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ADVICE
Tested: Towsafe Caravan Weight Scales
A handy tool but no substitute for a weigh bridgeIf you tow a caravan or any type of heavy trailer, getting the weight right is crucial, not only for safety but also legal and financial reasons.
Apart from everything else if you have an accident and your insurance company discovers your van was over-loaded or too heavy for the tow vehicle, they may refuse to pay out.
Up until now the only surefire way you could work out your trailer weights was to go to a public weigh bridge.
But now there’s a new, DIY option, with new Australian developed Towsafe digital platform scales that have been specifically developed for weighing caravans and other trailers, close to home.
Built to last
While relatively light and easy to store and carry, the scales are built quite solidly from aluminium and stainless steel, and the supplier claims they’re fully tested for accuracy as well as durability to a number of Australian and international standards (a copy of the official calibration certificate is supplied in the box, along with the detailed instructions).
Power is courtesy of a couple of small button-sized lithium batteries, which are also included and should be good for around 100 hours of use.
The scales are dead easy to use: just turn them on, reset to zero and roll the trailer wheel on top of the metal sensor pad, while avoiding the clear-cover LED digital readout. It’s easiest with two people: one backing the tow vehicle, while the other moves the scales around and shouts when to stop.
You can weigh up to 1500kg per wheel, so that means up to 3000kg for a single axle trailer or 6000kg for a tandem axle.
Ground zero
So do they work? We tried them first on a 21ft New Age Oz Classic caravan, which had an ‘official’ Tare weight of 2710kg as specified on the van’s build plate.
After weighing each wheel of the tandem axle van, we added up the four numbers to get a Gross Trailer Mass, or GTM of 3401kg. We then measured the van’s towball mass by winding the jockey wheel down on top of the scales and unhitching the van -- 268kg. Adding the GTM and ball mass together provided an ATM (Aggregate Trailer Mass) figure of 3669kg.
That figure was a lot higher than the official Tare figure suggested, even accounting for additional weight like water in the tanks. While build plate figures can be incorrect, we’re fairly confident of New Age’s in this case as it is one of few RV manufacturers that weighs each van as it comes off the production line on its in-house weigh bridge.
The ball weight measurement of 268kg was also on the high side, compared to the official (Tare) weight of 150kg. We also measured the tow ball mass using the Towsafe ball weight scales, which came in at 160kg.
More testing
We also weighed our Mazda BT-50 tow vehicle at the same time as the caravan, as well as later during a session at a Pedders’ workshop, which delivered similar, higher than expected results...
All four ute wheels when weighed added up to 2978kg. According to Mazda the kerb weight for that particular model is 2118kg, although that doesn't include some accessories fitted including a steel bull bar, snorkel, hard tonneau cover and second battery.
Weighing the BT-50 on Pedders’ recently-calibrated, commercial grade Beissbarth test lane gave 2355kg, compared to 2588kg using the Towsafe scales again (420kg lower than the first time).
Even allowing for ‘operator error’ or the concrete and bitumen surfaces used being slightly uneven (the instructions state the surface must be smooth, flat, hard and level), it raises questions about the reliability of the product, at least when used in less than perfect, real-world situations.
We suspect they would work better if all four (or at least two) wheels were weighed at the same time, but at $469 each the cost of buying more than one is prohibitive unless you shared the cost with your caravanning mates or a club, or got a 'bulk' discount from the supplier...
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Written byChris Fincham
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Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
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