Weight scales - easier than I expected

[stillthinking99]

I stopped for diesel yesterday at a truck stop in Santa Maria, ca. It's just off the 101 freeway at betteravia road. After asking, I drove on the scales, they guided me forward a bit, and in one shot they told me front axle, rear axle and weight of toad. DW and I grabbed some snacks in the store and bugged out. I don't know why I waited so long to do it.

36ft expedition DP fully loaded.

[racerguy]

In Oregon the DOT highway scale readouts are left on when the scale house is closed. There are a few that are rarely open, making it VERY convenient to get any kind of weights you want.

I unloaded my race car and even dropped my truck camper one time on a scale a few miles from where I live. Was there for around an hour and no one else came in the scale!

[mtrumpet]

Tried as I have, I have yet to find any scales that are segmented whereas I could the weigh all four corners of the coach individually.

[capndan77]

We live in a rural area and have access to a ground level scale as well. Never a charge but that is probably because everyone knows everyone here. There are probably no more than 3 motor homes near us. We have gotten into the annual routine of unloading everything in the basement compartments, weighing the coach at four corners with both of us on board and then reloading. It allows us to evaluate what we have accumulated and whether we need to reload it. It's amazing what creeps into those storage areas over a year. What goes back in is carried to a cheap set of bath scales, weighed and the weight noted on a sketched diagram of the coach divided into four quadrants. Yes, a little anal and no not truly most accurate way but we have been able to stay considerably under weight for three seasons now. It also reminds us of the location of key items. Still trying to figure out why I stored 2 quarts of oil in the compartment with the charcoal grill and a miniature Christmas tree!

[JnJnKatiebug]

wolfe10 wrote:

JnJnKatiebug wrote:
It is very easy to get each wheel weight at the truck stop. I pull on the CAT scale with my left side off the scale and they gave me the weight for front and rear. I then drove around and pulled back on the scale with my right side off the scale. I think it was $10 for the first weight and $2 for the re-weight.

Unless the area around the scales is DEAD LEVEL, you will not get accurate readings. And the area around the scales are rarely level-- they are sloped away for drainage.

It went out level for over 3 feet, I drove the tires just off the scale. I also pulled the entire coach on the scale. It was less that 50 pounds difference.

[wolfe10]

JnJnKatiebug wrote:
It is very easy to get each wheel weight at the truck stop. I pull on the CAT scale with my left side off the scale and they gave me the weight for front and rear. I then drove around and pulled back on the scale with my right side off the scale. I think it was $10 for the first weight and $2 for the re-weight.

Unless the area around the scales is DEAD LEVEL, you will not get accurate readings. And the area around the scales are rarely level-- they are sloped away for drainage.

[JnJnKatiebug]

It is very easy to get each wheel weight at the truck stop. I pull on the CAT scale with my left side off the scale and they gave me the weight for front and rear. I then drove around and pulled back on the scale with my right side off the scale. I think it was $10 for the first weight and $2 for the re-weight.

[wa8yxm]

Ok, now you have axle weights.. How are you side to side?

You really need 4-corner weights on the RV.

[robatthelake]

Now that the Canadian Dollar has dipped to 90 Cents US ,Our American Friends are invited Up to Canada.
You will find that most of Our Highway Weigh Scales are Left turned on 24/7 and Are Free!
They are also usually set up to make multiple passes that allow weighing all four corners!

Come up save money and drive safe!

[stillthinking99]

Thanks for the feedback. Executive, I didn't know what to expect but was worried I was over weight. I have wanted to properly air the tires as was mentioned by Hoosier, so this will help with tire pressures and inspiration to declutter stuff I don't really need to haul around. Seems I'm a bit overweight.

[Mr__Jeff]

Great information to know! Everyone insists that we should really know all four corner weights of our motorhomes but I found (like many) that most places such as Flying J. Pilot and Love's can't handle the request for four corner weighing.

Last summer while traveling through Iowa we stopped for dinner in a small town. Right across the street was a grain elevator with scale for the grain trucks. It was closed for the evening. Unlike the scales at truck stops this one did not have any tire railing around it - it was ground level flush all the way around - and the digital scale readout was active! So after dinner we pulled right over and weighed all for corners. Great information to have! Learned the slide and propane tank on the driver side added considerable weight to the front left - much more than I expected.

Next time your traveling on non-interstate highways visit a small town with a grain elevator. If they're not busy they would probably enjoy weighing something different!

[Executive45]

Congratulations! At least you now know the TRUE weight of your coach, each axle and the weight of your toad....were there any surprises?:h..was the weight what you expected? Close to it?....

We weigh ours every couple months or so...quick, easy and only about $10 bucks...IMHO, money well spent....weighing four corners will tell you if you're overloaded on a corner but it's more expensive and difficult to find someone to do it.

You now have more information than you had yesterday and more than a lot of folks on this forum have on their rigs..thanks for sharing your experience.....Dennis

[Hoosier_Cruiser]

That will tell you if you have an overweight axel, but not if you are overweight on a wheel on that axel. You need to weigh all wheels independently. Once done, inflate all tires on the same axel to the manufactures tire chart for the load you have on the worse wheel. Usually 5 to 10 pounds extra is added to be safe.