Trailer Weighing at The Oregon Gathering

[honda03842]

Fred,
I'd be interested to know if the Left to Right difference on the Scamp 16 is typical and does left indicate the Driver's side?

Thank you, Norm Milliard

[Frederick L. Simson]

Originally Posted by honda03842

1. (Is) the Left to Right difference on the Scamp 16 ... typical?
2. does left indicate the Driver's side?

1. I have found that a Left to Right difference IS typical, and it exists on most trailers, not just the Scamp 16.
Left to Right balance is so rare that I believe it only happens by a concentrated effort from the Current Owner of any particular trailer...

2. Yes

[honda03842]

Thank you Fred also thanks for providing the neat service of trailer weighing.

We always weigh ours by the tire patch method (tire area on the ground times tire pressure). It seems to be relatively accurate and definitely so for determinging side to side differences.

It would seem worthwhile to balance the trailer from side to side and once we get our Scamp home I will take that into consideration as I modify it.

Norm

[Frederick L. Simson]

Originally Posted by honda03842

We always weigh ours by the tire patch method (tire area on the ground times tire pressure). It seems to be relatively accurate...

I haven't heard of that before, and I find it quite intriguing. Could you elaborate?
How do you measure the tire area on the ground? Is it in square inches?

[james kent]

Originally Posted by Gina D.

It looks like a 19ft Escape is within my towing capabilities!

Now, If Reace would just give me one

Reece would love to give you one. [small fee included]

[honda03842]

Originally Posted by Frederick L. Simson

I haven't heard of that before, and I find it quite intriguing. Could you elaborate?
How do you measure the tire area on the ground? Is it in square inches?

I park the trailer on a flat suface or pull the trailer onto a piece of 2x6. I take two pieces of white paper and slide them in on each side of the tire (the front and back) and measure the distance between pieces of paper to get the length of the tire track. I then repeat and measure the width of the tire patch.

Multiplying these two dimensions gives me the area of the tire in contact with the ground. I than measure the tire pressure and multiply it by the area. The product is the weight on that wheel. I repeat the process for the other side.

I do roughly correct for the tread pattern, reducing the width by the width of the tread cuts.

I used to do this for our Motorhome and after doing it, scale weighted the motorhome and the results were very accurate.

Though some may question the precision, it is certainly accurate for measuring side to side differences in weight.

We use a bathroom scale to measure tongue weight.

Hope that was clear,

Norm

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by honda03842

Fred,
I'd be interested to know if the Left to Right difference on the Scamp 16 is typical and does left indicate the Driver's side?

Thank you, Norm Milliard

Norm my best quess as to why one side weighs more than the other is that on a Scamp 16' with a side bath there are a number of heavy items on the left. The bathroom - which usually has at least some water in the blackwater tank - also the stove and fridge - which in my case may contain a few heavy wine bottles :-) Most also carry their pots and pans etc on that side.
To balance it out Scamp has put the hot water and freash water tanks on the right side - also some have the AC or microwave in the closest on the right to balance it out but others like myself do not. Lot of room in the closest for storing other heavy items to help balance it. Worth keeping the balance in mind when packing - which some of us forget about that from time to time. :-) When camping with water hook ups which most had when the trailers where weighed it is not likely they would have any water in the freash water tank - so it is likely you would see a weight difference between the two sides.

[honda03842]

Originally Posted by Carol H

Norm my best quess as to why one side weighs more than the other is that on a Scamp 16' with a side bath there are a number of heavy items on the left. The bathroom - which usually has at least some water in the blackwater tank - also the stove and fridge - which in my case may contain a few heavy wine bottles :-) Most also carry their pots and pans etc on that side.
To balance it out Scamp has put the hot water and freash water tanks on the right side - also some have the AC or microwave in the closest on the right to balance it out but others like myself do not. Lot of room in the closest for storing other heavy items to help balance it. Worth keeping the balance in mind when packing - which some of us forget about that from time to time. :-) When camping with water hook ups which most had when the trailers where weighed it is not likely they would have any water in the freash water tank - so it is likely you would see a weight difference between the two sides.

Thank you Carol,

We pick up our Scamp in the morning and I intend to check it's weight as soon as we get it. Hopefully we can balance the rig out after we do our list of 40 mods. We do always carry fresh water since we're virtually on the road continuously, usually a half tank. We'lllet the site know how it turns out.

Norm

[honda03842]

We picked up our 1991 Scamp 16 with side bath today.

It contained no water but has an air conditioner and microwave. Each tire weighed out at about 900 pounds. We did not measure the hitch weight yet.

We're all excited with the rig.

Norm

[honda03842]

Weight update on Scamp 16 side bath

Axle weight 1800 pounds, no water, food or clothing
Tongue weight 230 pounds

Norm