How to estimate a vehicles weight without scales

Want to estimate what your car weighs, but don't have access to scales? Satisfy your curiosity, or use the info for performance/economy enhancements.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• 2 pieces of paper
• a tape measure
• a tire pressure gauge
• a calculator or pencil and another piece of paper.

1. Slide the 2 pieces of paper under a tire from front to back, till it barely snags under the tread patch. Measure this distance with the tape measure, and write it down. Then slide them under side to side, again measure the distance and write it down. Multiply the 2 numbers together, this gives you the surface area of the tread patch for that tire in square inches.
2. Use the tire gauge to read the pressure in the tire. This will be in PSI (pounds per square inch). See where we're going with this yet? Multiply the pressure in PSI by the surface area of the tire for estimate weight in pounds that tire is supporting.
3. Repeat steps 1 & 2 for the other tires on the car, and add the sums together. This will yield a good ball park figure for the weight of the vehicle. It will be a little lighter than actual because of the rigidity in the side walls and belting of the tires.

Tips & Warnings

• make sure the paper pieces are parallel, and the tires are properly inflated.