The Principle of Weight Transfer Revealed

   Weight transfer during cornering, acceleration or braking is usually fiqured for each individual wheel and compared with the static weights for the same wheels. Cornering wheel weights requires knowing the static wheel weights, and then you either add or subtract the unsprung, sprung and jacking forces at each wheel. Some auto racing circles use their own terms, by combining things like jacking forces and sprung transfer and call it by terms like side bite. They are either unknowing by ignorance or intentionally confusing competitors by not dealing with vehicle fundamentals and using commonly accepted  terms.

   Unsprung weight transfer is fiqured based on the total pounds of the vehicle's components that are not supported by the springs. This includes tires, wheels, brakes, spindles, half the control arm's weight and other components. These components are then, for fiquring purposes, assumed to be connected to a vehicle with zero sprung weight. They are then put through the same dynamic loads. The transfer for cornering in the front would be equal to the total unsprung front weight times the G Force times the front unsprung center of gravity height divided by the front track width. The same is true for the rear.

  Sprung Weight Transfer is the weight shifted by only the weight of the vehicle resting on the springs not the total vehicle weight. Fiquring this requires knowing the vehicles sprung weight, total weight less the unsprung weight, the front and rear roll center heights and the sprung center of gravity height, used to fiqure the roll moment arm length. Fiquring out the front and rear sprung weight transfer will also require knowing the roll couple percentage.

  The roll axis is the line through the front and rear roll centers that the vehicle rolls around during cornering. The distance from this axis to the sprung center of gravity height is the roll moment arm length. The total sprung weight transfer is equal to the G force times the sprung weight times the roll moment arm length divided by the effective track width. The front sprung weight transfer is fiqured by multiplying the roll couple percentage times the total sprung weight transfer. The rear is just the total minus the front transfer.