Curt BetterWeigh MOBILE TOWING SCALE

Sometimes I get a product that really amazes me. What would you think if I told you that you can weigh your vehicle and anything it tows by plugging a little widget into your vehicle’s diagnostic port? I know it’s hard to believe, but the Curt BetterWeigh Mobile Towing Scale does exactly that! The tiny interface module communicates via bluetooth to an app on your phone and provides surprisingly accurate weight readings.

You might say, “Sure, Mark, but how the heck does it do that?” It does it by using TowSense™ technology. Here’s an explanation excerpted from the product information provided by Curt: “TowSense™ technology uses an accelerometer circuit to measure changes in the velocity and pitch of your vehicle. It uses this data to calculate weights associated with towing and hauling. The BetterWeigh™ scale wirelessly connects to your Apple or android phone to display the weight of the vehicle, trailer, cargo/payload, tongue weight, pin weight, weight distribution and trailer brake gain.”

You can read the full product description and info at http://www.curtmfg.com/betterweigh. The device works best on vehicles with automatic transmissions. Manual transmission vehicles will have limited functionality.

Armed with the BetterWeigh device, my cell phone and a borrowed late model Ford F250, towing a 28-ft. Airstream trailer, Jim Koca and I headed to the SmartWeigh scale site at Rainbow’s End in Livingston, Texas. We weighed the truck and trailer on the scales and separately with the BetterWeigh device. We found that BetterWeigh delivers a very accurate measurement of tow vehicle gross weight and gross combination weight. In other words, it will tell you how much the tow vehicle weighs and the total weight of the tow vehicle and trailer! It also has some unique features, like the ability to accurately set up load equalizing hitches and determine the correct trailer brake-gain setting for your brake controller.

The setup is simple: Plug in the device, download and launch the BetterWeigh Towing Scale app and follow the instructions. For most late-model trucks, the app already has access to all the vehicle performance data, so all you do is enter the VIN number and some additional info from the vehicle’s rating plates and you’re ready to weigh. For vehicles not already in the database, the app will take you through a manual calibration process that takes about 10 minutes to complete.

BetterWeigh can provide the weight of the vehicle, trailer and cargo/payload. It can also calculate tongue weight and pin weight. It cannot determine side-to-side weight imbalances, identify axle weights or provide corner weights to allow you to determine proper tire inflation pressures. For that, you need to have the RV professionally weighed with individual wheel scales.

I believe the BetterWeigh device is a great tool for anyone who tows trailers with a variable payload that changes often, like in a toy hauler. It also provides RV owners with a way to quickly test the gross weights of any vehicle and trailer (or towed vehicle) they drive. This is beneficial to help prevent “RV weight gain” as you travel.

Complete Product Name: BetterWeigh Mobile Towing Scale with Towsense Technology (OBD-II) #51701

Company Name and Info: CURT Manufacturing LLC | 6208 Industrial drive, Eau Claire, WI 54701 | 877-287-8634

Online Shopping Links: On Amazon.com: https://amzn.to/3227idx

Average Street Price: MSRP $130.46—street price: Around $100

Original Publication Date: ND/20