Why is it so hard to check your tyre pressures.
Discussion
steve singh said:
So guys, with a North Westerly wind and being 500ft above sea level - am I ok to drive my car home from work or will the tyres explode?
With a north westerly there is more of a chance of attack from aliens from Area 51, but you might just make it home if you drive fast enough.
steve singh said:
So guys, with a North Westerly wind and being 500ft above sea level - am I ok to drive my car home from work or will the tyres explode?
I just want to re-assure everyone, despite the variation in temperature, wind direction and height above sea level, my tyres survived and I got home ok.I will double check the pressure again tomorrow as the earth orbit might create a gravitational effect that Sainsburys might not have calibrated into their air pressure machine.
However worse case I'll pop over and see my local Polish astrophysicist (often recognisable from a grubby t-shirt, cigerette in mouth and wet sponge by his side) as he has an air compressor machine and I've never seen one of his customers have their tyres explode - so he obviously has a means of calibrating his machine that is beyond the ability of many.
God bless Poland and their nationals - without them, I wouldn't be confident to drive to work.
Thankyou4calling said:
Front drivers side looked a bit low so drove to the filling station, airline out of order, station two, no airline, station three, success, BUT, im behind a bloke carrying out a 12000 mile service, he does tyres, radiator, washers, oil cleans screen then goes to vacuum the interior! I've driven seven miles so I'm sticking with it. Finally get my turn, it's 20p and I don't have change, so I have to buy a mars bar to get change. Remove all the valve caps, set the meter to 32 and off I go. Does the airline reach all the tyres? Barely, can I see if the pressures are down? Nope, can't see the readout so I listen for the bell which you can barely hear. Then my 2 minutes of air runs out before I've done all four tyres omitting the suspect front! Can't be bothered to get another 20p so replace all valve caps but, as is the way, one is missing (nice alloy caps too) I just need to get out of this place. Head home and I've driven 14 miles and its taken an hour. Is it just me who hates this job?
Very annoying when you still have one more tyre to check PLUS the spare and your time is up! That even when removing all the five dust caps before inserting your 50p. By the way. It's now 50p in most local facilities ... the 20p days are long gone.You could however, have an equally cunning plan ... and save money ..
Few Christmases ago, my older son bought me a 12v Tyre Inflator which plugs into the cigar lighter. Not very big and comes in its own neat carry case. I've had several pen-type Tyre Pressure Gauges since the dawn of time. Most of those 20p tyre pumping facilities locally are now ... 50p! So, the outlay for that 12v Inflator will soon be recovered.
With so many cars in the family, that 12v inflator gizmo has been a God send. Yes, when you need to use those 20 now 50p places, the line has been stolen ~ one of my son's on leaving school and still studying worked part time in a supermarket petrol station and numerous occasions the Air Line pressure appliance would get nicked or damaged.
Some of the dozy driver stories whilst filling up you would not believe... not just diesel in petrol tanks and visa versa, driving away whilst pump still in tank filler. Driving away without paying up a frequent daily event...
World's full of crooks and dozy motorists.
When I first got my present I wondered how long it would last ~ made in china and all that. Many uses later been good as gold and works every time.
Thankyou4calling said:
I thought that was rude too. Blimey, I was only releasing a bit of frustration at the hassle ( a bit self inflicted) of checking the pressures. I don't think temperature is really an issue on a regular car used for nipping around in. I thought there would be more peeps adding to what a general palaver it an be.
I agree, however I can see Rob's point, but I think there are probably three completely different camps when it comes to tyre pressures:1. General motorists who get their tyres inflated when their car is serviced. These are people that claim they had a blowout once and driving fast is dangerous because a blowout might happen. The fact that they'd been driving around with 15-20 psi in the tyre for the previous thousand miles is lost on them.
2. Those who realise tyre pressures are important, but don't really care so long as they're about right. This is probably the majority of motorists who don't care too much about how the car feels when it loses traction because they'll never push it that hard.
3. Those who have been on trackdays, racers, tuners or anyone who wants to improve or keep the performance of their car at the highest standard. I think these people are few and far between, but they understand how the pressure in the tyres affects the car's handling and therefore adjust it to suit their preference.
I think calling type 2s utterly stupid' is a stretch too far though (type 1s definitely are though).
LeoSayer said:
Here's a question that i always wanted to know the answer to....if you set the tyre pressure on a wheel that is off the car, does the tyre pressure change when you mount the wheel and it has the weight of the car resting on it?
Depends on initial inflation pressure, vehicle mass, tyre construction, tyre size and where the moon is.I've pumped tyres up to 40psi off the car, fitted them and measured them at 40psi still.
I've also blown balloons up then sat on them and they pop.
I am lucky in that we have a large compressor and tank in the garage that my old man got as trade through a mates garage (we often got MAC tools etc, still ace today some 15 years later!) that with a decent air attachment with accurate gauge and tyre attachment, only issue is now we have too many project in the way to get car near the thing...doh.
Im hopefully moving into a rental home soon so will have to invest in a decent wee compressor and air gun as I am the mechanic in the house as the mrs has no clue
Im hopefully moving into a rental home soon so will have to invest in a decent wee compressor and air gun as I am the mechanic in the house as the mrs has no clue
Captain Muppet said:
LeoSayer said:
Here's a question that i always wanted to know the answer to....if you set the tyre pressure on a wheel that is off the car, does the tyre pressure change when you mount the wheel and it has the weight of the car resting on it?
Depends on initial inflation pressure, vehicle mass, tyre construction, tyre size and where the moon is.I've pumped tyres up to 40psi off the car, fitted them and measured them at 40psi still.
I've also blown balloons up then sat on them and they pop.
thismonkeyhere said:
LuS1fer said:
Does anyone else's electric pump (new by the way) simply refuse to pump a space-saver to 60psi - just cuts out around 40.
Mine's quite happy to 60psi on bike tyres - might be different for a space saver? Never tried.227bhp said:
Doing a Google search brought this thread up so I thought i'd ask here;
How exactly do cars monitor their own tyre pressures?
Sensors in the wheels which are read by the car.How exactly do cars monitor their own tyre pressures?
The ones in my Mustang looked like this.
When I went to winter wheels I had to use a tool to sync them to the car.
227bhp said:
Doing a Google search brought this thread up so I thought i'd ask here;
How exactly do cars monitor their own tyre pressures?
Most don't...they just use the ABS sensors to detect a wheel/tyre that is rotating less than it should be for the actual vehicle speed...because that it a symptom of a deflated tyres.How exactly do cars monitor their own tyre pressures?
OP, don't ever buy an Alpina...with Alpina wheels (or at least with the ones that don't have sliding centre badges) the process is even worse:
1) Disentangle the lock cover extraction tool from your keyring.
2) Go round the car and use the tool to pull the lock covers off. But don't pull too hard or you'll break the plastic retaining strap.
3) Find the key to unlock the covers concealing the air valves.
4) Go round the car unlocking each valve cover. In order to avoid bending the key, you may need to apply (huge) pressure to the valve cover as you simultaneously turn the key.
5) Go round the car and remove each dust cap.
6) Attempt to hold the air dispenser onto the (stupidly short) section of valve that protrudes into free space.
7) Try to encourage more air to go in than is coming out.
8) Re-fit all the dust caps.
9) Re-fit all the valve covers after peering closely at the wheels to find the tiny indicators that show the necessary lock position.
10) Re-fit all the lock covers.
11) Wipe the filth from your hands as best you can while fervently wishing Alpina had stuck to making typewriters.
12) Apologise to the queue of people waiting to use the air machine.
13) Repeat steps 1 - 12 next week.
It's even more fun on a dark night in the rain in the middle of winter. For maximum enjoyment, buy an Alpina that's had one of the locks replaced at some point. That way, you get to try two keys in each lock at steps 4 and 10. The correct key will always be the second one you try.
1) Disentangle the lock cover extraction tool from your keyring.
2) Go round the car and use the tool to pull the lock covers off. But don't pull too hard or you'll break the plastic retaining strap.
3) Find the key to unlock the covers concealing the air valves.
4) Go round the car unlocking each valve cover. In order to avoid bending the key, you may need to apply (huge) pressure to the valve cover as you simultaneously turn the key.
5) Go round the car and remove each dust cap.
6) Attempt to hold the air dispenser onto the (stupidly short) section of valve that protrudes into free space.
7) Try to encourage more air to go in than is coming out.
8) Re-fit all the dust caps.
9) Re-fit all the valve covers after peering closely at the wheels to find the tiny indicators that show the necessary lock position.
10) Re-fit all the lock covers.
11) Wipe the filth from your hands as best you can while fervently wishing Alpina had stuck to making typewriters.
12) Apologise to the queue of people waiting to use the air machine.
13) Repeat steps 1 - 12 next week.
It's even more fun on a dark night in the rain in the middle of winter. For maximum enjoyment, buy an Alpina that's had one of the locks replaced at some point. That way, you get to try two keys in each lock at steps 4 and 10. The correct key will always be the second one you try.
Edited by Risotto on Friday 22 October 16:53
LeoSayer said:
227bhp said:
Doing a Google search brought this thread up so I thought i'd ask here;
How exactly do cars monitor their own tyre pressures?
Most don't...they just use the ABS sensors to detect a wheel/tyre that is rotating less than it should be for the actual vehicle speed...because that it a symptom of a deflated tyres.How exactly do cars monitor their own tyre pressures?
RobM77 said:
If you're driving the car to a garage just before you check the pressures it makes the whole operation pointless. The act of driving your car will create heat in the tyres and therefore heat the air in them, raising the pressure. This means a) the cold pressures given in the handbook won't apply and b) the heating will be uneven depending on the number of left and right bends, acceleration and braking. Ergo what you'll end up doing is having all of the pressures too low and they'll all be different - utterly pointless.
Get yourself a tyre pressure gauge and a pump and do it yourself when the car is sat cold and out of the sun; then you can enjoy the handling, economy and safety that was designed into your car in the first place. It'll take five minutes and it'll be done properly.
I'm all ears as to how much difference that makes to the pressure?Get yourself a tyre pressure gauge and a pump and do it yourself when the car is sat cold and out of the sun; then you can enjoy the handling, economy and safety that was designed into your car in the first place. It'll take five minutes and it'll be done properly.
I'll bet it's a fraction of the difference between doing it in winter versus summer (which in itself probably makes little difference).
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