Weigh your car for less than a tenner - at home!

[Jrichards20]

You can thank me later  s:D s:D  I shall be attempting this tomorrow. Need to make sure my car doesn't really weigh 1400KG like the MOT said.


Step 1

Get down to Tesco and buy yourself 2 x value bathroom scales. They were £4 each at the time and I doubt they are much more now.

Each scale weighed up to 150 kg giving us a max measurable weight of 300 kg per corner or 1200kg total.

If you are planning on doing a lot of corner weighting and adjustments I recommend you buy eight (still only £32). You will see why in a bit.


Step 2

Push the scales together and lie some wood over the top of both of them to spread the load. Most scales are 2" high and we used a 3" x 2" bit of timber to spread the load over them both. This meant we could use three bits of 4" x 4" to bring the car up to level while we measure one corner at a time. If you bought scales for all corners you would not need the wood and the whole process would be much quicker.

If buying 8 you can just slide them all under every wheel. which makes it a bit quicker!

Step 3.

Jack the car up, slide the 4x4 under three wheels, slide the two scales and wood under one wheel. Hey presto, corner weights.

You can also use this to measure a rough unsprung weight of the car.


Shamelessly stolen and slightly adapted from this source.

 m http://www.turbosport.co.uk/showthread.php?t=153066 m

[Topdownman]

So, how much does it weigh then?!

[Jrichards20]

Will do it tomorrow after I've bought the scales  s:) s:)

[lamcote]

If you've got a reasonable amount of fuel in the tank you may well exceed the 300kg limit of your scales on the back wheels.

[JoeCool]

Alternatively, just drive it over the weigh bridge at the local tip and ask them to tell you the numbers. It's not corner weighted, but then by the time you've jacked each corner, found level ground, faffed about etc etc I'm not sure that a one wheel at a time method is ever going to give you reliable enough numbers to properly 'corner weigh' a car.

[Jrichards20]

There isn't a single tip in the hole of Croydon council that has a weighbridge. Spent most of yesterday ringing places up asking if they had a weighbridge. +how reliable are those weighbridges that are used to measure trucks filled with scrap?

+ some people's cars may not be road legal or drivable so its  handy home trick.

[Fin]

There must be a tip in the area with a weighbridge. All waste is sold/charged for by the tonne. Whether they are willing to let a car onto one is a different matter "Elf and safety innit?".  Although most councils do have facility to pay to have your vehicle weighed, I've never tried taking a car over one...
Weighbridges are usually good to about 10 kilos.

[Jrichards20]

I've called the local council and through to trading standards who stated all tips in the area do not have weighbridges available for the public. They did say there used to be but they have closed.  s:( s:(  

There is one in Guildford which the internet said was closest. but that's still a fair drive away  s:( s:(

[Swan_Connery]

Scrap metal places will have them. I've blagged the use of one a few times before.

[StuC]

Whats wrong with just accepting toyotas figures?

[Swan_Connery]

Well I'm sure a few of us have modified their cars to an extent where it becomes a distinct advantage. Therefore its good to know things like weight and bhp for the essential calculations and pub talk. Corner weights are good for setting up suspension, I used to use 4 scales for my single seater but it was only 320kg.

[shnazzle]

I'd be interested in this so that I knew how many clicks to turn the left suspension when there's a passenger.
This because of the very noticeable change in handling when someone is next to you. Maybe biasing the damping helps

[Jrichards20]

Whats wrong with just accepting toyotas figures?

My recent MOT said my car weighed 1,400kg. If that's correct, I think I have a problem that needs to be looked at  s:) s:)

[Jrichards20]

Scrap metal in purely way said they will charge a fiver. Yay! On the to do list the weekend.

[Anonymous]

I need to weigh mine too  s:) s:)

[StuC]

Whats wrong with just accepting toyotas figures?

My recent MOT said my car weighed 1,400kg. If that's correct, I think I have a problem that needs to be looked at  s:) s:)

Were you sitting in the car when they weighed it?
Just wondering if it is an 'eating all the pies' problem like some of us on here?  s;-) ;-) s;-)

[Jrichards20]

Granted I've put on some weight, but not 300kgs worth!  s:) s:)  and yes, I do have a pie problem  s;) s;)

[shnazzle]

My name is Patrick, and I'm a pizzaholic

[StuC]

Hi, my name is Stu and I last ate a custard cream (or 3) yesterday. I feel so ashamed.  s:cry: :cry: s:cry:

[Jrichards20]

I've just eaten two croissants and two large sugary cupcakes with a large latte to wash it all down. Well there goes over half my daily calorie intake in an half an hour.

[StuC]

Good work!  s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

[Anonymous]

4 croissants, 4 muffins, 2 iced buns, 2 large lattes and soon a bag of sweets. Driving all day does not help, but fitting a turbo did make up the difference I just now need a bigger turbo  s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

[Jrichards20]

And I thought I was bad Richard, you'll need a V8 soon  s:) s:)  it wont just be our cars needing industrial scales at this rate   s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

[Anonymous]

Well I'm happy to be bucking the Trend - I've lost 20kg this year (since jan) so my car should be faster than ever when I finally get to use it  s:D s:D

[Anonymous]

Well I'm happy to be bucking the Trend - I've lost 20kg this year (since jan) so my car should be faster than ever when I finally get to use it  s:D s:D

What's your secret, every mr2 needs to know.