Vehicle scales – collision assistance

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Updated – January 29, 2024

Anyone looking for a vehicle scale for a caravan or motorhome often refrains from buying it because it is too complicated to handle: reviewers say that you should drive onto the scale about three times - with each wheel - in order to then average the possible measured value .

Scales that are offered for commercial use are priced at and above the four-digit range. So personal initiative is still required.

The problem is that the scale, which is seven centimeters wide, is quickly overrun and the center is missed. The two weighing points on the bottom are flexibly mounted to enable the scales to tilt when being raised or lowered. They are made of a relatively durable plastic, but I doubt that they will survive repeated weighing processes for long without damage. With a double-axle truck, six wheels have to be positioned three times, i.e. up and down 18 times for a complete weighing process...

The requirement was therefore to minimize these tipping processes and to make the collision and correct positioning easier and gentler.

Construction

At the beginning there was the screen printing plate, 24 mm thick, two pieces of which were glued together on top of each other and chamfered at an angle of 45° on the narrow ends. The upper screen printing plate received a central recess of 70 x 340 mm for the scales. An 8 mm thick aluminum sheet was glued into this recess to provide a firm base for the weighing points and enough space for tires to give in without distorting the measurement result.

This was followed by a 3 mm thick aluminum checker plate and an identical recess as a cover, each with 68 mm 45°-angled folds on the narrow sides, which thus form the access ramp.

The underside was covered with a 5 mm thick rubber plate to protect the screen printing plate from moisture, dirt and stones.

The scale is inserted into the central recess, where it is secured against tipping but is still freely movable for the weighing process. If the material thicknesses are adhered to, the scale surface remains approximately six millimeters above the aluminum checker plate in order to avoid falsified weighing results.

Fine tuning

If, depending on its circumference, a tire still touches the aluminum checker plate surface when weighing, an appropriately thick sheet of metal must be inserted between the scale and the support in order to be able to position the tire higher and therefore freely.

And this is what the final product looks like, ready for use:

If you only use the scale for one tire size, you can make two 40 mm deep holes of 8 mm on the right and left of the scale, through which an aluminum rectangular profile with suitable 8 mm bolts can be inserted onto the aluminum checker plate in order to be stopped in the correct position when driving up.