Oh dear, I’m overweight

With a bit of luck they vosa people would just stop you going anywhere until you were legal.
Hopefully that would just be a call to the better half to chuck all the excess junk in a car!
Today coming past the big test station on M74 I saw a Japanese mini van in Edinburgh Gin livery being driven out on the back of a recovery vehicle!

Edit to correct spelling.
 
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DVSA( was VOSA) dont operate test stations now , its been outsourced ! They flogged off the ones they could !! The examiners are still employed by DVSA and travel to garages to do testing . The enforcement side of DVSA are separate and do have weighbridges, they are usually happy to allow you to go over the pads , and wont prosecute if over , they will however need you to unload overweight as they cant condone breaking the law . (depending on how much generally :) ) Going thru brake rollers is not a reliable method of weighing . Some retained facilities still do specialist examinations . They are colocating with Driving test and HMRC etc . HTSH
 
Most if not all quarrys will have a weighbridge, should be same for sand and gravel pits as well. they need to be tested and calibrated regularly as otherwise drivers would be prosecuted.

it’s worth calling any near you and see if they will do it for you, if you explain you only need to not down axle weights and gross weight they should be okay. They wouldn’t want to have to produce a loading ticket unless they have the option of printing just a weight ticket on their system. You may get lucky and find an operator who will do it free or for a fiver
 
“Ok, I've used the Reich on a level piece of car park & still get slightly different readings on repeat, up to 10kgs but I don't know if that's because I'm driving over it at slightly differing speeds.”

A leeway of 10 kg is fine for the portable Reich device, I just take an average of 3 readings if there is any variation.
Dave
 
Assuming the van weigh is carried out outdoors, has anyone considered
the effect a wind or breeze would have? Is the reading that's shown the frozen
maximum on these one wheel at a time devices?
I think I'm being serious with this hypothesis! A flat side van presents a lot of
real estate, especially to a side wind. 10kg easily added.
 
daygoboy said:
Assuming the van weigh is carried out outdoors, has anyone considered
the effect a wind or breeze would have? Is the reading that's shown the frozen
maximum on these one wheel at a time devices?
I think I'm being serious with this hypothesis! A flat side van presents a lot of
real estate, especially to a side wind. 10kg easily added.
Click to expand...
Make sure you are downwind when ministry pull you lol
 
As Anita just pointed out to me. Scrap yards have weigh bridges too. Just remember to keep an eye on your pride and joy before someone picks it up with a Grab!
 
nabsim said:
Make sure you are downwind when ministry pull you lol
Click to expand...

What you say to the VOSA guy is, 'would you mind awfully, honourable
sir, if I turn the van round so as to take best advantage of the prevailing wind'.
I'd hold fire on asking him if he would mind contributing though !
 
Most private weighbridges don't mind you just driving on and checking your weight for free and only charge for issuing a printed ticket if needed. My local operator says to come back anytime I want but better in the afternoons when they are not busy. After uprating and fully loading I should only need one more visit, I hope?
Any wind effect would likely just cancel itself out by taking minimal weight off one side and applying it to the other.
 
Phantom said:
Most private weighbridges don't mind you just driving on and checking your weight for free and only charge for issuing a printed ticket if needed. My local operator says to come back anytime I want but better in the afternoons when they are not busy. After uprating and fully loading I should only need one more visit, I hope?
Any wind effect would likely just cancel itself out by taking minimal weight off one side and applying it to the other.
Click to expand...

Although I was half kidding, I was referring to the home weigh devices
which weigh a single wheel individually, so in theory I'm making a valid point
and in practice possibly so. Particularly if the typical digital display
freezes or holds on the maximum reading. Much say as it would if you were to push
the van side momentarily.
 
As a half kidding reply, I don’t see how that can be a valid point. Even if the wind were to deflect the van to the extent that the downwind wheel weighed “heavy” as a result, it would be compensated by a matching lighter load on the opposite wheel. As we are only interested in the total axle weight, it’s academic, unless of course the wind were to turn through 180 degrees during the weighing process, but I think I’ll discount that unlikely event ?
 
Obviously a constant steady force or push in the same direction results in the
lifting or lightening of the opposite side wheel, that's a given. But not as I stated in
my last post a force 'momentarily applied' and the reading is taken, then by the time
a weighing is taken at the other wheel the conditions will likely have changed. Possibly
not to your advantage and possibly to your advantage.
Only one wheel weighed at a time with these DIY scales, I'm reasonably convinced that
easily a +10kg overweigh discrepancy would be feasible. That's what I'd base my argument
on with an overly picky VOSA Officer!
 
I think the moral of the story is if you are using Reich or similar scales, don’t leave yourself within a few kilos of being overweight ??
 
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