Proper way to measure wheelbase
 

Got in a friendly debate with the local commercial cop. I say on a 3 axle you measure from the center point of the steering axle to the centerpoint of the two drive axles. He says from the steering axle to the center point of the third drive axle. Make sense? Who is right?

Dictionary:
wheelbase
(hw?l'b?s', w?l'-) pronunciation

n.

The distance from the center of the front wheel to that of the rear wheel in a motor vehicle, usually expressed in inches.


Took less time to do the Google Search than you took to type your question.

Baldeagle, you would be wrong. Wheelbase in a car is different than a wheelbase on a truck. The original poster is correct. Wheelbase is measured from the center of the steer axle to the dead space BETWEEN the tandems.

I agree and live through it every time I go into Canada. My wheelbase is 265 and I have to buy a 1 month permit for oversize wheelbase for $20.00

Thanks guys I knew I was right, I called my local CHP office and the guy is going to find it in his book and fax it to me. The commercial man in question is a city cop in a pick up, so if I get this fax I will leave it on his windsheild at Taco Bell.

So where do you measure a 4 axle truck? I know when I ordered mine I was center of front axle to the dead space in between the drive axles then added a lift axle in front of the tandems. But where would the cops measure for Bridge Law calculations? I am very lucky in that everywhere I run I am only weighed on gross not the Bridge Law.

Re: Proper way to measure wheelbase
 

The third drive axle? On a 3 axle truck, there are only two drive axles. Sounds like this cop is smoking crack if he sees three drive axles on a 3 axle truck.

Here is the definition I've always used:

Horizontal dimension from the center line of the front axle to the center line of the rear axle on a single-rear-axle truck chassis; measured from the center line of the front axle to the center line mid-way between the axles on a tandem-rear-axle truck chassis.

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Don't confuse wheelbase with axle spacing. If you haul oversize, permits require axle spacing which goes from the center of the steer to the center of the second axle and from the second axle to the third and so on. It is possible that the cop is confused.

That couldn't be, cops know every thing and are always right.