Race Vehicle Cross Weight - How to compute it

Cross Weight, Wedge or Diagonal is the total amount of weight on the Right Front Tire and Left Rear Tire. It is usually expressed in percent form. Cross Weight is calculated by adding the Right Front Wheel Weight and the Left Rear Wheel Weight, then dividing that figure by the Total Weight of the vehicle. Example:

Left Front Wheel Weight.....700 lbs.

Right Front Wheel Weight....600 lbs.

Left Rear Wheel Weight......900 lbs.

Right Rear Wheel Weight.....600 lbs.

Total Weight...............2800 lbs.

Cross Weight...............1500 lbs.

1500 lbs. / 2800 lbs. = .5357. The Cross Weight of 1500 lbs divided by the Total Weight of 2800 lbs equals .5357 or 53.57%. That means that 53.57% of the vehicle's Total Weight is on the Right Front Tire and the Left Rear Tire. On an Oval Track this makes the Left Front Tire run a little colder because it does not do as much work. As the vehicle goes into a corner, the weight goes to the front of the vehicle. Usually the Right Front Tire gets most of the weight because the vehicle is turning left. When the vehicle accelerates off of the corner then the weight goes to the rear. The average range of Cross Weight is 51% to 59%.

The computer program Computerized Chassis Set-Up created by RSTsetup.com will determine the minimum stagger required for the track and can be obtained by Steve Smith Autosports Publication.

Other urls to take you to RSTsetup is CircleTrackSetup.com and OvalTrackSetup.com

About the Author

Keith Kelly has driven and owned many different types of circle track vehicles and has about 40 years of circle track racing experience. Keith has gained knowledge by trial and error set-ups and by attending classes and seminars taught by winning drivers and crew chiefs. About 20 years ago he created Computerized Chassis Set-Up to do the math required to set-up race vehicles.