scamp left/right weight imbalance

[k corbin]

Originally Posted by Doctor Harold

Seriously though, cheap so-and-so that I are, I made one of these for about $22.00 (and used about a thousand dollars worth of tools to do it). It's suitable for tongue weights to 350 pounds. If I get a trailer that has a higher tongue weight requirement all I need do is replace the gauge. Anything up to 3,000 pounds or so would be fine.

Harold

There is a youtube video that shows how to make something similar but instead of needing a thousand dollars worth of tools the body of the scale is made using a hydraulic bottle jack. A drill motor and a thread cutting die are required as is a wrench.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S72nJGLNyPY

[Doctor Harold]

Originally Posted by k corbin

There is a youtube video that shows how to make something similar but instead of needing a thousand dollars worth of tools the body of the scale is made using a hydraulic bottle jack. A drill motor and a thread cutting die are required as is a wrench....

I had seen that video before, and it's a clever solution. If I had used a bottle jack I would have gone through the side of the cylinder and I'd still be able to use the jack as a jack. (It would just have slightly less operating range.)

Harbor Freight has a 4-ton bottle jack for $17.99, so by the time I bought the gauge I would have more money into it than mine, but less time spent. Still, it sounds like a fun challenge. Maybe I'll do it just for kicks.

Unless the jack has the correct diameter ram (1-1/8 inches) the readings will have to be converted. Mine is direct reading no matter what gauge I use as long as it's Imperial (not metric).

Of course: I already had the tooling.

--Harold

[Doctor Harold]

Oh, here's another way, if you already have a porta-power (I do).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q72ufQ2Ehmg

--Harold