Tire pressure reading
10-30-2014, 10:30 AM
#21
I Like Tires
I'm often surprised when people complain about warnings that cars provide. I guess they assume that most people are smart enough to check their tires and fluid levels regularly. In fact, studies show that most people don't check anything, they just drive until it breaks. How many times have you seen a car on the road with a near flat tire? Or brake lights out? I check fluids and air every month, on the first of the month, period. That's a small minority of people I fall into. I wish all states had mandatory annual inspections like only a few do. I'm tired of dangerous vehicles on the road. Emissions get checked and overall safety gets checked. Few realize that many dealers will do a quick check for free, or a more elaborate check for a minimal fee, and even then most don't take advantage of it. How many elderly do you spot checking their oil in a service station, or air pressure? I got my mother's Ford dealer's Service Manager to agree to a free every 60 day air and fluid check. I have a reminder in my calendar to email my mother and reminder her to go, then I wait for her to say she did. The more information a car gives, the better, because the human race is fat, lazy, and mostly ignorant.
10-30-2014, 11:08 AM
#22
Everyone keeps mentioning "wheel position training". If done properly such a thing does not exist. Each wheel has a transmitter and if each wheel location has a receiver, the location is determined by the receiver not the wheel itself. Is this not how they work? Or is there just one receiver for all four wheels?
There are receivers in 3 wheel wells of some vehicles (I think some older Nissans) - the TPMS knows the position of the fourth one by default.
Each of our tire pressure sensors has a unique ID # - although there are newer sensors that can be programmed with the ID #s of your current sensors so they are clones of those sensors.
The TPMS computer memory in our trucks can only hold the ID #s of 4 tire pressure sensors.
When you do the relearn procedure to program a set of sensor ID #s into the TPMS memory, the first one triggered to send out its data is logged into the TPMS memory as the Left Front, the second as the RF, the third as the RR, and the fourth as the LR - that's why we do it in that order.
Most new vehicles display the tire pressures on the instrument display, and you'll need to do a relearn when you rotate tires - if not, then if the instrument display says the RF tire has low pressure, it will really be talking about a different location, i.e., wherever that formerly RF tire/wheel is now located.
Our trucks don't display tire pressures, so when we get a low pressure light we don't know which corner the low tire is on. For that reason, most of our trucks don't need the relearn procedure performed after rotating the tires.
However, F150s with the Heavy Duty pkg, the tire pressures are different front and rear (I think the sticker says 55 psi front, 60 psi rear) and the TPMS is programmed to reflect low pressures in relation to that. When you rotate tires on those trucks you'll need to do the relearn procedure or you can get a low pressure alert prematurely - especially if you run lower pressures when not hauling heavy loads.
Bottom line - nothing happens automatically on our trucks when you install a new sensor or swap on a different set of tire/wheels with a different set of sensors (unless they are clones of your other sensors).
The Phederal Gubmint has mandated that all new vehicles since Sept 2007 (start of the 2008 model year) have tire pressure sensors. This was in response to the Explorer with Firestone tires flipping over and killing soccer moms and their kids when they were running with under inflated tires. Unfortunately we need to have a TPMS because hardly anyone checks their tire pressures regularly. And even now I bet there are millions of vehicles driving around with a TPMS light on due to low pressure or unprogrammed/inop sensors with people just totally ignoring the light.
I have runflat tires on my Vette and the tire pressure sensors are absolutely necessary. With the stiff sidewalls you just don't get the handling feedback of a normal tire when it loses pressure (at least while driving down the highway) - the sensors are needed so you'll know if you lose pressure while going straight that you'll need to slow down to less than your normal spirited off-ramp speed so you don't find yourself in the guard rail.
However, if you really can't stand dealing with the TPMS, get a SuperDuty DUALLY!! Only four wheeled vehicles less than 10,000 lbs are required to have a TPMS - so a dually has enough wheels so the system isn't needed.
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11-01-2014, 08:48 PM
#24
I purchased TPMS for 2 of my motorcycles and advise anyone who rides that it's be best aftermarket item you can get. The systems I use tell actual pressures and temps of both tires and if they go over or under a measure set by the user they buzz and flash. Of course there are comments about 'too lazy to check' and 'don't know how to use a tire gauge' and those who insist that if you check first thing in the morning all is well. None of the mentioned methods will tell you that you've picked up a nail at the end of the driveway, just after you've checked your pressure, or that you have a slow leak 3k miles into a 10k mile trip. I had my truck sensor go off today as I was going to pick up a U-Haul and still don't understand why a $100 system on my little Suzuki DR650 can tell me pressures and temps on which tire, and this high dollar truck can't/won't. It's not a deal breaker, I just don't get why if the info is available, it's not made available. Like all the data vehicles have provided since OBDII (maybe before, I don't know). If you have a ScanGage on a 10 year old car, you can see all the data that the car provides but that manufacturers don't give you by default.
11-01-2014, 11:50 PM
#25
^^^^^ I agree!!!
Below are a couple pictures of the TPMS I installed to show me the pressure/temperature of the tires on my car hauler trailer. I want to know if I have a slow leak so I can stop and change it before it shreds and possibly causes a bigger problem.
My track car displays the tire pressures and I find it very valuable, my trailer displays the pressures, but my tow vehicle doesn't!?!?
There is a tire pressure sensor in each of the four trailer tires, and I mounted the display in an empty cubby on the dash. You can see my trailer TPMS display can be set to alternate between pressure and temperature.
Below are a couple pictures of the TPMS I installed to show me the pressure/temperature of the tires on my car hauler trailer. I want to know if I have a slow leak so I can stop and change it before it shreds and possibly causes a bigger problem.
My track car displays the tire pressures and I find it very valuable, my trailer displays the pressures, but my tow vehicle doesn't!?!?
There is a tire pressure sensor in each of the four trailer tires, and I mounted the display in an empty cubby on the dash. You can see my trailer TPMS display can be set to alternate between pressure and temperature.
11-02-2014, 12:16 AM
#26
Senior Member
Kodi, that's a pretty sweet device. Where did you get it?
I would love it if motorcycle manufacturers included something like this from the factory. Real-time tire pressure and temp readings would be really useful especially for track.
I would love it if motorcycle manufacturers included something like this from the factory. Real-time tire pressure and temp readings would be really useful especially for track.
11-02-2014, 07:27 AM
#27
Senior Member
11-02-2014, 10:45 AM
#28
The TPMS I got for my trailer is the Orange Electronics P409, available from numerous sources including Amazon, eBay, etc. for around $170.
Other systems are made by Schrader, Hella, and others.
Mine has four sensors, but they are also marketed with two sensors for motorcycles, and I think up to about ten sensors for large rigs with lots of axles.
Below is a picture of the Orange system I got - I just grabbed that image from Tire Rack's site.
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Other systems are made by Schrader, Hella, and others.
Mine has four sensors, but they are also marketed with two sensors for motorcycles, and I think up to about ten sensors for large rigs with lots of axles.
Below is a picture of the Orange system I got - I just grabbed that image from Tire Rack's site.
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The following 2 users liked this post by KR Kodi:
depami (11-02-2014),
kobayashi maru (11-04-2014)