A load stick is a rigid telescoping bar with an inline force load cell that replaces or parallels a shock absorber to measure exact wheel or corner spring force at compressed race travel.
Static corner weights on flat shop scales only show what the car weighs sitting still at ride height, before bump stops, progressive coils, pull bars or stacked springs engage. With a load stick (from builders like Longacre, Wehrs Machine or Intercomp), a crew pulls the car down to exact corner-entry attitude with a winch or jack, locks the load stick at target shock eye-to-eye travel, and reads the true poundage holding that corner up. Logging both static ride height and compressed load-stick poundage ensures you reproduce the exact dynamic platform week after week, even after swapping spring brands or bump rubbers.
Static scale numbers miss coil-bind and bump-stop forces; load-stick readings show the real poundage the tire sees at peak corner travel.