DIY weight scale 4 corners, sprung weights

[someguysjeep]

That reads either.

I asked my guy how long it'd take him to setup a kit for me. He said two months. Not exactly quick.

I still think this setup would work and you can buy more load cells for under $100.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CL5PP9K/?tag=wranglerorg-20

The load cells look to be threaded so some square tubing, plate, tap and some threaded rod should make a coilover replacement.

2 months....dam. my guy says find a display or readout, plug in a compatible sensor, calibrate it and your good.

the owners race mechanic will be back in tomrw i'm gonna ask him if he's got a line on anything. he may have stuff they no longer use or pieces parts.

 

[someguysjeep]

maybe you could trick that hog scale if you jumped the 4 connectors off 1 lead, it shouldn't know what sensor it's on just thats 4 are pugged in and active .............seem reasonable?
for the possible issue of faulting with less inputs used.

 

[Apparition]

2 months....dam. my guy says find a display or readout, plug in a compatible sensor, calibrate it and your good.

the owners race mechanic will be back in tomrw i'm gonna ask him if he's got a line on anything. he may have stuff they no longer use or pieces parts.

I did ask for a fully designed setup so I think he thought he'd be programming it too.

 

[someguysjeep]

I did ask for a fully designed setup so I think he thought he'd be programming it too.

what we do they program from the panels. some have an active display the workers can see, some don't. the military likes um we put them under quite a few huge 16T scissor lifts.

 

[jjvw]

I don't think this works if we assume the springs are still holding the chassis up. The shock will just give you the internal pressure, as weight does not affect internal pressure.

Do you mean a shock in place, no spring?

He wants the sprung weight. Meaning the weight of everything that is held up by the springs.

Imagine replacing the coilover in it's entirety with a solid bar and being able to measure the weight being placed on top of the solid bar.

If this were a more factory setup with separate springs and shocks, the goal would be to replace the spring with a solid bar and measuring that weight.

 

[xXDavidCXx]

He wants the sprung weight. Meaning the weight of everything that is held up by the springs.

Imagine replacing the coilover in it's entirety with a solid bar and being able to measure the weight being placed on top of the solid bar.

If this were a more factory setup with separate springs and shocks, the goal would be to replace the spring with a solid bar and measuring that weight.

Yup, got it.

 

[NskLJ]

I don't know just how little I know but probably not even close enough to get close on this one.

I want to take one of the DIY digital scale kits that are all over the place like the one below and build a sprung weight corner scale set up.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1752783440...d=link&campid=5337789113&toolid=20001&mkevt=1

View attachment 335137
The problem is that type of load cell won't work well for what I need it to do. Or at least I'm not smart enough to figure it out. I am smart enough to figure out how to use the load cells below that work in compression and are inline with the upper and lower shock mount points. That makes it real easy on the mechanical side or easy enough that I can do it.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1853766136...d=link&campid=5337789113&toolid=20001&mkevt=1

View attachment 335138

I don't know what questions to ask to figure out how to swap load cells or if it is even possible. That's where I need some help.

If you could find a display with 4 channels or a switch box that should do the trick. Build some rods with the load cell in the middle to replace the shocks. I think you could leave one end disconnected to zero it. I came across this vender on Amazon, they are local. Might be worth a call to see if they can help you out. https://www.optimascale.com/

 

[YJBrian]

Have had lots of luck with Omega Engineering equipment in my professional life. Why not something like this?
Load Cells
Strain Meters

Would likely need to swap inputs on the meter unless you want to multiplex.

 

[freedom_in_4low]

The only way I see the shock internal pressure thing working is if you can put enough pressure in it to statically support the rig at some height above the compressed length, like an ORI, or have a piston with no holes at all so the oil could just sit on it without bleeding through.

 

[someguysjeep]

The only way I see the shock internal pressure thing working is if you can put enough pressure in it to statically support the rig at some height above the compressed length, like an ORI, or have a piston with no holes at all so the oil could just sit on it without bleeding through.

i thought about a simple air shock with a pressure gauge. but unless you have the data to do the conversion to pounds, you need extensive notes and/or confirmation which requires a scale anyway.




the race mechanic didn't have anything to add . they only have the 1 unit and he doesn't understand unsprung, keeps telling me i need the pads under the wheels,

 

[Mike_H]

i thought about a simple air shock with a pressure gauge. but unless you have the data to do the conversion to pounds, you need extensive notes and/or confirmation which requires a scale anyway.

You only need two formulas if you know the diameter of your piston and the pressure...

Area of circle = pi*R^2 and PSI is Pounds per square inch.

So, a 2" diameter piston is 3.1416 square inches. If it generates 50 PSI on the gage, 50*3.1416= 157 lbs on that corner.

 

[someguysjeep]

You only need two formulas if you know the diameter of your piston and the pressure...

Area of circle = pi*R^2 and PSI is Pounds per square inch.

So, a 2" diameter piston is 3.1416 square inches. If it generates 50 PSI on the gage, 50*3.1416= 157 lbs on that corner.

sweet can i get some salt for that foot i'm chokin on over here.......................thank you for that info. doesn't seem to tough.

 

[Mike_H]

sweet can i get some salt for that foot i'm chokin on over here.......................thank you for that info. doesn't seem to tough.

For what it's worth, that works for pneumatic cylinders too. You can tell how much force a cylinder is exerting, using those calculations above, except in that case, you use the PSI of the air supply (or regulator) instead in the weight.

 

[James C.]

I haven't seen anything specific but I do have a tongue weight gauge for trailers that is simple hydraulics and a gauge. That was my original thought, take some air cylinders, plumb in some mechanical gauges to the upper ports which is pretty simple and cost effective.

They are using calculations to get the piston surface area less shaft area and mine would be easier with only the piston area needed since the shaft would be below the piston.

I didn't want to deal with bleeding the system and trying to figure out if air in the system would throw off the gauge reading.

Blaine,

I use hydraulic cylinders and jacks to test and lock-off tieback anchors to varying loads. Similar to the one below. I could easily see a hydraulic cylinder being modified with extensions to bolt in place of a shock. The math is not hard and a materials testing lab can typically calibrate the system for you.

https://www.enerpac.com/en-us/cylinder-and-hand-pump-sets/cylinder-and-hand-pump-set/SCR55H