Economical Scales

Zach Jaynes

New member
I remember some time back before the site crashed that there were some affordable scales available (not racing scales necessarily) I believe they may have even been some type of digital postal scale. They had like a 12"x12" pad and were supposedly very accurate. If memory serves, you could get them on E-Bay among other places for like $50/set ($200 total). Anyone know what I'm talking about and/or have any experience with them? Nothing against racing specific scales like Rebco or Intercomp, but I just am not convinced that they are necessary. I mean, a pound is a pound. To me, the scales being level in relation to one another is FAR more important than the brand of scale. And as far as figuring the percentages, I have a calculator. We used to have a program on the laptop where you could just key in the weights and it would figure them. Can't remember the name but I'm sure it's still floating around out there somewhere.
 
I don't remember the price , but yes they are postal scales and alot of people use them for karting . You just have to make sure you get the right weight capacity scales .
 
what a pain in the butt to just numbers everytime you move something. you would need to enter in all 4 corner weights everytime you changed lead around. spend the extra $150 and buy some used scales
 
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We have been doing it for the season, It really takes all of 20 seconds to move numbers on my phone , with me at the front of the kart and my wife in the rear, she reads them out, done. If I had a larger budget then yes, racing scales, but your looking at $600-1500 for them. For me , I got these and some fresh new rubber. Money better spent at the time for us.
 
I have a set of scales. They have a program that you can put on your computer to enter all your weight data for your calculations. $200.00 plus shipping. There four separate units, stainless steel, and didital.
 
I have an Excel 2010 spreadsheet with a corner weights page. You’re welcome to it. Lots of really good stuff. You can enter the percentages, Front, Left and Cross, and it will show you what the corners need to be, or, enter the corners and it will tell you what the percentages are.
It shows so much information, it may be too complicated for most.
Other stuff, 15 pages total, all for karting.
Comments, compliments, criticisms and questions always welcome.
 
kart smart is another easy to use program that figures out all the percentages for you. download it for free on your computer
 
what a pain in the ass to just numbers everytime you move something. you would need to enter in all 4 corner weights everytime you changed lead around. spend the extra $150 and buy some used scales


I don't know about you but I haven't seen to many used sets of racing scales for 300 bucks and if I did I would think twice about buying them
 
those weigh max scales are $200 roughly if you buy new. I was able to find someone upgrading from them to regular kart scales and picked them up here on bobs for $80, then paid $80 for a good home made scale stand. Used kart scales for $300, I would be careful. They may be fine, but that seems way too cheap for a $1500 set of scales.
 
Weighmax scales

We have been using the Weighmax scales for several years now. The scale part is ok - the metal is a little thin so the weight can be off if the tire isn't exactly centered on the pad, and they dent up pretty easily, but they seem to be accurate. The problem we have found is the plastic control unit. Each season one scale seems to go bad - the little led display just shows all 8s across the screen, so you can't read anything or use the scales. So each season we spend another $50 to replace one scale. So it's pretty cheap initially, but it adds up over time. I wouldn't spend $1000 on scales, but if you can find a used set for under $500 I would go for it.



I remember some time back before the site crashed that there were some affordable scales available (not racing scales necessarily) I believe they may have even been some type of digital postal scale. They had like a 12"x12" pad and were supposedly very accurate. If memory serves, you could get them on E-Bay among other places for like $50/set ($200 total). Anyone know what I'm talking about and/or have any experience with them? Nothing against racing specific scales like Rebco or Intercomp, but I just am not convinced that they are necessary. I mean, a pound is a pound. To me, the scales being level in relation to one another is FAR more important than the brand of scale. And as far as figuring the percentages, I have a calculator. We used to have a program on the laptop where you could just key in the weights and it would figure them. Can't remember the name but I'm sure it's still floating around out there somewhere.
 

Been using those for a couple years. Nothing bad to report, other than they shut down after a couple minutes to save the battery.

I use on the floor, so have 4 pieces if 3/4 plywood to roll off onto to reset scales. Been really repeatable.

I got an aluminum case from Menards, or harbor freight to store them in. that in itself may save them.
 
lol thats the issue i have with the ones i have now (seems like seconds not minutes) . i haven't done the roll off reset trick yet but will be next time i just had my helper pick up the corner to reset it. .
 
My other trick is to put a piece of .080 plastic on top of each scale to keep the tires from binding the scale up. Not sure it is necessary, but I like the idea.
 
you should try my Excel spreadsheet. It's free. Email anunley@austin.rr.com all you have to do is put in the total weight and corner weights and it'll tell you what percentages you have. Put in the total weight and the percentages and it will tell you what your corner weights need to be. It's really simple.
 

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Thank you Alvin,it’s much appreciated!!!

Johnny
What really surprised me is how many people made disparaging remarks about the cross percentages. Rear left wheel versus right and front left wheel versus right. The animosity was overwhelming. A little piece of information that everybody got mad about. And what also surprised me was the spread of numbers that I saw. The percentage difference between the right rear and the left rear went from somewhere near 40%, all the way to over 200%. I thought to myself; "why would something that varies so much be something you wouldn't want to know
 
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