on board air scale meters
 

anybody tried or have an "Air-Weigh" on board scale in their trucks...

just want to know how good and is it reliable???

also the price of the unit and installation...

Re: on board air scale meters
 

They make for an excellent tool to save time and money! Although, when your weights are getting close to the legal limit, it is a good idea to occasionally have that certified scale ticket - too verify your air gauge is still in calibration!

As far as cost, shop around, there are big variance in the cost and quality of installs!

I had this installed last summer with the trailer option, and it is neater than sliced bread. I have only used a Cat scale once since then, and not one overweight ticket either.

http://www.air-weighscales.com/downl...35-002rev1.pdf

I had plain old 100 psi air gauges installed on all of our trailers and the only truck that didn't have one. After a few scaled loads you get a pretty good idea. I can get within ~500 pounds on each axle.

Hey BigDiesel, what was the cost of that set up? Also, do you have to go to a specified shop to have it installed? or can you order it and have your own shop install. How long did it take to install. I like the fact that the gauge is in the cab. Any other details you can think of and share is good too.

Keep in mind also that with plain old air pressure gauges you can be way off depending on barometric pressure, temperature and humidity. Also, if you calibrated the air gauge sitting on a level scale you could be way way off sitting on an incline of just a few degrees.

What someone needs to invent which would not be all that expensive is to design an inline device that is completley standalone and supports Blue Tooth which transmits results to the in dash gauge. This would eliminate all need for any wiring other than grabbing 12v from the ABS line or any other source.

Also keep in mind that these devices are not just simple read the pressure devices. There is a lot of math, normalization and inferencing that is taking place. Along with those equations are variables such as temp, air density and degree of incline. Not a simple task and usually requires the talent of a physicist.

All you have to do is tap a generic air pressure gauge (0 to 150 psi capacity) into the line between the ride height valve and the air suspension bags.

This can be done on the tractor or trailer, or both.

Then put a legal load on, and scale the axles on a certified scale.

Be sure that the axles on the tractor & trailer are at legal weight.

Note the air pressure readings on the gauges and you have your benchmark. Any air pressure reading above that benchmark reading means you're overloaded on that set of axles. A reading less than the benchmark reading means that set of axles is loaded at less than the legal limit.

Pretty simple actually.

No, it's not. Like I said above, temp, barametric pressure, humidity and incline can throw you WAY over the legal limit. Just sitting on an incline without compensation can make you believe your 10,000 under on your drives.

I know that I paid retail plus for the units and installation.... about $1400.

The install for the tractor portion was done at my Pete dealer and the trailer at the Utility dealer. You could do it yourself, but I am not mechanically inclined and impatient.

The only one of those factors that is valid is incline, but since I said initially the truck should be weighed on a certified scale (which will be level), all you have to do is make sure the tractor & trailer are always level whenever checking the suspension air gauges.

See above.


BTW, temp, barometric pressure and humidity are irrelevant here, it will take the same PSI to support a given amount of weight no matter how cold or hot or dry or humid, or whether the barometric pressure is 29.50 and rising or 30.50 and falling.