Aftermarket Tire pressure gauge for 2005

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by edselpdx, Jun 8, 2006.

  1. edselpdx

    edselpdx Member

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    I just had a scary experience with a tire going flat on me; I knew I had a slow leak and have been adding air every few days for about a week, but was really busy with work this week and planning on taking it in for repair this weekend. Anyhooo... sudden pulling to the right on a busy street and I pulled into a Firestone place I was literally driving past. I figured, OK, time to have that leak repaired. Guy says no problem, $12 we'll repair it for you. Well 10 minutes later he's showing me the worn down screw diagonally through the tread which has now dug through the sidewall. So needless to say, I now own some Firestones, rather than the GY Comfortreads I was going to put on down the road when the crappy OEM's died. I bought the Affinity LH30's...came home and checked them out on TireRack.com and they don't look bad, though I'm waiting anxiously to see what happens to my mileage.

    Long story, but I think I might have known about the leak sooner if I'd had a tire pressure indicator of some kind and dealt with it before I had a potentially disastrous problem. I have a 2005 with no OEM tire pressure monitor. I'd really prefer to go with something simpler (and WAY cheaper) like http://store.vehiclelight.com/airalert.html or http://www.accupressurecaps.com/?source=gg...CFTZaGAodaygRqQ, but would consider one of the remote systems for $220 more if the cheap alternative is really useless. I like the 1st link one and the price is right, so I may try it anyway. Any recommendations from voices of experience?
     
    #1 edselpdx, Jun 8, 2006
  2. naterprius

    naterprius Senior Member

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    I've got the Smartire system in my 2004. Works great, but you have to remove the tires to put it in. Maybe Firestone would do it for free?

    I have the remote advanced display, it tells me exact pressure of each tire, as well as temperature!

    http://www.vulcantire.com/smartire_pass_rmt_sys.htm

    By the way, I hid all the wiring under the dash and used a cigarette lighter adapter tapped into the existing cigarette lighter circuit. Works great!

    http://www.tessco.com/products/displayProd...T.mc_id=froogle

    Nate
     
    #2 naterprius, Jun 9, 2006
  3. jrct9454

    jrct9454 Junior Member

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    Something wrong with an old-fashioned tire gauge?

    We have an '06 with the TPMS, and the OEM wheels with the senders are sitting in our storage cage - the new wheels and tires are sans TPMS, and I don't miss it at all. Can't imagine spending good money to put this technology on a car witout it. A simple walk-around and a tire gauge are all the "tire pressure monitoring system" I've ever needed.

    Incidentally, one of the things I found interesting was how INSENSITIVE the TPMS was when we had the OEM wheels on the car; it took days for it to notice that the signal was gone after I swapped them out, and lord knows how great the difference would have to be between two tires before the warning light would come on. I think I'd notice a slow leak before the TPMS would.

    Our last car took a nail, and was losing about 1 psi per day - I noticed it after about 3 days, monitored for another 3 [adding air and convincing myself it was consistent], and had it repaired in a week. I seriously doubt the TPMS would have notified me faster than I found it using the old-fashioned methods of eyball-and-check-with-a-gauge.

    I see cars with serious pressure problems everytime I'm on the street - mostly what it takes is paying attention. I guess I don't get it on this one....more complexity and cost that can easily be avoided....
     
    #3 jrct9454, Jun 9, 2006
  4. edselpdx

    edselpdx Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jrct9454 @ Jun 9 2006, 07:04 AM) [snapback]268559[/snapback]</div>
    Well, I have one of those, but I have no garage, so checking tire pressure in inclement weather is not something I do regularly enough since kneeling in my driveway in the rain to check pressure is unpleasant. Visual inspection is not adequate to see a 4-5 lb drop in pressure. I did notice the slow leak, but only because the weather's been relatively good and I checked the pressure at a fillup. It was already down 10 lb, and I had no idea, and I have no idea how long it was low. It was a rear tire, so I didn't feel it when driving (I think I would've noticed 10 lb loss on a front tire.)

    Yes I KNOW I should check the tires more regularly, but I'm thinking a visual indicator would be helpful to me and my situation. For the price, I think I'll get a set of the LED indicators that self-calibrate and blink at 4 lb loss for under $30 unless someone can say that these don't work. There are a couple of reviews on Amazon, which are both positive.
     
    #4 edselpdx, Jun 9, 2006
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