Well yeah, the remaining thing is calculating load correctly. Calculating directly from suspension force is wrong when suspension is moving(meaning that either it's exceeding more force than load that way lifting up or that it's exceeding not as much force as load that way getting more compressed.
No. You definitely need to reconsider your ideas. Calculating the load from the suspension force is entirely correct. In fact, they are exactly the same magnitude but opposite directions.
- When the suspension is not moving then load = suspension force = stiffness * compression_distance.
- When the suspension is moving and the suspension has no damper then the load = suspension force = stiffness * compression_distance.
- When the suspension is moving and the suspension has damper then the load = suspension force = stiffness * compression_distance + damper * movement_speed.
The last point is the generic case: if suspension has no damper then damper = 0; if suspension is not moving then movement_speed = 0. In either case leaves load = suspension force = stiffness * compression_distance.
It's fair that you might not fully understand it, but please trust other people that actually do. Use this load calculation for now and move forward to the other aspects of the simulation. It will work correctly. Get back to this in the future if you think something is still wrong.
You might also check out these demos and videos. This simulation model calculates load as the suspension force:
http://vehiclephysics.com/about/demos/
The telemetry shows the instant load on each wheel. You can see how load is redistributed as for the weight transfer when he vehicles accelerate, brake or steer:
2016-03-31_133007_suspension_load.jpg
2016-01-26_195905_vpp_suspension_load.jpg
In the first picture the car is accelerating, so there is more load (=weight) at the rear wheels. In the second picture the car is performing a strong turn to the right (1.7G), so most of the weight (=load) has been transferred to the left wheels.
I want a Linux version for the Ferrari(keyboard one as I don't have steer wheel controller:( ).
I'll assume that you're right about the suspension force and load.