That is an item I keep meaning to learn. I am jealous of this setup.

[aklackner]

Are you familiar with alignments? That is an item I keep meaning to learn. I am jealous of this setup.

Well researched but it’s still a new skill set for me to build experience with.

[aklackner]