TACOMA BED CAPACITY SENSORS

Just today I had my Tacoma loaded up with approx 800 pounds in the bed and thought, why in the world don't pickups today have sensors that can tell you what your load weight is???? Looks like I was not the first to ask this question...

https://patents.google.com/patent/US8160806

 

They do have sensors. When you hit the bump stops its too much, when you hear springs pop its way too much.

 

It used to be when people flashed their highbeams at you that you are overloaded, or when your bumpstops dont bump, or when your back wheels rubbed the rear wheelwells or fenders. More granny monitors are always a good thing!

 

you could find some load sensors and put them in-between the bed and the frame.
This one would add 1 inch to the bed height.

http://www.futek.com/product.aspx?t=load&cat=rf

 

Think, what good would sensors do for you?
Lets say you were hauling bricks. You loaded all you needed and your sensor didn't light up. That means you were not at capacity so the sensors are not needed.

Now lets say you went back for a second load of bricks. You load until your sensor lights up but you have three bricks more. Of course you are going to load those three bricks so the sensors were not needed again. You didnt pay any attention and felt you are smarter than the sensor.

This is why we don't have load cells.

 

I'm thinking more along the lines of our current TPS system, not another idiot light rather one that measures and displays actual payload.

 

I should not continue this but I can't help myself. This is probably the best option.
Used for weight of patient in bed. 4 load cells. 1200 lb capacity

http://www.algen.com/BedScales.htm

 

Alright, what good would knowing the bed had a 563.72 lb load be to an average owner?
I know a bit about a few things and even I wouldn't use it nor care. I follow the rule of sag and bump.
My tpms is a cool toy every now and then but if it were just a light it would be fine.

Truly, if a customer wanted it, Toyota could put 50 different sensors in the truck. They even have real time oil monitors!

 

Easier just to do the math, there's too many liabilities involved if the sensor isn't reading correctly. A neat concept though!

Stuff like junk to haul is hard to calculate. We just took a load to the dump and it was 245kg (540lbs) I had no freaking idea that my dog house a door and scrap wood would weigh so much.

 

Agreed. Then, there's also the real, built-in margin of safety. Since it really isn't just the payload in the bed, folks would be shocked at how little they can really carry short of a medium duty truck.

 

I still laugh at the day my Dad needed me at Home Depot and my Tundra to pick up some roofing shingles....over two thousand pounds later (had no idea how much he had ordered) I was like...Dad really?..he just laughed and said "Well it's a truck right?"... I would like to know what my payload is personally.

 

VERY TRUE....it's payload and the two steak & potato eating guys in the front all calculated together.

 

Oh let's not go down that rabbit hole.

They are not even really real (in the cars that have them). Just an algorithm that guesses based on a set of conservative da . . . Nevermind.

 

Lol no, I am talking about my world where stuff is real https://www.machinerylubrication.com/Read/138/real-time-oil-analysis

 

Those are interesting, but they are still a long step from a UOA in a lab not even getting into the cost. I can see those being cost effective and beneficial on million dollar equipment.

Do you have any idea if they are showing up yet on stuff like the gadget laden S-class?

 

No. However, they are showing up on some heavy crane applications and other "cannot break down" equipment. While it's not a "live blackstone report" its close. Basically push a button and get some key results (particle count, size) in just a few minutes.

Yeah it's a few years away from mass production units but I doubt more than five years before they will be common on 125+ hp machines, especially critical applications. In my world "uptime" is worth its weight in gold.
So, I was stretching it a bit but not by much!

If you had a choice and could only pick one, would you want a typical UOA or a particle count and size? I will take the particle count all day. Some of these machines have miles of hose and thousand gallon reservoirs and a lot of it is hidden.

 

It's cool to think about, but in real world applications - how useful is it really? Example...You are at Lowes and you have just loaded up pavers to your trucks 'load limit' and your truck is squalking at you with a flashing red sign on the dash. Then, you look down and there are another 15 pavers to load up. What are you going to do? I know what you are going to do and it's not going to involve 2 trips to Lowes! You'll be bitchin about that red flashing screen all the way home!

 

yea, why not have a midsize truck cost 50k for a mid grade model. Maybe they can also put a seat wear sensor in the seat so it can alert these people who slide into their trucks wearing their seat fabric down, how much seat fabric life is remaining too.

 

I've had a load sensor for my trucks for years, a length of chain hanging from the frame that shows the squat of the suspension when it's loaded.

 

Carry some scales with you if you really want to know