Abstract: Methods and apparatus are provided for automatically determining the steering system calibration of a vehicle in accordance with vehicle loading. The apparatus comprises a combination of a load monitor and a steering controller. The load monitor senses the actual loading of the vehicle and provides a corresponding feedback signal to the steering controller. The steering controller determines a steering calibration appropriate for the load represented by the feedback signal. As a result, the handling performance of the vehicle can be improved over that of a single, fixed steering calibration for a wide range of load conditions.

Abstract: A payload monitoring system for a vehicle includes a first spring device and a first pressure transducer. The first pressure transducer generates a first pressure signal based on a pressure of the first spring device. A controller determines a payload of the vehicle based on the first pressure signal. The controller indicates the payload to an operator. The controller signals a warning if the payload is greater than a payload threshold.