Anyone use an aftermarket Tire Pressure Monitoring System?

[Melensdad]

My cars have TPMS systems and they are incredibly useful. I probably would not have ordered it as an option if it was not part of a package the auto manufacturer included in the package but I have it on 3 of my cars and honestly think its a great feature.

ANYONE ELSE USE THESE on their car, truck or bike?

Looking at an aftermarket unit for my motorcycles. I was out riding Saturday and something just didn't feel right. Checked the tire pressure on Sunday morning and, sure enough, pressures were about 10# low.

Looking at this unit, figure that $60 bucks can save me excessive wear on the tires and, given the cost of the tires, payback on this thing is going to be pretty quick. Also proper inflation saves gas, not that the bikes eat up much fuel, but every little bit helps.

Probably going to add a similar unit to my Nissan Frontier. The unit below is for 2 wheel vehicles (motorcycle, bike, scooter or utility trailer) but they make them for 3 and 4 wheel vehicles too.

Amazon.com: Mercu Wireless Digital Motorcycle Tire Pressure Gauge Monitoring System, Waterproof TPMS Digital LCD Display,Tire Pressure Gauge Monitoring System 2 Sensors for Motorcycle : Automotive

Buy Mercu Wireless Digital Motorcycle Tire Pressure Gauge Monitoring System, Waterproof TPMS Digital LCD Display,Tire Pressure Gauge Monitoring System 2 Sensors for Motorcycle: Replacement Sensors - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

 

[EastTexFrank]

You are right. We have it on two cars and it is extremely useful especially on my wife's car. She doesn't pay attention to such things until she get a alarm for a low tire. Me? I still check my tire pressures on a monthly basis even with the TPM. Old habits die hard.

I probably won't get them on the old truck but where I am considering getting them is on the motorhome. It's built on a freightliner truck chassis and those big ol' tires are expensive. Apart from the cost consideration, even more important is the safety factor. I don't think that I want to be driving it down the road on a tire that is going flat. That is just a disaster in the making. I probably won't get it done this summer because it doesn't look like we're going anywhere but I'll probably have them installed before our fall excursion.

 

[Melensdad]

After looking at some of the reviews it seems like the unit I posted above is probably as good a bet as I can find.

Found some that cost more. Some that cost less. Found some that sync with your Smartphone via an App. Even found some that are solar powered. Ordered the one above, actually ordered 2 of them, one for the lovely Mrs_Bob too. Should arrive from Amazon tomorrow.

 

[Melensdad]

Today Santa in a brown truck pulled into my driveway and delivered 2 of the TPMS units from Amazon.

I plugged one of the units in to charge it and went about the process of mounting it, and the sensors to my bike. After charging I popped the head unit into place and it worked. Synced up automatically with the tires and off I rode.

While I was gone the other head unit was connected to the charger. Got home and installed that onto the lovely Mrs_Bob
s bike. Only the front tire is registering pressure and temperature. And the head unit only displays Celsius but won't work in Fahrenheit. Hmmm. Dead battery in the rear sensor? Bad head unit? Dead something else? I dunno. I'll try to figure it out tomorrow. Or send it back for a replacement.

 

[Melensdad]

Amazon is sending out a new unit to replace the apparently defective unit I received. Hopefully the replacement will be fully functional.

 

[Melensdad]

Tried again today, got the rear tire sensor to work so now the whole system is working, but the temperature sensors are still only reading Celsius and I can't get it to read Fahrenheit.

When I reset the system the rear sensor started flashing with a low pressure warning. Rode the bike out of the garage and the pressure reading was showing up before I got to the road, so less than 150 feet before it was displayed.

You can see the display sitting on the left side of the dash of my bike. 35# front tire. 39# rear tire. Both tires showing 75 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

[Melensdad]

I pulled a trailer with a flat tire for more than a couple miles once, this would have come in handy. They make them in different configurations, obviously this is for 2 wheels. But I’d want one for a trailer if I get another.

PreRide pressures & temperatures
MidRide and post ride. Handy little device.

 

[Melensdad]

Been playing around with the tire pressures.

If I recall, the factory tire pressure recommendation for my motorcycle is 36psi Front & 41psi Rear

At those pressures I found the bike skittish, especially in some of the rural areas I ride where gravel is often scattered on corners and occasionally out in the road. Especially the rear tire, which, if inflated to 41psi would often climb to 44 or 45psi as the tire heated up. At those pressures the tire was rock hard and if it hit a rock it would typically "spit" it out to one side or the other, causing the bike to be slightly upset, instead of rolling over the rock.

I've now settled on 35F/35R and seem pretty happy with those pressures, the tires seem to stick better to the roadways, the bike is no longer "spitting"gravel and seems much more stable in the corners.

Much lower than those pressures and the bike also acts squirrelly in the corners, but doesn't bounce or spit rocks like at the higher pressures. When starting out at 35/35 psi for the front rears, the pressures typically increase to about 38psi as the tires warm up and stay at those pressure while out riding on normal summer days.

FWIW, when riding on hot/sunny days, the tires will heat up and the pressures will increase 3 to 5 psi. I noticed that when the tire pressure was about 40PSI the pressures could increase up to 5 additional psi. But at pressures in the mid-30's, I only notice the pressures going up about 3 psi. So I'm wondering if higher starting pressures = higher growth in riding pressure do to higher tire temperatures? This is observational, and could be based on weather conditions, as I've not been using the TPMS for very long.