[KeithO]

A friend loaned me his Longacre 4-pad scale system last evening. This evening after work I need to weigh my car in preparation for my CMC dyno pulls tomorrow (I need to know if/how much hp/tq to pull out of the motor). I planned on weighing the car in my 2-car garage but it has a very gentle slope towards the absolute center to allow runoff to go down the drain. This means that even if I center the car over the drain, the location of the 4 pads may not be perfectly level. As a backup, I took a level out to my rear, omni-stone patio. While it is level, there is some uneveness in some of the stones and it will not likely allow the pads to fully distribute the weight across the base of the pads.

Question:
1) Is this small amount of slope in my garage enough to be concerned about? I want to esnure that I don't damage the scales and I am looking for a reasonably accurate weight.
2) Would I risk damaging the pads if I used them on my omnistone patio given that they may not sit flat against the surface?

Anyone with knowledge/experience with the scales can feel free to chime in on my questions or give helpful hints. I need an accurate weight and the system did not come with instructions...

Thanks.

[1LEThumper]

Depends on the scale setup you are using. Some of them have their own frame work with adjustible pads, others are just the 4 scales themselves and you have to shim them. If you have a frame work type then level the front one then the rear one then to each other....both fore and aft and side to side. You need to make sure what ever it sits on it is solid and firm so that it doesn't affect the scale readings.

Also you need to make sure that the car is aligned before you scale it. Make sure the front tires are both pointed forwards, make sure all tire pressures are set the same and unhook the sway bars. Other than that its up to you as far as fuel in the tank and if you are in the car or not...it should be scaled with you in it however.