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Tire maintenance, hub caps in the way

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by pasadena_commut, Nov 20, 2024 at 5:27 PM.

  1. pasadena_commut

    pasadena_commut Senior Member

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    Short form: what tire gauges and pumps (manual or electric) do you use to maintain the tires on this vehicle? Without having to remove the hub caps. Bonus points for tools that a reasonably spry elderly person could manage

    Long form:

    I'm currently visiting my elderly mother and even more elderly stepfather. The TPMS light is on in her 2012 Prius. My step father would normally have taken care of this, but he is even older and recent physical problems have put an end to his days of driving and working on tires. Their tire gauge accidentally went away with his car when they gave that to one of the grand kids. OK, thought I, tires are just tires, and pulled the tire pressure gauge and Serfas bike pump out of my 2007 to use them to check and/or fill any tires which are low. (Assuming it wasn't a failed TPMS unit in a tire.) Nope, the hub caps foiled me at every step. First the tire gauge, the kind that presses on perpendicular to the stem, wouldn't seal because there was no angle where it wasn't obstructed by the hub cap. Tried to hook the bike pump fast release on and it wouldn't clear the hub cap, which once again blocked access. The hub cap on the 2nd generation isn't very different from that on the 3rd generation, but the tire stem sticks up far enough out of the notch that these two devices attach without problem, whereas on her car it is down in the notch too far for them to fit. Later stopped at an O'Reilly's and bought their house brand dual headed pencil gauge

    https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/xtra-seal/xtra-seal-10-to-120-psi-tire-gauge/xts0/151031

    which did seat nicely, and showed that at least that one tire was low - 28 PSI on the front. Yikes. (This model gauge is hard to read though, because it has such a large range the values for this car are just a fraction of a mm apart.) I could get a valve extender (should have done that while at O'Reilly's) to use with my pump for now, but that won't be a solution for her going forward. I need to find an electric tire pump that she can hook up, set the pressure, and let it run until it stops - without removing the hub caps. My mother is pretty spry for her age, but there is no way she will be pulling off the hub caps to maintain her tires. Picture a 90 year old doing this:



    Hers has different hub caps than in the video, these:
    [​IMG]


    Thanks.
     
    #1 pasadena_commut, Nov 20, 2024 at 5:27 PM
    Last edited: Nov 20, 2024 at 8:26 PM
  2. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk EGR Fanatic

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    I was trying to air up Tesla 3 tires. The car's had 2 sets of wheel covers, ostensibly identical but the tire valve opening on the most recent set was just slightly smaller, to were I couldn't get my pump's air chuck in. Resorted to extenders:

    IMG_5975.jpeg

    upload_2024-11-21_12-0-43.png
     
  3. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    They have valve stem extenders. Different sizes. You could look on ebay, or a tire store
    might have them.
    A wide flat blade screwdriver will get the WHEEL covers off. Depending on how your
    fingers are, you can grab the edge and give it a yank...

     
  4. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    I grab mine at the inner 'spokes' and yank, plenty of room for my fingers, unlike at the edge.

    But I don't have to do that for routine checks and airings, because on my 2010 the covers don't interfere with my air chuck.
     
  5. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk EGR Fanatic

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    Mom's 90 though.
     
  6. pasadena_commut

    pasadena_commut Senior Member

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    Found an old bike pump in the corner of their garage with a smaller chuck. That one fit on if the hose was aimed at the hub, but the lever was so stiff I was afraid of breaking the stem from the force. Now I just need to find an electric pump with a chuck that size or smaller, with a lever that an old lady can move, and she should be good to go.
     
    Mendel Leisk likes this.
  7. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    ORRRRR.... you can leave the wheel covers off....
     
  8. BiomedO1

    BiomedO1 Senior Member

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    As long as the tire isn't flat, She can gently drive it to the nearest Les Schwab or American Tire to get it taken care of - might have to wait a bit if they're really busy - but they do that for free. America Tires does flats for free too; not sure about Les Schwab.

    Hope this helps....
     
  9. pasadena_commut

    pasadena_commut Senior Member

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    There is an America's Tire about a mile away, so that would be a good option. Les Schwab only has a single store in the Bay Area, and driving from San Jose to Fremont to fill the tires seems a little excessive. Thanks.

    I did suggest to her that this would be easy if the hub caps could go, but she doesn't like the look of the bare wheels (they have lost hub caps before).

    I'm thinking of getting her one of these from Home Depot:

    Husky 120-Volt Inflator H120N - The Home Depot

    It has a "set the pressure and it fills to that and stops" option, with a nice digital display. Apparently it isn't the most reliable device in the world, and can only run for 5 minutes at a time, but should still be OK for topping off the tires if they do it more or less regularly. She is OK plugging in devices, whereas keeping one of the battery powered inflators charged is a bit of a stretch for her, and plugging something into the power socket of the car, and possibly blowing the fuse, is never going to fly.
     
    BiomedO1 likes this.
  10. BiomedO1

    BiomedO1 Senior Member

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    Just make sure that valve stem clamp will fit - otherwise get some valve stem extensions on those tires.

    Good Luck....