Weigh your caravan using an app
World-first plug-in tow scale using smart phone app available at Jayco dealers soonImagine being able to plug a tiny ‘black box’ directly into your tow vehicle, download an app on your smart phone and not long after, get a pretty accurate indication of what your caravan weighs, how much is on the tow ball and the amount of gear you're carrying in the tow vehicle.
Well, that fantasy will soon be a reality with a new high-tech and affordable mobile towing scale launched in the US recently, soon to be available for sale down under.
Developed by American trailer accessories giant Curt and similar to heavy-duty on board truck scales, the Betterweigh mobile towing scale primarily consists of a ‘black box’ that plugs straight into the diagnostic port (OBD-II) located under the steering wheel of most modern tow vehicles.
The black box uses Bluetooth to wirelessly feed information from the vehicle’s on-board computer systems to a smart phone via an app, to deliver a number of ‘real time’ measurements including towball weight, trailer weight and tow vehicle payload. It will even help you correctly set up a weight distribution hitch.
Calibration is either done automatically by entering the tow vehicle’s VIN number through the app, or if the vehicle has been modified in any way calibration will need to be done manually (one time only), using a step-by-step process on a relatively flat surface.
The beauty of the Betterweigh system is that it utilizes features like ‘accelerometer’ technology already fitted from the factory to your vehicle to determine the trailer and payload weights.
“Betterweigh measures the weight of the vehicle; anything in it and anything attached to it,” Curt says in a promotional video. “Weigh measurements are calculated by measuring the drive force and acceleration as the vehicle takes off. The torque convertor slip is used to calculate drive force while an accelerometer measures acceleration.”
To help determine payload and tow ball mass, the unit calculates the change in the vehicle’s ‘pitch’ from when the vehicle is unloaded and unhitched, to when the caravan is hitched up behind and the tow vehicle fully packed.
Jayco Australia’s Global Sourcing Component Innovation and Technologies Manager, Ken Miller, who was on the Jayco stand at the Innovation Hub at this year’s Victorian Caravan Supershow, said local testing was currently being conducted so the unit can work with a range of popular tow vehicles in Australia.
The plan is to have the locally-developed version available exclusively for sale through Coast to Coast RV and Jayco dealers by mid-2020, with pricing expected to be under $200.
Once set up properly, Miller said the unit should be accurate to within 3-5 per cent.
“This is a great safety feature for people to work out the weight of their van, as a lot of people load their vans and don’t really know,” he said. “It will also save them money as they don’t have to go over the weigh bridge any more to work out their trailer weights.”
Tags
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.
