Wheelchair measurement : How to measure a wheelchair width for door

 

This is the first question you must ask yourself because if it does not pass through the door then  you might be stock with it, you will need to measure the narrowest door in the house 

 

You just saw that wheelchair or transport chair on sale at some medical equipment dealer website, eBay, Amazon or other auction sites and probably wondering if that price is true, or if the dealer is real, we will provide an answer to those questions later, first you should check to make sure the wheelchair is exactly what  you wanted, what you need to do before shopping for a wheelchair anywhere is to determine if the chair will go through the narrowest door in your home or the most frequently used door like your dining, bathroom, main entrance or bedroom doors, using the information above  Using the measure guide below, for example if you are purchasing a wheelchair online and the manufacturer or dealer specify that the seat width is 18" then add 8" making the overall width to be 26", if the narrowest entrance in your house is more than 26" then you know it will fit through all the doors in your home.

 Information for meassuring wheelchair overall width based on type of chair.

 

Measuring Standard Folding Wheelchair overall width, the big rear wheels measured approximately 3" so adding the two wheels and making room for hardwaqre, you will need to add about 8 1/2" to the seat width of the wheelchair

Use the same trick above to measure

Bariatric Wheelchairs: Seat Width + 8"

Reclining Wheelchairs: Seat Width + 8"

Transport Wheelchair: Seat Width + 3"

 

Instruction on measuring wheelchair for footrest or legrest fitness below

It is quite easy to determine whether a footrest or legrest will fit your wheelchair if you know what to do, here is brief guide.

1. Locate the two pins on both front legs of the wheelchair, they are usually close to each other at about 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 inches of space in between the pins on the same leg.
2. Measure the space between the pins, on newer wheelchairs they are usually 1 1/2 inches and about 2 1/2 inches in others
3. Measure the distance of the uppermost pin to the floor.
4. Use this information to review the legrest or footrest you are interested in, make sure they match. Space between the footrest attachment section must match the space between the wheelchair footrest pins
5. Measuring from the uppermost footrest attachment hole to the lowest part of the footrest, make sure the length matches that of the wheelchair pin to floor height or at less than, if it is too long your new footrest will be dragging the floor.

If all necessary wheelchair footrest information are not posted on the dealers website then contact them by email, this is better because it gives the footrest dealer the opportunity to research the product (bear in mind that most online dealers only dropship directly from the manufacturer and may never have even seen the footrest before). If however you need quick answer, give them a call or just call the wheelchair and the footrest manufacturer for more information about the footrest.

Once you have determined the right footrest for your wheelchair, the next step is making sure you buy from the right vendor at the right price.

There is a simple rule to use for online purchases of wheelchair footrest , the rule get you the best price while saving you unnecessary headache should you decide to return the footrest.