Consumer Reports puts cheap tire monitor under pressure
In September, all new cars sold in the U.S. will be required to have tire pressure monitoring systems. But for all those cars built without them, owners must rely either on their trusty gauge, or one of the new valve-stem monitors. If you've been wondering how well these things work, Consumer Reports has an answer for you.They bought a set of Air Alert Valve Caps for $25 and put 'em to the test. These caps indicate a four pound drop in pressure by lighting up an LED, a pretty good idea.
You can read for yourself all the pros and cons, but the overall verdict was that they worked, but CR was concerned about durability and accuracy due to temperature-related fluctuations in tire pressure.
[Source: Consumer Reports]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Seminole 10:42AM (6/18/2007)
Quoted from the Consumer Reports article:
"-The caps are relatively small, just about 1” x ½” in size, so they should be fairly discreet, and they only weigh about 0.35 oz. each.
-We didn’t experience any tire imbalance, but it’s probably a good idea to have the tires rebalanced to compensate for the weight of the valve cap. Mr. Lundqvist says a more miniaturized version of the cap is in the works. "
Did Consumer Reports really just suggest you have to get your tired rebalanced because you put on a valve cap weighing 1/45th of a pound? (16oz/.35) That's absolutely ridiculous.
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porker 10:49AM (6/18/2007)
What do you expect from the toaster testers? The concept of an automobile is as foreign to them as the truth is to Bill Clinton.
citizen 10:55AM (6/18/2007)
well, we ballance wheels with 5gram accuracy (give or take 2.5g)
And even a small disballance like 10 g (0.35 oz) can cause slight vibrations, and parts to wear out faster.
So yes, i would recomend rebalancing.
Seminole 11:08AM (6/18/2007)
Thanks Citizen, I wasn't aware that something that small could actually make a difference. Though is it really THAT big of a difference to cause noticeable tire wear? I swapped out the standard black caps for these cool silver ones with a Florida State logo on them. I'd get the tires rebalanced, but thanks to other people, the caps are never on the tires long enough to make a difference!
F451 11:27AM (6/18/2007)
Yeah, I have faith in these gizmos about as much as I do Bush being President—zero.
Peter 11:32AM (6/18/2007)
At 60 mph, those 0.35 oz will act more like 5 pounds. Even toaster testers seem to have their bright moments occasionally.
FThorn 10:58AM (6/18/2007)
I've been using similar ones (for wifey) for over a year or two now. They are better than guessing.
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JayP 11:03AM (6/18/2007)
A dealer was selling these as 'tire insurance' on new sales for ....... $600. I called their bluff, telling them those thing are $10 Autozone parts.
They conceded it was scammy but that was all the profit the salesguy would get. I still balked but they'd already taken $7k off the thing.
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Ligor 11:12AM (6/18/2007)
i also read that they were working on some type of remore you can keep in your car that will comunicate to these things so you can see if a tire looses pressure as you are driving.
the whole package is supposed to be less than $100 and to me this would be worth deleting that option of the car list which usually add close to $1k
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Steven Spencer 11:42AM (9/11/2007)
My 2006 C6 Corvette comes with all the tire pressures on a heads up inside my vehicle and also alarms at 24#'s pressure. I think this is a great idea especially for people whom don't check as often. It is a positive safety check and should be an option on all vehicles.
Ken 11:48AM (6/18/2007)
Hmmm, you drive an ultra-complex and sophisticated $30, 40, 50,000 machine - yet its just too much to check the tire pressure every so often?
At least commercial pilots are not this lazy, or we would all be dead.
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Cliff 11:58AM (6/18/2007)
Most (not the car junkie type) people wash thier car more often that check thier own tire pressure.
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Don 1:06PM (6/18/2007)
Or, you could just check your tire pressure every couple of weeks.
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iQuack 2:47PM (6/18/2007)
Seems to me that these things will be stolen so often that the best pressure-sensitive tire valve cap would be one that looked like any other valve cap until you were very close to it to see its indicator of low pressure.
Here in San Francisco, I don't want to call attention to my car in any way that would cause the many slobs and creeps around here approach it.
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Mike 12:40AM (7/03/2007)
then there are the mechanical version that may not attract that much attention. Getting them stolen is just a matter of luck and also depends on where one usually park.
Of course, the best practise is still to make it a habit to pump up the pressure on a regular basis.
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