Tire pressure the inexpensive way

[Bruce Nunnally]

When I bought my 2005 CTS the dealer had these valve stem tire pressure monitors on the car and didn't bother to take them off, or charge me for them. They are set at 30 psi, and show a red stem if the pressure falls below instead of the green you see here.

Seem to be a couple of different brands with similar approach, but so far so good on these. Sure makes it easy to check at a glance when refueling.

[Bob D]

Cool! I like it. I guess you can get them in 1lb increments?

I need about....40 of them..

Don't need them for my wife's new Audi though. It has a pressure monitoring system that will let you know via a pictorial that pops up in the center lcd screen between the guages. It will show a small icon that is a view of the car overhead, showing all tires including the spare. If any of them suddenly drop by greater than 5% (~1.5psi) that tire will go blinking red, with a chime. You can reset the display, but it will keeping appearing until you correct the errant pressure situation.

dang German engineers..

[WarrenJ]

Cool! I like it. I guess you can get them in 1lb increments?

I need about....40 of them..

I like it!

Bob D, you need 40 of them?!?

How MANY 18 wheelers you got on blocks in your driveway?

Regards,

Warren

"P.S. Don't need them for my wife's new Audi though. It has a pressure monitoring system that will let you know via a pictorial that pops up in the center lcd screen between the guages. It will show a small icon that is a view of the car overhead, showing all tires including the spare. If any of them suddenly drop by greater than 5% (~1.5psi) that tire will go blinking red, with a chime. You can reset the display, but it will keeping appearing until you correct the errant pressure situation.

dang German engineers.."

SHOW OFF!!

[Ranger]

Do those just screw on in place of a valve cap or is it a part of the vavle stem that requires dismounting the tire? Never seen them before. I like the idea.

[JasonA]

They are just valve caps. I read where Car & Driver installed them on a long-term car they had a while back, and said their accuracy was marginal. It'd be best to periodically check with a quality gauge I think.

[Bruce Nunnally]

Do those just screw on in place of a valve cap or is it a part of the vavle stem that requires dismounting the tire? Never seen them before. I like the idea.

Just screw in place. I took one off to observe the 'red' low pressure setting, then screwed it back on. Available in a couple of settings looked like. Not sure if mine are "Tire Minder" or "Accu Pressure" brands similar to here:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...g=UTF8&v=glance

Good news is I thought they were $14-19 each, but that's for a set of 4 or 5.

Here is the C&D quote:

Baubles and Bolt-Ons

TIRE-PRESSURE MONITOR: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is pushing for legislation that would require cars and light trucks to be fitted with an electronic system to monitor tire pressure. We've found a cheap solution in the Accu-Pressure safety caps ($15 for a set of four at www.accu-pressure.com). These clever valve caps alert a driver to a tire's low pressure without having to pull out a gauge. Sure, it's the lazy approach, but, well, that might just guarantee success. Buy the caps specified for your tires' recommended pressure. If the tire pressure is set correctly, a green collar shows through the clear end. At four pounds below recommended pressure, a warning in yellow should appear (our cap didn't go yellow until the tire was about seven pounds low). At 10 pounds low, you'll see red. We'd appreciate a bit more accuracy than that, and the caps won't warn you if you've overinflated your tires, but it's a clever idea.

and a test by a site that sells them:

http://www.accidentzone.com/safety_caps_test_results.htm

[Bob D]

Good news is I thought they were $14-19 each, but that's for a set of 4 or 5.

OK. I guess I feel better...

>"Cool! I like it. I guess you can get them in 1lb increments?

I need about....40 of them.. "<

[Scotty]

I almost bought them but for some reason think they will be a high theft item, I might try them now..

[Scotty]

Don't need them for my wife's new Audi though. It has a pressure monitoring system that will let you know via a pictorial that pops up in the center lcd screen between the guages. It will show a small icon that is a view of the car overhead, showing all tires including the spare. If any of them suddenly drop by greater than 5% (~1.5psi) that tire will go blinking red, with a chime. You can reset the display, but it will keeping appearing until you correct the errant pressure situation.

dang German engineers..

Cadillac had that in 1949! SO THERE! J/K!

[bigjayzway]

I like this idea. I may give these a shot too.

Big Jay

[jschunke]

Why not make a self-inflating tire/wheel. Put

a tiny self-regulating pump on the inside of

the rim or something. Or at least have it bleed

off overfilled tires. It's not that hard to overfill

and blow a gashing hole in the sidewall. Especially

if the tire was filled on a cool day, and driven

hard on a hot day.

[Bruce Nunnally]

Completely offtopic and the other direction, but the spare tire pressure in my 1972 Porsche 914 was the motive pressure for the windshield washers lol. So if you washed the windshield one time too often, you would end up deflating the spare.

[Scotty]

Completely offtopic and the other direction, but the spare tire pressure in my 1972 Porsche 914 was the motive pressure for the windshield washers lol. So if you washed the windshield one time too often, you would end up deflating the spare.

Interesting use of the spare...

[caddypete]

My sis's chrysler town and country van has a tire monitoring light that comes on when any tire drops pressure. I find it a pain in the a** The first time it went off I checked the pressure they where all above 32psi. So I read the owners manual it stated it also monitors the spare. So after lowering the spare and dragging it out from underneath the van (they are mounted underneath in the center) It was fine. Then I read the tires are suppose to be 35psi, I put 2psi in the right rear and the light went off. To me that is uncalled for, you shouldn't get a idiot light for 2lbs of pressure. can hardly wait for the cooler weather I will probably be putting 2 lbs of air in every morning

[JasonA]

Those pressure monitoring systems are a deal where you're not going to be able to please everybody. Everyone's threashold of accuracy vs. convenience will probably be a bit different. For instance, it'd be more "convenient" (not as annoying) if it'd allow a 5 +/- psi swing...but at that point, is it too "loose" to even be worth having it?

If it's really acting weird, take it to the Chrysler dealer...one or more of the sensors may be bad or out of calibration.

[The_Raven]

Howyadoin,

A word of warning... If you're running the pressure-sensing valve caps, remind anyone who will be removing them to snug them down when re-attaching. I had a situation where the guy at the local NTB left me with 2 flat tires from not properly tightening the caps. They open the stem valve to get pressure, and will leak if not tight.

-Rav

[JIMDTS]

I would not bother with them they probably will get ripped off. Heck on mine I had a hard time keeping the metal caps on the valve stems in parking lots 1 or 2 would always get ripped so I just went to the black plastic caps no one wants them and i have had no misssing caps since. Another thing I found that the black plastic caps do not seal as good as the factory original metal caps which is good. I have had valve stems(shrader valves) stick when airing the tires and they stick in instant flat one time I had to hunt around a gas station Lucky a woman fueling up had a hair pin so I could get the valve up Now I carry extra shrader valves and a tool to revome and install them..The facrtory metal caps have a washer(o ring) inside them to seal the cap but it also holds moisture which causes the scharder valves to corrode & stick..

Jim