Annual Scales Purchase Proposal

Mark Vitacco · **Posted:** Wed Dec 08, 2004 7:16 pm

The Track Events team had a plan to do a club purchase of a set of digital scales for the Track Program.
It was tabled until we had sufficiant funds but we are
in good shape now with even better prospects ahead to re-visit this.

So how many of you Street Preparied and track folks with coil over
shocks would be interesting in the club purchasing a set of scales. The plan
was for Mark Cooper to keep them in his shop, they would be
available for use on Sat mornings when he does not do instal work.

They would also be available at Venue that do not have scales.
I see no reason a club this size cannot provide this for it's members
if they are truly interested.

Let me know!

Patrice Bousquet · **Posted:** Thu Dec 09, 2004 5:09 am

Sound good to me.

Patrice

shawnwhipple · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 6:28 pm **Posts:** 603

Just to clarify. Mark is proposing purchasing these scales from the TT account which is has done financially well this year, not the general account.

I think this would be a potential benefit for club members and if Mark thinks that there purchase fits within the TT budget then I say go for it.

Shawn

Frank Catena · **Joined:** Wed Aug 27, 2003 1:08 pm **Posts:** 418

I believe one of the boxes under our Christmas tree just *might* have a set of adjustable coilovers in it. Count me in ....

Frank

Ron Spencer · **Posted:** Thu Dec 09, 2004 11:32 am

Mark are you factoring in the cost of the ramps and such needed to easliy roll cars on and off?

Ron

Marvin McBride · **Posted:** Thu Dec 09, 2004 2:28 pm

Sounds good to me.

When do we start looking at aquiring a dyno and alignment rack?

jimpastorius · **Posted:** Thu Dec 09, 2004 2:37 pm

Mark Vitacco wrote:

The plan was for Mark Cooper to keep them in his shop, they would be available for use on Sat mornings when he does not do instal work.

I am not sure that is the best scenerio. If they are set up in the parking lot, then it should not be a problem.

But, if you plan on using them in the actual garage, you may have an issue. If I remember right, there is a slight uphill grade into the garage. You will need to have more than one person there to help push the car into the garage and up the ramps.

Will the scales fit in the garage? With the current lift in place, I do not see how they would.

These are moot points if you plan on setting then up outside.

Mark Vitacco · **Posted:** Sat Dec 18, 2004 2:54 am

- These are portable digital scales that fit in a suitcase.
- You would have to take them out and set them up on a
suitiable level area. Or make a level area with floor
tiles or some such shim.
- It would be a two person job because you must push the
car on and off. A full blown setup platform would make it
a one person job, like you see the race teams using, but
they cost $1700 for the ramps alone!
- We have sufficiant funds to get scales, storage unit,
and at least single ramps. A basic functional setup.
No memory or printer but full 4 corner read out with %'s
totals, and split totals. Either a Lonacre or Rebco unit.
- you can do it yourself on the cheep with blocks of wood and
postal scales but that's not really the point.
- K&E gets betwen $75 and $100 an hour rental on their scales
consider a car should be scaled every time you change ride height or
springs, plus at least once a year to deal with normal settling.

Mark Cooper solves the main problem with such proposals:
the keeper of the scales issue were there would be convient
predictable access. In Mark's case, someone who does both
AX and Track Events, makes it ideal.

Then again we could use that money and purchase 6 AMB
transponders............................................................

Donnie Barnes · **Posted:** Sat Dec 18, 2004 12:37 pm

Also note that at least with the Longacre ramps they have different sizes. All of them are adjustable to *some* degree, but not nearly enough to cover the popular club cars. You have to get at least two and probably three sets of wheelbase pieces, which pushes the cost up even more!

I've seen clubs that built their own adjustable ramps using wood that worked fairly well. Maybe someone in the club could do that instead.

--Donnie

John Hines · **Posted:** Sun Dec 19, 2004 12:06 am

Scales would be wonderful....But...are we going to have to pay for time on the scales???

What about shop time...If they are free to use and Mark Cooper gets flooded with people trying to use the "club" scales...then how can he get any work done???

Mark Vitacco · **Posted:** Sun Dec 19, 2004 2:33 pm

Can't do adjustable wheel base ramps or setup type platforms for
the budet we have in mind . The proposal is for very basic set of
scales and 4 individual ramps that you can roll the car up onto and
off. Bridges could be easily done with 2x8's but we want
something that will tuck away in a case in Mark's shop
and be out of the way. This is not to say you can't bring
something your self to make the job easier and quicker.

As far as logestics, it's a bit premature to get into details. This is
pretty much up to Mark Cooper. There is no room in his current
shop. This would have to be done in the parking lot, however, they
do plan to move into a larger shop eventually. Obviously we can't
have 20 to 30 people showing up each Sat AM, it may require a sign
up sheet on the web site or some means you could book a time slot.

The indent was to provide this as a Benifit for club members
such as other clubs may have tool rental programs and such.
If the 2005 season comes off as exptected I could look into
implementing this by late sping but then again we could also
table it another year if we feel it best to build up more cash surplus.

DickRasmussen · **Posted:** Sun Dec 19, 2004 3:07 pm

Mark,

Once you get the scales, you might do something similar to what GI's in support areas in Vietnam did to be able to buy refrigerators: We had a "soda fund" which meant we bought the sodas for 10 cents each and sold them to ourselves (and anyone passing through) for 15 cents each. That paid back the initial investment and provided a fund for replacement refrig's and/or "party beer".

You could charge the scale users a small amount each time they use it and then build up a fund for buying accessories or other tools.

Dick (who wishes his garage was big enough to offer to be keeper of the scales for you)

Mark Vitacco · **Posted:** Sun Dec 19, 2004 6:07 pm

I like Dick's idea and any more like it. Obvously we want someting with
as little overhead for Mark Cooper and us.

This would be not a trivial investment for the club's TT Account.
Cables and connectors will wear out. Platforms could be absued
and need replacment (ie exceeding weight limits). Costs are
involved so fee must be associated with it. However,
Any Fee shoud be small. The whole idea is to enable club members to do corner weights, as need, several times over the course of a season.
A nomial fee of perhaps $10 to $15 per use would be prudent for upkeep
but that would still probably take quite a while before the investment
was recovered. It would actually be considerd more of an asset than
an investment as we don't plan to generate income out if it,though that
would be possible.

These ideas will definatly help when it comes time for implementation
which I'm hoping to be this spring.

The Keeper of the Scales has always been the place were such plans break down.
Having it at someone house runs into access issues.
Rotation among various owners get's complcated fast.
Having it at place of commercial business, with
fixed operating hours, where users can access
is an idea solution provided we all behave, use
common sence and don't cause grief to the owner.

DickRasmussen · **Posted:** Sun Dec 19, 2004 8:28 pm

As far as a "place" for the scales: Are any of the "mini storage" places configured such that the scales could "live" in one storage unit . . . and then used outside on a paved area or even inside if the unit is big enough? My gut feel is that any place "big enough" and "nice enough" would be too expensive . . . but brainstorming starts with crazy ideas that may trigger good ideas.

The general idea is some place where the access is "controlled public" with the "keys" being a "check out" controlled process. Is there any available "flat place" that could be used with minimal hassle to the owner? If so, could the scales be kept in some sort of storage area with check out use by club members who would then take them to the "flat place"?

Note that my recollection of Mark Cooper's parking lot is that it may be too far from "flat and level" to be practical to set up and level scales on. For setting corner weights, especially with stiff suspensions, the scales need to be VERY flat and level. My shop/garage is visually flat. My non digital scale set up still needs around 1/4 inch of shims for a couple of wheels.

MilesBeam · **Joined:** Fri Aug 15, 2003 1:57 pm **Posts:** 427

Hey Dick,

I haven't checked prices lately, but I stored my car for awhile in a 10 x 30 covered, locked storage unit off Lake Wheeler Rd. They made me a deal that was right at $100 a month. That may sound out of the budget for what we want, but it would have some advantages to having to store them in a business and then bother the owner everytime we wanted them. A 10 x 20 unit, or 10 x 24 would be plenty adequate for this. The unit I had was pretty close to level also.

Four or five uses a month at $25 a shot should cover the rental fee.

If we purchased a large unit like 10 x 30, there is plenty of room for any size car, and extra storage room for other tools, accessories, etc. that the club might acquire.

It's rather amazing what people do with those storage units. I've seen some that were practically fixed up like apartments (though you are prohibited from living in them.) Others were fixed up as music studios and bands would practice there. I think there is a whole subculture of people who make interesting uses (probably not all legal) of those things!

Just a thought.

Miles

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