k80rum Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 just in case it's of interest to anyone, I think I've discovered a source of cheap corner-weighting scales. I bought Steve Foster's ( ) setup from him a while back, which used the home-brewed 8 x Ikea analogue scales to weigh the corners, but reading the displays and adding the values was a bit of a pain. Recently I noticed a German company on Ebay selling some 200kg scales with remote digital readouts. The readouts can be mains or battery-powered and they seemed pretty reasonable at £80 delivered for the pair. 200kg is just right for weighing the corner of a seven, so I took the plunge and bought a couple to try weighing one end. They arrived within a week and yesterday I had a play with them. I must say I'm really pleased with the results (photos here), considering they're quite a saving over a professional set. I'm planning to make up a little frame for the displays so they can sit next to the driver, then I should be able to get some readings from the driver's seat. Darren E K80RUM Website and Emerald maps library Superlight R #54 Edited by - k80rum on 28 Feb 2008 08:16:06 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stationary M25 Traveller Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 All looking very good. When are you taking bookings ? 7 related photos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k80rum Posted February 28, 2008 Author Share Posted February 28, 2008 You'll be the first to know. Another 2 are now on their way. I'm still missing an essential part though - a verifiably level floor Darren E K80RUM Website and Emerald maps library Superlight R #54 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stationary M25 Traveller Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 Thought your garage floor looked a bit lumpy ! What is the required tolerance on flat/smoothness ?? 7 related photos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevefoster Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 They look cool. Great that you are taking it to the next level. Looks like they can handle the suspension droop issue? How accurate are they with that side pressure - hence going roll on roll off? How do they work with the roll on roll of gear? You can get a verified level floor using a laser level (from any DIY store) and starting from the highest point, packing the lower scales up to reach the same level... Edited by - stevefoster on 28 Feb 2008 16:25:45 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveK Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 You don't have to flat floor the whole garage just 4 square patches where the wheels sit. If you get four steel plates and sink into the floor ,then level them in relation to each other ( 4 level screws in each corner keep them each level ) this will give you the ideal base for the scales or level pads Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k80rum Posted February 28, 2008 Author Share Posted February 28, 2008 Thanks guys That's pretty much my plan; levelling 4 'padstones' is the way I plan on tackling it. I'd originally thought of cross-checking them using a laser from each padstone to the other 3, however I've heard that the cheap and cheerful lasers you get in the DIY shops have a certain amount of fall in the beam over distance, which is why professional alignment lasers are significantly more expensive I've got to admit, this was on the site of a wheel-alignment company, so how much was sales-pitch and how much was truth I'm not sure. A cheap and equally effective technique will be the tube of water, the level oif which you check at each end (apologies for not remembering it's official name!) I've only had the chance to do one quick lower Steve, so I can't comment on how droop will affect the readings. I'll check., I like the approach of adjusting and dropping the car and then rolling it back onto the scales but I think some sliding plates (a simple greased plate sitting on top would do the trick) would allow it to adapt to the lateral movement quite well. I also need to check how it fits with the rest of the kit... they're definitely going to be a bit low compared with the original scales, but given i'll be building levelled pads underneath anyway, it shouldn't be much of an issue, the surface area's little bit bigger too, which fits the footprint of the tyre well. Darren E K80RUM Website and Emerald maps library Superlight R #54 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveMorris Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 I'm not a cook - but .. .. You can buy Teflon (basically PTFE) sheet for lining of cake tins etc. One sheet (or possibly two if you want to go the whole hog) between each scale and the flat floor plate would probably get rid of any droop effect. there's probably a flaw in this logic somewhere X-flow(er) power now resting. Trying Vx for a change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterg Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 I've heard that the cheap and cheerful lasers you get in the DIY shops have a certain amount of fall in the beam over distance I don't think they'd be a significant fall over the length of a se7en... and I'm not sure how much fall they'd be over 20-30 metres to be honest as light always travels in a straight line - OK, it can bend a bit round huge planets etc but I mean here in a domestic type environment... waits for flaming from Peter C who's probably written a book on it... 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Ford Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 the cheap and cheerful lasers you get in the DIY shops have a certain amount of fall in the beam over distance I don't think Einstein would agree with you here. Any curvature in the beam (due to, say, a rogue black hole under your garage carpet) would be purely in the fourth dimension and therefore unlikely to lead to incorrect measurements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stationary M25 Traveller Posted February 29, 2008 Share Posted February 29, 2008 ... or a large blue Police Box in the corner (that you may not have noticed). Although large enough to be a nuisance on the outside - wait until you see inside !! 7 related photos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k80rum Posted February 29, 2008 Author Share Posted February 29, 2008 good. I thought any shelving I'd put up looked pretty straight, so I reckon there aren't any black holes or similar too near the house. I'll probably still use the tube and water method (manometer. I gave in and looked it up to refresh my memory )tho if I can because it's cheap and I took the laser-leveller thing apart to see how it worked, after it stopped. 😬 Darren E K80RUM Website and Emerald maps library Superlight R #54 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7 wonders of the world Posted February 29, 2008 Share Posted February 29, 2008 I have the same issue with my garage floor a littel fall on one side so after marking 4 'X' on the floor, I measured the level in all directions and cut some suitable shims roughly 300 x 300 for the wheels to sit on to make up for this. As for 'turning plates' on the front scales I use environmentally unfreindly plastic carrier bags cut down both sides - simply but very effective. Too young to be old ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k80rum Posted February 29, 2008 Author Share Posted February 29, 2008 Oo. Plastic bags are a good idea. I hadn't thought of using them. They'll be cleaner than greasy plates too (and there's going to be a surfeit of them before they start becoming collectable ) Darren E K80RUM Website and Emerald maps library Superlight R #54 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dannyboy Posted February 29, 2008 Share Posted February 29, 2008 Errr...small dumpy level hired from Speedy or Hewdens etc would be a cheap way of going!!! Or nip down to a local site and for a few quid I'm sure you'll get someone to bring their level down ..... I MAY even be able to borrow one........ 😬 Dannyboy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alextangent Posted February 29, 2008 Share Posted February 29, 2008 I'll probably still use the tube and water method (manometer. I gave in and looked it up to refresh my memory )The cheapest and easiest way to get a level is with a home-built manometer. Blue Peter insructions. You'll need pipe (garden hose variety will do, cheap as you can), 4 clear plastic bottles (coke, water, anything that's not too ridged), some plumber's putty (the stuff that doesn't go hard), a small amount of food colouring and a couple of teaspoons of cooking oil. And 1 ruler. Cut hose up into 4 runs from wheel to wheel to form a rectangle. Carefully cut 2 holes in plastic bottles, push hoses into holes, seal with plumber's putty to stop leaks. Add 1/4 the food colouring to each of the bottles, fill system with water to desired height. Add a small amount of oil to each bottle to break the surface tension of the water. The ruler is to get a constant distance between your chosen pad on which the weighing scale sits and the top level of the water. Hey presto, level to fractions of a mm. 😬 Alex McDonald A loud 1700 SS in bits Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dobuy Posted March 1, 2008 Share Posted March 1, 2008 Nice scales, very tempting. As to the laser, there is no way event he cheapest laser will have any degradation over the distance of a wheelbase. Maybe over a Cathedral, I get the feeling its just the commercial laser companies trying to justify their prices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now