Air Pressure Gauge Tire Valve Stem Caps?

Cooneytoones · April 03, 2013, 02:53 PM

Sent: 9/5/2004 1:27 AM

Does anybody have any experiance with those tires guage caps. I just bought a set of 10 (on e-Bay) to try them out. Will post and let everybody know if they work well.
Timmy

Beatty1950 · April 03, 2013, 02:55 PM

Sent: 9/5/2004 10:43 AM
My experience with the PSI Guage Caps...

I bought a set of 6 these special PS Guage Valve Stem Caps. I had a bad experience. The driver's front tire PSI Guage valve Stem cap developed a pin hole in top of it between the 6 and the 0.. Fortunately for me the tire went totally flat in my driveway after my trip to the Great NWCWJ 3 weeks ago. I thought I had a nail or ?? in my new Yoko... 8X17.5 tire but when I spent the $65 to have a heavy truck tire service truck remove and check out the tire, they found nothing wrong with the tire until they had remove the wheel and the tire totally form the rim and aired up the tire and installed the PSI guage Valve Stem Cap. The pin hole was only visible with a Magnifying glass and did not show any other visible damage. I contacted the supplier that I used on the Web and they said that they would turn in a claim to the manufacturer of the device to get me a re-payment for the $65 service call and they promised to supply a new PSI Guage Valve stem cap if I would send in the defective cap. I sent in the bad cap and I have not heard anything from the supplier yet.

I am concerned about continuing use of these PSI Guage Valve Stem caps. I am so concerned that I plan to remove them and I do not plan to sell them to anyone and I will not recommend them to anyone else at this time.

Happy and Safe WinnebaGOING to all.

Dave Beatty

Cooneytoones · April 03, 2013, 02:56 PM

Sent: 9/5/2004 12:40 PM

Thanks Dave for the info cap guages, will not use at this time, I'll see if I can do more checking for you on that manufactures defect of that product, and if the company is legit, and if it is a defective product, it should be off the market. Well all know the "Ford Explorer Tire Story" and low or wrong air pressure could be a killer. Especially in a 8' by 20' something box at 65 mph....... What was the manufactures name? I have some contacts at Attorney Generals office in Indianapolis.......Thanks again......Timmy

Beatty1950 · April 03, 2013, 02:57 PM

9/5/2004 4:40 PM

The ones you bought from ebay are larger/stronger and look good. Let us know how they work out. Are they heavy enough to case a balancing issue ??

Looking forward to your update ...

Dave Beatty

melyash · April 03, 2013, 02:58 PM

Sent: 9/6/2004 12:10 PM

Nice gauges, will probably put a bid on a set myself.

Yea I have the cheeper ones and have (knock on wood) had no problems at all with them on my motorhome. The set I have came with small locknuts to keep them from being stolen or as in the case with my wifes car coming loose and deflating her tire. I got half way thru changing her tire when I found the thing had come loose so I reinflated her tire screwed it on tighter and have had zero problems since. These are the little "if you see green your at the proper pressure" type and are easier to read at a glance. They are also more sensitive, with a 5 psi difference being full deflection, but they do not tell you if your overpressure or even what pressure your at.

As for the larger ones, the only things I don't like about them are they are larger and may still affect tire balance, (even though the seller claims it does not, are they a tire expert? Have they balanced tires after mouting to verify?).

I also think since they are larger, they are a bigger target for damage from rocks and debris so I would watch them carefully for nicks and cracks.

Thirdly, since they have more mass and such, I would be slightly worried that they will contribute to premature valve stem wear since they are adding probably 10 times the weight of a tire cap on the end of the stem, with no support. Being out on the end of the stem, it is at the end of the moment arm where it will exert the most force against the stem with every bounce and bump. I would only use these on steel valve stems and not on the standard rubber ones. I am not saying they are bad, just pointing out a few things to think about.

I think the most important lesson here is to have a way of checking the pressure regularly. Be it electronic radio transmitter, manual guage, or a good quality hand gauge, we need to keep them up to mfr recommended pressure.

I saw a post from someone on the board that says he runs underpressure because he is under the max load for that tire, this scares me immensly. Manufacturer recommended tire pressure is the way to go on all of these tires, period! To do anything else is courting disaster. Not just my humble opinion, but fact born of many years on the road, and a personal "one on one" with Les Schwab himself. Also heard it from a Rep from Yokohama at a seminar on tire care for RV's, Trust me on this, run them at the right pressure.

Ok I will get down off the pulpit now....

Matt

Cooneytoones · April 03, 2013, 02:59 PM

Sent: 9/7/2004 1:17 AM

They claim they Do Not interfere with balance, they are 1.5 inches in diameter...Will post when I get my new tires on, ( That'll be after I get the %*$**@% parking break freed up)
Timmy

Cooneytoones · April 03, 2013, 03:01 PM

Sent: 9/9/2004 11:22 PM

I received the guages I bought, put 2 guages on my bus to try them out, front only. The bus is a 44 passenger 3800 Internation w/ 22.5 inch tires. I drive it about 150 miles per day. 3 days so far, and guages look and work great.

I used a digital guage to check pressure (cold) with first and then installed cap guages got exactly the same pound reading 90 lbs, after driving 65 MPH to 70 mph on highway for approx. 1 hour air temp @ 76 degrees, checked guages and both were at or near 110lbs, checked with digital guage and showed 108 in right tire and 106 in left tire......this is normal due to having more passengers and full tank of fuel on right side, plus the arch of the road places more stress on the right side tire, plus sun was on right side too....Gauges do not bother balance at all. They seem to be a great deal for 2 bucks each.

Timmy

Beatty1950 · April 03, 2013, 03:05 PM

Sent: 9/19/2004 11:31 AM

I had to make the Ebay investment in the same Dial style on the valve stem Tire PSI Guages that Timmy mentioned.

Price was good and they arrive in new condition. I have taken the same approach as Timmy and installed them on the front wheels.

No experience yet with warming up the tires to see the effect of heat but they do seem to hold the pressure well parked in the drive way.

Cooneytoones · April 03, 2013, 03:08 PM

Sent: 9/19/2004 12:35 PM

My evaluation after 2 weeks with gauges on a 3800 44 passenger International Bus traveling about 150 miles per day. Tires are 10 x 22 They work great. No Balance issues. The gauges are very accurate, Checked against a digital pressure gauge, they are right on the money. Read the same every morning cold, and same (exactly) daily after 1 to 2 hour trip. With them on you can really see how much air builds up in a tire when it gets hot.

The tires on the bus are rated at max cold pressure 100 psi. I run them at 90psi cold. In hot weather they get up to about 108 to 110. That's a combo of driving on Highway @ 65 to 70 mph. City @ 25 to 40 mph, state highway @ 55mph and country rock (gravel) roads @ 20 mph. The gauges seem very durable. the lenses are clear and easy to read. A great buy for 2 bucks a gauge. Even if snow and ice scratch up the lenses, with 10 gauges in a box you'll have plenty to get you through. Will put 7 on my rig tomorrow when new tires get put on. I may get some Crossfire equalizers for the dually drives, I heard some great things about them. That's a topic for another discussion.
Timmy

Beatty1950 · April 03, 2013, 03:10 PM

Sent: 9/19/2004 11:44 PM

Thanks Timmy ...

I really appreciate your prompt and complete evaluation of the Spira Gage.

Cooneytoones · April 03, 2013, 03:17 PM

Sent: 1/30/2005 2:03 PM

This is an update on the valve stem gauges. I put two on my bus which is driven about 700 miles per week. After almost 5 months (approx. 11,000 miles) some heavy snow, rain, salt, mud, temperature ranges from 90 degrees to 17 below zero.....The still look and work like new.......Recommended buy

Timmy

ClydesdaleKevin · April 05, 2013, 07:06 PM

Pretty neat! I was thinking about getting those wireless ones that send all your tire pressure info to a GPS looking screen thingy that you keep on the dash...but not until the prices come down! Those things are still pretty expensive right now! However, with all of our long trips, it sure would be nice to know all of your tire pressures at a glance while driving...they even let you know the tire pressures in your towed vehicle. I like them and the idea behind them...just waiting for the price to drop a bit. 600 bucks for a 12 tire setup is still way out of the realm of what I'm willing to spend. About half that and I'd buy the setup in a heartbeat.

Kev