From: Spare the Tires and Brakes, Spoil the Chassis
Built-In Weigh Scales
Onboard weighing devices integrated into a truck exist for both air and mechanical suspension, but each works differently. "With air ride, you just take a measure of the air pressure in pounds per square inch, and translate that into weight," says Rick Rickman, director of sales and marketing for Watson & Chalin Manufacturing Inc.
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James A. Eckhardt, head engineer at Silent Drive Inc. of Orange City, IA, counsels that air-ride weighing systems operate on an axle-by-axle basis and require that you read the weight separately on each axle. "You can't take just one reading, unless you assume that you have an evenly distributed load every time, which is rarely the case," he says.
On a mechanical suspension, Rickman says, alternatives include a pressure pad between the frame rails and the suspension, or an electronic strain gauge with transducers measuring how much a walking beam bends under the load and translating that into weight.
November-December 2004
From: Spare the Tires and Brakes, Spoil the Chassis
Built-In Weigh Scales
Onboard weighing devices integrated into a truck exist for both air and mechanical suspension, but each works differently. "With air ride, you just take a measure of the air pressure in pounds per square inch, and translate that into weight," says Rick Rickman, director of sales and marketing for Watson & Chalin Manufacturing Inc.James A. Eckhardt, head engineer at Silent Drive Inc. of Orange City, IA, counsels that air-ride weighing systems operate on an axle-by-axle basis and require that you read the weight separately on each axle. "You can't take just one reading, unless you assume that you have an evenly distributed load every time, which is rarely the case," he says.
On a mechanical suspension, Rickman says, alternatives include a pressure pad between the frame rails and the suspension, or an electronic strain gauge with transducers measuring how much a walking beam bends under the load and translating that into weight.