SMB weight-don't laugh

[bluedog225]

I saw a video on this while trying to find a consumer weight scale for each tire. I am modifying the description slightly. Park on a flat, level surface. Don't attempt if you don't know what you are doing. Set brake, block tires, etc., be safe...

1. Get a digital air gauge accurate to 0.10. Pressurize your tires equally to the nearest 10th of a pound per square inch.

2-Jack up one wheel of the SMB with your floor jack. Put some marker on tire (charcoal dust, spray cooking oil, chalk, etc). Slide a piece of white paper or posterboard under the tire. Lower gently and fully. Raise and remove paper. Repeal for all 4 tires.

3. "Fix" the footprint of the tire with hairspray to preserve.

4. Calculate the number of square inches (will require some rounding.....you may need to cut the square out of each footprint and then piece together the rounded edges into an approximate square).

5. Do the math. E.g. 60 psi pressure and 6"x6" footprint. (6 * 6) * 4 * 60 = 8,640 lbs

While not precise, it would give you a ballpark and it would let you know if one tire was carrying more weight than others.

Are there any cheap scales out there? Am I up too late?

Tom

 

[jage]

"I will give you this fine barometer if you'll tell me how tall the building is."

In my opinion the variation required to make a significant difference in a E rated tire is too much for this to be a valid tool, not to mention the tread irregularities (i.e. my tire can compress 1/4" vertically before the next tread comes in contact with the ground.) In other words, yeah you're up too late and I'm up too early!

There is actually a similar method that involves chalking your tires and deflating them until the maximum surface area is obtained, just before cupping, to determine the ideal "air down" pressure. I've never known anyone to do it though, and with guys running single digit psis I wonder if it's even valid.

 

[Ford_6L_E350]

That method will be a lot more accurate than the old SWAG method. There will be some error due to the spaces between the blocks, and not all blocks being equally loaded, but it should be fairly close.

Who has weighed their van and wants to try and validate this method?

Mike

 

[Greg In Austin]

I am going to have to re-read those instructions after my head stops hurting......

 

[saline]

Wow, sounds like a lot of work! Not accurate per tire but I weighed in at the scales at 9,450lbs with a full tank of fuel.

 

[bluedog225]

May need back out the surface are of the tread grooves. Not load bearing therefore should not count. :a7:

There must be an easier way to get a per wheel weight. The only scale I can find is limited to about 5000 lbs total.

I think there is a way to use a lever arm and a bathroom scale but I'll need to do some more research.

Tom

 

[BroncoHauler-SMB]

May need back out the surface are of the tread grooves. Not load bearing therefore should not count. :a7:

There must be an easier way to get a per wheel weight. The only scale I can find is limited to about 5000 lbs total.

I think there is a way to use a lever arm and a bathroom scale but I'll need to do some more research.

Tom

Aren't there any real truck stops in the area? They're usually buried in the industrial areas of most towns.


Herb

 

[yvrr]

We don't have any truck stops nearby but I found a commercial scale in the industrial area of the adjacent town. If I got desperate, the local rock and gravel place (which caters to both commercial accounts and homeowners needing sand, mulch, etc.) has a scale since nearly all of their materials are sold by the ton. I paid about $10 at the commercial scale so I'd approach others with an offer to pay them in return for weighing the van.

 

[Greg In Austin]

metal recyclers and landfills also usually have scales....

 

[John and Dana]

We were in Oregon last month and as we were driving by a state weigh station that was closed I noticed that the read out for th scale was on, so we pulled in. 10,500 with 1/2 tank of fuel and less than 1/3 of a tank of water.

Just curious but do any of the armchair lawyers know the legal ramification of driving a vehicle that is over its posted weight limit? I think the sticker on the door says 9650 and even if we emptied all of the gear out of the van we would probably still be over.

John :b5:

 

[ed1-SMB]

:a2: :a2: :a2:

I know the title said not to laugh. But I don't follow directions well.

 

[bluedog225]

"Just curious but do any of the armchair lawyers know the legal ramification of driving a vehicle that is over its posted weight limit? I think the sticker on the door says 9650 and even if we emptied all of the gear out of the van we would probably still be over."

I'm not giving legal advice, laws vary by state, the engineers who designed your vehicle are very smart, and you need to consult with your own attorney but...speaking strictly hypothetically....and focusing only on legal ramifications and not addressing the safety of you or others on the road...

-Knowingly exceeding your stated capacity may:

-Violate state civil laws giving rise to a civil fine.
-Violate state criminal laws thereby giving rise to criminal prosecution which may result one of a variety of penalties (monetary penalties, imprisonment, etc.). Worst case-you lose control of your vehicle, hit a church bus, and 3 children are killed. A jury may find that the loss of control was due, in whole or in part, to the excess weight. It is possible that you would be charged with something like manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide. If convicted, bad things happen. In addition, you may go through the rest of your life as a convicted felon. This has various ramifications.
-Give rise to a civil lawsuit for monetary damages. This can occur in addition to a criminal prosecution.
-Void your insurance coverage. This is important. Your policy may (probably does) require that you operate and maintain your equipment in accordance with the manufacturer's specifications. If this happens, and you lose a civil suit, your assets are at risk of being used to settle the judgment against you. Also, if you had a less serious accident in which your vehicle was trashed but no one was hurt, you might be denied coverage for the loss.

That's just off the top of my head. I may have missed a couple.

The only solution I can think of is to find a way to raise the rating on your vehicle. This would involve upgrading the parts with the lowest rating. I suspect the limitations on your gross weight are related to the tires and suspension. An engineer might be willing to certify you for your current weight. Sportsmobile or Quigley would know.

Hope that helps. :b5: (root beer) (all of the above gets more complicated if alcohol is involved)

Tom

 

[John and Dana]

Tom,

Thanks for taking time to post. I think my next step might be to empty my van of all personal property fill it with fuel and water and then weight again, because I suspect that as delivered from Sportsmobile West my van is over the 9650 on the door sticker. They don't change the rating of the van even though they have replaced/modified most of the suspension components and replaced the front brakes with those from a F-550 which has a much higher load rating. If they have delivered the van over the max allowed weight it should give me more leverage to try to get them to help change the load rating.

John

 

[Ford_6L_E350]

Salem_Kroger rerated my van after the 4wd conversion. It is currently rated at 9,999#. I chose just under 10K as opposed to just over 11K (F350 front brakes + E350 rear brakes). For the life of me, I don't know why I chose the former.

Mike