The RV industry markets tire pressure monitoring systems that have small sensors that screw onto the top of the valve stem.It doesnt matter what the tire is....I'm sure it could be used on any vehicle.
You see,what pisses me off is that if everybody took 3 min out of the weekend, got up off their collective asses and checked there tyre pressure once a week like in the old days, then maybe the government/motor manufacturers wouldn't feel the need to force this bull shit on people. I mean, Jesus H Christ on a sidecar, I'm a quadriplegic and still manage to check my tyre pressure weekly. How hard can it be for crying out loud? Rant over, going back in the cupboard. Paul
Hey Paul........They ain't so easy to check when your goin 70 down the highway and just picked up a nail.
I agree with Kripfink. We get 2 or 3 people every week with the light on and no air in their tires. It's not "their resposibilty" to put air in their tires. But then there aren't many places anymore where you can get air.
fair point, but you were just as likely to pick up a nail going down the highway back in the days when people did their own maintenance. What's changed, tyres or people? I mean, when your fancy tyre pressure monitor fails without warning, are you just going to assume that there isn't a problem until your tyre runs flat? Just like when your fancy parking sensor fails and you back into the guy parked behind you. Is that the sensors fault for failing, or your fault for putting all your faith in a device that could fail at any time? I'm not trying to start an argument here, I just feel that the more bells and whistles you stick on a car in the name of safety the more there is to go wrong. To me, the more you remove driver input the more likely you are to end up with bad drivers in poorly maintained vehicles. I can only ride as a passenger nowadays, but when I had a tyre fail on me last summer I didn't need a sensor to tell me something was wrong. Getting back in the cupboard again. Paul
Paul......I totally agree with your sentiment but the unfortunate fact is that many if not most drivers these days don't have a clue as to how their car works nor are they interested or capable of learning. They are going to just jump in and go.I hate all of the bells and whistles that the new cars have but if they work to any extent for the uneducated driver it might make my my journey less eventful.Now as you have done I will go back in my cupboard.I have said enough.
Definately people. And I assume there will be an I-phone app for that. Pretty soon, we will be too dumb to even go to the toilet by ourselves.
Paul's points are well taken. There are a bunch of patents in this realm. Every 7 days I seem able to check pressures. Not everyone's a diagnosed gearhead suppose? http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5325902.html
Good thing most car guys know how to keep an eye onhow the tires look and check the pressure when needed. I don't think I'll be worrying about this on my trucks anytime soon. Haven't had to add air to the bias on my '53 since they were put on new in 2002.
last week i had the low pressure light come on in my truck. got out and had a rear tire going down. luckily i was within a mile or so of the place i buy my tires. they pulled a good sized bolt out of it. i was going to be headed up on the interstate for about an hour ride, and was thankful for the light. i could of been changing it myself and freezing my ass off 10 miles down the road.
My 2007 Chevy pickup has the TPM system and it's a total pain in the ass. The rear tires have a higher recommended pressure than the fronts so it all has to be reset every time the tires are rotated. The pickup's own tire learning system will never work so it has to go to the dealer at each rotation. The techs at the dealership also have trouble resetting it and it usually has to go back two or three times to get it right. They shouldn't mandate this crap and then not be able to produce a working version of it.
we (Audi) were using the internal sensors but we've heard they're failing too often, they're too damn fragile (tire jockeys bust 'em changing tires) and the customers are too "dainty" to learn how they operate and how to reset the MMI... so we end up charging corporate warranty money for doing it FOR them. now we're working on taking the signal from the ABS speed sensor instead, which reads difference in individual wheel speed and will flag a wheel turning at different speed from the rest (ergo, it's losing air) and it does this hundreds of time per minute. the best thing is, it takes those POS sensors out of the wheels and removes the half dozen antennas that TPMS uses. there's simply too much over complicated bullshit on new cars. and my coworkers wonder why i love my old Falcon.....
I was gassing up last week. Watched a guy pull into the store with a late model Cadillac Escalade. It had the big stoopid looking 24" wheels with the rubberband tires that have a sidewall height of about 2 inches. Left rear flat as a pancake. He went in, came out, and drove on down the road. Totally Clueless! LOL
Hell 90% of grown men today driving down the road can"t put a spare tire on if they had to and that is what the moniters are for.The deal with the moniter in the tire won"t last long because of moisture problems. Stopped for a car on the side of the road just last week,dude,his wife and 2 kids standing beside car.Pulled up asked him if I could help and he said he had a flat tire but didn"t know where his spare was. I showed him where it was and instead of putting it on for him showed him how but let him do the work.I told him when he got home to take his owners manuel out and read the thing.I just hope he learned something.
I wouldn't worry about it. Hot rodders have a way of figuring out how to dupe the government watchdogs into thinking they are following the rules when they are really just figuring out how NOT to follow the rules. I'm going out to the garage to build a prototype "fake" tire pressure monitor that looks like it is legit but is nothing more than smoke and mirrors... Kinda like how everyone does with the California emissions laws.. Like someone already said. Simple as screwing a small sensor on the tire valve and a simple receiver box that will have an idiot light on the dash come on when one is low. Then you go check them all with a gauge. It actually isn't a bad idea. With the cost of electronics today you could probably build your own for a few bucks in a couple years. Or.. we could mandate that part of passing your driver's test is accurately measuring your tire pressure with a manual gauge.
Bottom line Why make tires with air in them ,Im sure with todays technology ,They can think of something better .They will spend billions on researching tire pressure monitoring systems ,Why
You mean like this? http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...a=X&ei=8bQETeDAHaSxnAet_Z3lDQ&ved=0CDgQ9QEwBg I don't think that will go over on a traditional hot rod...
Nanny state bullshit. I know '07 camray valve stem is $145 plus programming, I didn't do it. Some states require it for inspection, probably Cali., & NY likes to copy their stupidity, so I expect it from a dumbass like C.Schumer. Battery life is a maximum of 5 years, so about the time the payment book is thin you will have to go install & program all 4 at about $200 ea. One tech muttered "magnet" when I asked about a bypass for it. Now there is talk of anti-collision braking monitor, thanks BMW for inventing a new mandate. And bumper cameras. Do away with no-fault and mandate personal responsability, modern cars are tool, not a luxury, & a damn poor tool at that, I wish I could do without. Now after the rant, the garage is a mess but I have a new heater, some flathead parts to clean & organize, can of beer, forget the "modern problems".
The Jalopy Journal
