Does anyone out there have any experience of wireless tyre pressure
monitoring devices - the sort which have special valves containing a sensor,
and a central display with LEDs and a bleeper and report status?

Yesterday, I wrote off an otherwise perfectly good 225/45x17 tyre because I
had apparently been driving it flat for a while without noticing.

In days of yore I could always tell by the seat of my pants if a tyre was a
bit flat. But many modern cars are grossly over-tyred, with very wide low
profile tyres which *look* flat when they're not, and don't really *feel*
any different when they are.

At £100 a throw, you don't have to write off too many tyres before a
monitoring system would be cheaper.

Any comments or recommendations?

TIA.
--
Cheers,
Roger
______
Email address maintained for newsgroup use only, and not regularly
monitored..
Messages sent to it may not be read for several weeks. PLEASE REPLY TO
NEWSGROUP!

Roger Mills wrote:
Does anyone out there have any experience of wireless tyre pressure
monitoring devices - the sort which have special valves containing a
sensor, and a central display with LEDs and a bleeper and report
status?
Yesterday, I wrote off an otherwise perfectly good 225/45x17 tyre
because I had apparently been driving it flat for a while without
noticing.
In days of yore I could always tell by the seat of my pants if a tyre
was a bit flat. But many modern cars are grossly over-tyred, with
very wide low profile tyres which *look* flat when they're not, and
don't really *feel* any different when they are.

At £100 a throw, you don't have to write off too many tyres before a
monitoring system would be cheaper.

Any comments or recommendations?

How about manuall checking your tyre pressures weekly, at the same time as
you make all your other routine checks?

You do make routine checks don't you?

On Thu, 11 Sep 2008 10:31:08 +0100, "Brimstone"
wrote:

Roger Mills wrote:
Does anyone out there have any experience of wireless tyre pressure
monitoring devices - the sort which have special valves containing a
sensor, and a central display with LEDs and a bleeper and report
status?
Yesterday, I wrote off an otherwise perfectly good 225/45x17 tyre
because I had apparently been driving it flat for a while without
noticing.
In days of yore I could always tell by the seat of my pants if a tyre
was a bit flat. But many modern cars are grossly over-tyred, with
very wide low profile tyres which *look* flat when they're not, and
don't really *feel* any different when they are.

At £100 a throw, you don't have to write off too many tyres before a
monitoring system would be cheaper.

Any comments or recommendations?

How about manuall checking your tyre pressures weekly, at the same time as
you make all your other routine checks?

You do make routine checks don't you?


Must be "very" low profile if you can't tell the difference when it's
flat .

In article , Brimstone says...

Any comments or recommendations?

How about manuall checking your tyre pressures weekly, at the same time as
you make all your other routine checks?

You do make routine checks don't you?

Don't be daft.


--
Conor

I only please one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow isn't
looking good either. - Scott Adams

Roger Mills wrote:
Does anyone out there have any experience of wireless tyre pressure
monitoring devices - the sort which have special valves containing a
sensor, and a central display with LEDs and a bleeper and report
status?
Yesterday, I wrote off an otherwise perfectly good 225/45x17 tyre
because I had apparently been driving it flat for a while without
noticing.
In days of yore I could always tell by the seat of my pants if a tyre
was a bit flat. But many modern cars are grossly over-tyred, with
very wide low profile tyres which *look* flat when they're not, and
don't really *feel* any different when they are.

At £100 a throw, you don't have to write off too many tyres before a
monitoring system would be cheaper.

Any comments or recommendations?

Check the pressures yourself once a week?

Mike P

In uk.d-i-y wrote:
On Thu, 11 Sep 2008 10:31:08 +0100, "Brimstone"
wrote:

Roger Mills wrote:
Does anyone out there have any experience of wireless tyre pressure
monitoring devices - the sort which have special valves containing a
sensor, and a central display with LEDs and a bleeper and report
status?
Yesterday, I wrote off an otherwise perfectly good 225/45x17 tyre
because I had apparently been driving it flat for a while without
noticing.
In days of yore I could always tell by the seat of my pants if a tyre
was a bit flat. But many modern cars are grossly over-tyred, with
very wide low profile tyres which *look* flat when they're not, and
don't really *feel* any different when they are.

At £100 a throw, you don't have to write off too many tyres before a
monitoring system would be cheaper.

Any comments or recommendations?

How about manuall checking your tyre pressures weekly, at the same time as
you make all your other routine checks?

You do make routine checks don't you?


Must be "very" low profile if you can't tell the difference when it's
flat .

Depends on the car, a flat at the rear of a 'proper' Citroën with LHM
suspension is really quite difficult to detect unless/until you take
some corners fast.

--
Chris Green

wrote:
In uk.d-i-y wrote:
On Thu, 11 Sep 2008 10:31:08 +0100, "Brimstone"
wrote:

Roger Mills wrote:
Does anyone out there have any experience of wireless tyre pressure
monitoring devices - the sort which have special valves containing
a sensor, and a central display with LEDs and a bleeper and report
status?
Yesterday, I wrote off an otherwise perfectly good 225/45x17 tyre
because I had apparently been driving it flat for a while without
noticing.
In days of yore I could always tell by the seat of my pants if a
tyre was a bit flat. But many modern cars are grossly over-tyred,
with very wide low profile tyres which *look* flat when they're
not, and don't really *feel* any different when they are.

At £100 a throw, you don't have to write off too many tyres before
a monitoring system would be cheaper.

Any comments or recommendations?

How about manuall checking your tyre pressures weekly, at the same
time as you make all your other routine checks?

You do make routine checks don't you?


Must be "very" low profile if you can't tell the difference when it's
flat .

Depends on the car, a flat at the rear of a 'proper' Citroën with LHM
suspension is really quite difficult to detect unless/until you take
some corners fast.

Yes, when I had a flat on my Xantia, on the motorway at maybe slightly more
than 70, I didn't notice until I smelt burning rubber :-) I'm old enough to
remember the Citroen GS ad where they blew a tyre out when it was in between
two trucks at speed :-)

Mike P

Roger Mills wrote:
Does anyone out there have any experience of wireless tyre pressure
monitoring devices - the sort which have special valves containing a sensor,
and a central display with LEDs and a bleeper and report status?

Yesterday, I wrote off an otherwise perfectly good 225/45x17 tyre because I
had apparently been driving it flat for a while without noticing.

In days of yore I could always tell by the seat of my pants if a tyre was a
bit flat. But many modern cars are grossly over-tyred, with very wide low
profile tyres which *look* flat when they're not, and don't really *feel*
any different when they are.

At �100 a throw, you don't have to write off too many tyres before a
monitoring system would be cheaper.

Any comments or recommendations?

TIA.

Some of the 'check it' comments might be applicable to the OP (and to
me!) - after all, he says he drove for a while in that state. But such
checking really doesn't address the journey on which the problem starts
to manifest itself.

There are a great many multi-axle and multi-wheel-per-axle vehicles - I
don't have the experience, but I can't believe a low tyre would be that
obvious.

I think that pressure sensors (of whatever sort are implemented) are
potentially a major contribution to road safety. (Hmmm, now where did I
here that before?)

--
Rod

Hypothyroidism is a seriously debilitating condition with an insidious
onset.
Although common it frequently goes undiagnosed.
www.thyromind.info www.thyroiduk.org www.altsupportthyroid.org

Rod wrote:
I think that pressure sensors (of whatever sort are implemented) are
potentially a major contribution to road safety. (Hmmm, now where did I
here that before?)

Blooming spelling checkers - please correct my typing *then* my spelling
- of course that should be 'hear'!

--
Rod

M............ wrote:
Following up to Mike P

Check the pressures yourself once a week?

tyres dont always wait a week to go soft and a soft tyre doesnt
notice on a modern car till probably too late to save it.

Every modern car I've driven, bar the Xantia, I find it easy to tell when a
tyre is soft. Up until recently, over the last 15 years or so I've always
had access to, and used company pool cars. They don't get looked after as
they should do and within a couple of miles I can tell whether the tyres are
soft or not. I seemed to be the only one who bothered to ever check the
tyres and oil between services in them

Mike P

"Mike P" wrote in message
...


Yes, when I had a flat on my Xantia, on the motorway at maybe slightly
more than 70, I didn't notice until I smelt burning rubber :-) I'm old
enough to remember the Citroen GS ad where they blew a tyre out when it
was in between two trucks at speed :-)

That's the easy option, centrifugal force keeps the tyre round even without
the air when you are driving fast.
It would have been fun to see them do it on a curved bit.

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Brimstone wrote:

Roger Mills wrote:
Does anyone out there have any experience of wireless tyre pressure
monitoring devices - the sort which have special valves containing a
sensor, and a central display with LEDs and a bleeper and report
status?

Any comments or recommendations?

How about manuall checking your tyre pressures weekly, at the same
time as you make all your other routine checks?

You do make routine checks don't you?

Yes, I do make frequent visual checks - and occasional checks with a
pressure gauge (plus under-bonnet checks), but - as others have pointed
out - if you pick up a nail and a tyre starts to deflate while on a journey,
weekly checks ain't going to help.

Do you have anything *useful* to contribute?
--
Cheers,
Roger
______
Email address maintained for newsgroup use only, and not regularly
monitored.. Messages sent to it may not be read for several weeks.
PLEASE REPLY TO NEWSGROUP!

"Brimstone" wrote in message
...
Roger Mills wrote:
Does anyone out there have any experience of wireless tyre
pressure
monitoring devices - the sort which have special valves
containing a
sensor, and a central display with LEDs and a bleeper and
report
status?
Yesterday, I wrote off an otherwise perfectly good 225/45x17
tyre
because I had apparently been driving it flat for a while
without
noticing.
In days of yore I could always tell by the seat of my pants if
a tyre
was a bit flat. But many modern cars are grossly over-tyred,
with
very wide low profile tyres which *look* flat when they're
not, and
don't really *feel* any different when they are.

At £100 a throw, you don't have to write off too many tyres
before a
monitoring system would be cheaper.

Any comments or recommendations?

How about manuall checking your tyre pressures weekly, at the
same time as you make all your other routine checks?

You do make routine checks don't you?

Unfortunately routine checks don't cover all eventualities.
Does anyone visually check all 4 tyres every time they use their
car?

I can sympathise with the OP as I wrote off a 255x40x17 tyre in a
similar way. At low speeds, on a straight road, it's very
difficult to detect a flat low profile rear tyre.

In my case it was the n/s rear tyre. Fine in the morning. Jumped
in and drove about 300 yds straight up the road on my way home.
Realised something was not quite right, so stopped and found the
flat tyre.
Changed it for the spare, but the damage was done. With the
weight of the car on the fold in the tyre, the carcass had
started to delaminate.

The only consolation, if you can call it that, is that the tyre
would have been scrap anyway, as a the puncture which had caused
it to deflate during the day was an unrepairable one on the
shoulder.

I checked and decided against the option of tyre monitors.
Aftermarket ones rely on wireless dust caps, which are too easily
nicked. I just check the tyres a bit more frequently than I did
before.
Mike.

"Mike P" wrote in message
...
M............ wrote:
Following up to Mike P

Check the pressures yourself once a week?

tyres dont always wait a week to go soft and a soft tyre
doesnt
notice on a modern car till probably too late to save it.

Every modern car I've driven, bar the Xantia, I find it easy to
tell when a tyre is soft. Up until recently, over the last 15
years or so I've always had access to, and used company pool
cars. They don't get looked after as they should do and within
a couple of miles I can tell whether the tyres are soft or not.

A couple of miles!
A low profile tyre can be ruined in a few hundred yards, as I
found out for myself just over a year ago.

I seemed to be the only one who bothered to ever check the
tyres and oil between services in them

Don't kid yourself. I keep a close eye on tyre pressures.
Checking at least once a week, and on a run would expect to
detect a loss of as little as 2-3 lbs, simply from how the car
handles. However it can be difficult to detect a flat low profile
tyre at low speeds.
Mike.

Mike G wrote:
"Mike P" wrote in message
...
M............ wrote:
Following up to Mike P

Check the pressures yourself once a week?

tyres dont always wait a week to go soft and a soft tyre
doesnt
notice on a modern car till probably too late to save it.

Every modern car I've driven, bar the Xantia, I find it easy to
tell when a tyre is soft. Up until recently, over the last 15
years or so I've always had access to, and used company pool
cars. They don't get looked after as they should do and within
a couple of miles I can tell whether the tyres are soft or not.

A couple of miles!

Yes, if it's "soft" if it's flat then much quicker.

A low profile tyre can be ruined in a few hundred yards, as I
found out for myself just over a year ago.

I seemed to be the only one who bothered to ever check the
tyres and oil between services in them

Don't kid yourself.

I wasn't inferring that no one else does, I just meant the other users of
the pool cars I used to use.

I keep a close eye on tyre pressures.
Checking at least once a week, and on a run would expect to
detect a loss of as little as 2-3 lbs, simply from how the car
handles. However it can be difficult to detect a flat low profile
tyre at low speeds.

I don't see how it can be with the amount of uneven surfaces and holes that
will make it obvious something isn't right ;-)

Mike P

"Mike P" wrote in message
...
Mike G wrote:
"Mike P" wrote in message
...
M............ wrote:
Following up to Mike P

Check the pressures yourself once a week?

tyres dont always wait a week to go soft and a soft tyre
doesnt
notice on a modern car till probably too late to save it.

Every modern car I've driven, bar the Xantia, I find it easy
to
tell when a tyre is soft. Up until recently, over the last 15
years or so I've always had access to, and used company pool
cars. They don't get looked after as they should do and
within
a couple of miles I can tell whether the tyres are soft or
not.

A couple of miles!

Yes, if it's "soft" if it's flat then much quicker.

A low profile tyre can be ruined in a few hundred yards, as I
found out for myself just over a year ago.

I seemed to be the only one who bothered to ever check the
tyres and oil between services in them

Don't kid yourself.

I wasn't inferring that no one else does, I just meant the
other users of the pool cars I used to use.

I keep a close eye on tyre pressures.
Checking at least once a week, and on a run would expect to
detect a loss of as little as 2-3 lbs, simply from how the car
handles. However it can be difficult to detect a flat low
profile
tyre at low speeds.

I don't see how it can be with the amount of uneven surfaces
and holes that will make it obvious something isn't right ;-)

I only drove about 300 yds at a fairly low speed.. A flat
concrete road on the trading estate where I work, which was
enough to start delaminating a 255x40x17 tyre.

Because it was low profile, the rim of the wheel was running on
the fold of the tyre.

With a normal size flat tyre the fold is clear of the rim. The
fold is less severe, and not having the weight of the car on it,
is more likely to survive for a short period without damage.
Mike.

"Rod" wrote in message
...
Rod wrote:
I think that pressure sensors (of whatever sort are implemented) are
potentially a major contribution to road safety. (Hmmm, now where did I
here that before?)

Blooming spelling checkers - please correct my typing *then* my spelling -
of course that should be 'hear'!

--
Rod

As an aside, have you ever told another driver that one of their tyres looks
soft. I have and it is normally met with apathy of abuse. Yesterday I told a
young woman and at least she giggled.

I just cannot image how badly some cars must handle with a soft tyre.

Soft tyres and failed brake lights seem to be ignored by many.

"Mike G" gurgled happily, sounding much like they
were saying:

I only drove about 300 yds at a fairly low speed.. A flat concrete road
on the trading estate where I work, which was enough to start
delaminating a 255x40x17 tyre.

Because it was low profile, the rim of the wheel was running on the fold
of the tyre.

With a normal size flat tyre the fold is clear of the rim. The
fold is less severe, and not having the weight of the car on it,
is more likely to survive for a short period without damage.

Nothing to do with the profile of the tyre - if the tyre's flat, that's
how the weight on that corner is always going to be borne. Unless, of
course, your car has so little suspension travel that the difference in
sidewall height between a 40 and a 60 profile tyre is significant...

No tyre will stand up to that. They're just not designed to, even run-
flats will be damaged beyond repair.

You may have a point with the "fold is less severe" - but the weight WILL
still be being borne by the rim on the folded sidewall.

John wrote:
"Rod" wrote in message
...
Rod wrote:
I think that pressure sensors (of whatever sort are implemented) are
potentially a major contribution to road safety. (Hmmm, now where did I
here that before?)

Blooming spelling checkers - please correct my typing *then* my spelling -
of course that should be 'hear'!

--
Rod

As an aside, have you ever told another driver that one of their tyres looks
soft. I have and it is normally met with apathy of abuse. Yesterday I told a
young woman and at least she giggled.

I just cannot image how badly some cars must handle with a soft tyre.

Soft tyres and failed brake lights seem to be ignored by many.


Yes. It is. They do. They are. :-)

Sometimes the difference in shape would be obvious to someone walking
past the vehicle.

Soemwhat frightening when you see them that bad at 90+ on a busy motorway.

--
Rod

Hypothyroidism is a seriously debilitating condition with an insidious
onset.
Although common it frequently goes undiagnosed.
www.thyromind.info www.thyroiduk.org www.altsupportthyroid.org

"Adrian" wrote in message
...
"Mike G" gurgled happily, sounding much
like they
were saying:

I only drove about 300 yds at a fairly low speed.. A flat
concrete road
on the trading estate where I work, which was enough to start
delaminating a 255x40x17 tyre.

Because it was low profile, the rim of the wheel was running
on the fold
of the tyre.

With a normal size flat tyre the fold is clear of the rim. The
fold is less severe, and not having the weight of the car on
it,
is more likely to survive for a short period without damage.

Nothing to do with the profile of the tyre - if the tyre's
flat, that's
how the weight on that corner is always going to be borne.

You're wrong. The hight of the tyre from the rim makes a
significant difference. Regardless of profile, when the tyre is
flat, the rim drops straight down, and the sidewalls flex away.
In the case of a 60 plus profile, the rim will in effect run on
the part of the tyre nearest the rim, and the tread of the tyre,
with much of the sidewall outside the actual contact points
Because there is less depth of sidewall on a low profile tyre,
the rim can actually run on the folded sidewall itself, which
leads to rapid delamination. The sidewall just can't take such
severe creasing without damage.

Unless, of
course, your car has so little suspension travel that the
difference in
sidewall height between a 40 and a 60 profile tyre is
significant...

Suspension travel has nothing to do with it.
Mike.

"Mike G" gurgled happily, sounding much like they
were saying:

Because it was low profile, the rim of the wheel was running on the
fold of the tyre.

With a normal size flat tyre the fold is clear of the rim. The fold is
less severe, and not having the weight of the car on it,
is more likely to survive for a short period without damage.

Nothing to do with the profile of the tyre - if the tyre's flat, that's
how the weight on that corner is always going to be borne.

You're wrong. The hight of the tyre from the rim makes a significant
difference. Regardless of profile, when the tyre is flat, the rim drops
straight down, and the sidewalls flex away. In the case of a 60 plus
profile, the rim will in effect run on the part of the tyre nearest the
rim, and the tread of the tyre, with much of the sidewall outside the
actual contact points Because there is less depth of sidewall on a low
profile tyre, the rim can actually run on the folded sidewall itself

I think you're confusing any difference between tread width and rim width
with the height of the sidewall.

The ONLY difference between a flat 60 and a flat 40 profile tyre, of the
same tread width on the same width rim, is going to be the amount of
sidewall hanging out the side. Unless you're thinking the bead somehow
miraculously comes unseated?

"John" wrote:

As an aside, have you ever told another driver that one of their tyres looks
soft. I have and it is normally met with apathy or abuse.


My experience too.

I have stopped telling people for fear of their reaction.

Adrian wrote:
"Mike G" gurgled happily, sounding much like they
were saying:

Because it was low profile, the rim of the wheel was running on the
fold of the tyre.

With a normal size flat tyre the fold is clear of the rim. The fold is
less severe, and not having the weight of the car on it,
is more likely to survive for a short period without damage.

Nothing to do with the profile of the tyre - if the tyre's flat, that's
how the weight on that corner is always going to be borne.

You're wrong. The hight of the tyre from the rim makes a significant
difference. Regardless of profile, when the tyre is flat, the rim drops
straight down, and the sidewalls flex away. In the case of a 60 plus
profile, the rim will in effect run on the part of the tyre nearest the
rim, and the tread of the tyre, with much of the sidewall outside the
actual contact points Because there is less depth of sidewall on a low
profile tyre, the rim can actually run on the folded sidewall itself

I think you're confusing any difference between tread width and rim width
with the height of the sidewall.

The ONLY difference between a flat 60 and a flat 40 profile tyre, of the
same tread width on the same width rim, is going to be the amount of
sidewall hanging out the side. Unless you're thinking the bead somehow
miraculously comes unseated?
I think Mike is thinking that with more sidewall the bend radius is less
severe, so less stressful, which I'd say is correct. However, I reckon
running on the sidewall regardless of the bend severity will quickly
knacker the tyre.

Any comments or recommendations?

How about manuall checking your tyre pressures weekly, at the same time as
you make all your other routine checks?

You do make routine checks don't you?


Must be "very" low profile if you can't tell the difference when it's
flat .



The shower of sparks from the rims should be a good clue !!
Brad

Roger Mills coughed up some electrons that declared:

Does anyone out there have any experience of wireless tyre pressure
monitoring devices - the sort which have special valves containing a
sensor, and a central display with LEDs and a bleeper and report status?

Yesterday, I wrote off an otherwise perfectly good 225/45x17 tyre because
I had apparently been driving it flat for a while without noticing.

In days of yore I could always tell by the seat of my pants if a tyre was
a bit flat. But many modern cars are grossly over-tyred, with very wide
low profile tyres which *look* flat when they're not, and don't really
*feel* any different when they are.

At £100 a throw, you don't have to write off too many tyres before a
monitoring system would be cheaper.

Any comments or recommendations?

TIA.

The difficulty comes with mounting something with a bit of electronics and a
battery as an aftermarket valve-stalk attachment (eg think of the wheel
balance and the forces on the stalk doing 70 down the M1 with your R14
wheels or whatever). It can be done for large trucks, but everything's a
bit bigger and slower than for a car, so the relative problems are
lessened.

Lots of solutions exist as a manufacturing option where they get to mount
stuff inside the wheel.

My advice is to get the easiest to use tyre gauge, keep it in the glove box
and use it once per week or fortnight when you check your washer water or
whatever.

Halfords are selling a digital one branded Michelin which I've got
(previously having use the old fashioned but ever reliable mechanical
ones). Seems quite good and just a little bit quicker, little bit easier
which is what you want for a boring routine job.

Cheers

Tim

In message , Mike G
writes
I checked and decided against the option of tyre monitors. Aftermarket
ones rely on wireless dust caps, which are too easily nicked.
You can get sensors integrated into the valve stem that sit inside the
tyre and you can buy sensors that mount around the centre of the rim
with a steel band (bit like a big hose clip) but they cost a bit more.

Remember to tell the tyre fitters that you have the system as the
sensors have a nasty habit of ending up in the bin or smashed.

These look similar to the systems fitted by some car manufacturers;

http://www.ambromley.co.uk/tyre-pressure-monitor.html

No connection to the company just the first Google hit that matched what
I was looking for.
I just check the tyres a bit more frequently than I did before.
Mike.

--
Clint Sharp

BRAD wrote:
Any comments or recommendations?

How about manuall checking your tyre pressures weekly, at the same time as
you make all your other routine checks?

You do make routine checks don't you?

Must be "very" low profile if you can't tell the difference when it's
flat .



The shower of sparks from the rims should be a good clue !!
Brad

I did manage to drive a Astra est for 5 miles or so round country roads
and I could not make out what was causing a increase in road noise,the
car handled fine that was my first ever puncture and it continued to run
on the rubber rather than the wheel rim, when it was repaired the
puncture was caused by a horse shoe that went right through the tyre
much to the amusement of the kwikfit fitter

--
Kevin R
Reply address works

Roger Mills wrote:
In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Brimstone wrote:

Roger Mills wrote:
Does anyone out there have any experience of wireless tyre pressure
monitoring devices - the sort which have special valves containing a
sensor, and a central display with LEDs and a bleeper and report
status?

Any comments or recommendations?

How about manuall checking your tyre pressures weekly, at the same
time as you make all your other routine checks?

You do make routine checks don't you?

Yes, I do make frequent visual checks - and occasional checks with a
pressure gauge (plus under-bonnet checks), but - as others have pointed
out - if you pick up a nail and a tyre starts to deflate while on a journey,
weekly checks ain't going to help.


Renault fit them to several cars, kwikfit sometimes forget and rip the
heads off them, as these are £30 ish each it pleases the manager no end
as it come out of his profits, but you do have to tell the computer
which sensor is on which wheel somehow
--
Kevin R
Reply address works

In message , BRAD
writes
The shower of sparks from the rims should be a good clue !!
Brad
You don't get a shower of sparks from and alloy wheel. You might from a
shredded steel reinforced tyre.



--
Clint Sharp

"Kevin" wrote in message
news
BRAD wrote:
Any comments or recommendations?

How about manuall checking your tyre pressures weekly, at the same time
as
you make all your other routine checks?

You do make routine checks don't you?

Must be "very" low profile if you can't tell the difference when it's
flat .



The shower of sparks from the rims should be a good clue !!
Brad
I did manage to drive a Astra est for 5 miles or so round country roads
and I could not make out what was causing a increase in road noise,the car
handled fine that was my first ever puncture and it continued to run on
the rubber rather than the wheel rim, when it was repaired the puncture
was caused by a horse shoe that went right through the tyre much to the
amusement of the kwikfit fitter

--

Was the horse hurt?

"Chris Bartram" wrote in message
...
Adrian wrote:
"Mike G" gurgled happily, sounding much
like they
were saying:

Because it was low profile, the rim of the wheel was
running on the
fold of the tyre.

With a normal size flat tyre the fold is clear of the rim.
The fold is
less severe, and not having the weight of the car on it,
is more likely to survive for a short period without
damage.

Nothing to do with the profile of the tyre - if the tyre's
flat, that's
how the weight on that corner is always going to be borne.

You're wrong. The hight of the tyre from the rim makes a
significant
difference. Regardless of profile, when the tyre is flat, the
rim drops
straight down, and the sidewalls flex away. In the case of a
60 plus
profile, the rim will in effect run on the part of the tyre
nearest the
rim, and the tread of the tyre, with much of the sidewall
outside the
actual contact points Because there is less depth of sidewall
on a low
profile tyre, the rim can actually run on the folded sidewall
itself

I think you're confusing any difference between tread width
and rim width with the height of the sidewall.

The ONLY difference between a flat 60 and a flat 40 profile
tyre, of the same tread width on the same width rim, is going
to be the amount of sidewall hanging out the side. Unless
you're thinking the bead somehow miraculously comes unseated?
I think Mike is thinking that with more sidewall the bend
radius is less severe, so less stressful, which I'd say is
correct. However, I reckon running on the sidewall regardless
of the bend severity will quickly knacker the tyre.

IME a 60 plus profile tyre can survive running a short distance
when it's flat. The 255x40x17 tyre on a 9.5" rim on my car was
knackered after less than a quarter of a mile at low speed.
20-25mph.
Mike.

"Mike G" gurgled happily, sounding much like they
were saying:

IME a 60 plus profile tyre can survive running a short distance when
it's flat.

I once killed an 80-profile in a few hundred yards, after coming back to
the car in the office car park - with no spare... K-F were just around
the corner, but... nope. Deader than a dead thing.

The key is _totally_ flat, rather than just soft.

Hawk aye the noo wrote:
"Kevin" wrote in message
news
BRAD wrote:
Any comments or recommendations?

How about manuall checking your tyre pressures weekly, at the same time
as
you make all your other routine checks?

You do make routine checks don't you?

Must be "very" low profile if you can't tell the difference when it's
flat .


The shower of sparks from the rims should be a good clue !!
Brad
I did manage to drive a Astra est for 5 miles or so round country roads
and I could not make out what was causing a increase in road noise,the car
handled fine that was my first ever puncture and it continued to run on
the rubber rather than the wheel rim, when it was repaired the puncture
was caused by a horse shoe that went right through the tyre much to the
amusement of the kwikfit fitter

--

Was the horse hurt?


not that I noticed :-) he might have had a limp though

--
Kevin R
Reply address works

On 11 Sep, 10:45, wrote:
On Thu, 11 Sep 2008 10:31:08 +0100, "Brimstone"



wrote:
Roger Mills wrote:
Does anyone out there have any experience of wireless tyre pressure
monitoring devices - the sort which have special valves containing a
sensor, and a central display with LEDs and a bleeper and report
status?
Yesterday, I wrote off an otherwise perfectly good 225/45x17 tyre
because I had apparently been driving it flat for a while without
noticing.
In days of yore I could always tell by the seat of my pants if a tyre
was a bit flat. But many modern cars are grossly over-tyred, with
very wide low profile tyres which *look* flat when they're not, and
don't really *feel* any different when they are.

At £100 a throw, you don't have to write off too many tyres before a
monitoring system would be cheaper.

Any comments or recommendations?

How about manuall checking your tyre pressures weekly, at the same time as
you make all your other routine checks?

You do make routine checks don't you?

Must be "very" low profile if you can't tell the difference when it's
flat .

The rear Bridgestone tyre on my Honda (also 45 profile) didn't look
flat but had no pressure at all. The sidewalls on some tyres are so
thick it can be hard to tell.

Roger Mills wrote:

Does anyone out there have any experience of wireless tyre pressure
monitoring devices

Have you tried using eyes? They're wireless and great for detecting low
pressure in tyres, using a system of pattern matching against stored
reference patterns. You have to use them fairly regularly. I use mine
before every drive.

Chris

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Chris Lawrence wrote:

Roger Mills wrote:

Does anyone out there have any experience of wireless tyre pressure
monitoring devices

Have you tried using eyes? They're wireless and great for detecting
low pressure in tyres, using a system of pattern matching against
stored reference patterns. You have to use them fairly regularly. I
use mine before every drive.

Chris

And presumably you also have a system of elaborate mirrors so that you can
watch the tyres while in motion?

As others have testified, if these very low profile tyres lose pressure,
they're knackered in very short order!
--
Cheers,
Roger
______
Email address maintained for newsgroup use only, and not regularly
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PLEASE REPLY TO NEWSGROUP!

Roger Mills wrote:

And presumably you also have a system of elaborate mirrors so that you can
watch the tyres while in motion?

S'okay, I was taking the ****. You just set it up so good!

As others have testified, if these very low profile tyres lose pressure,
they're knackered in very short order!

I can't imagine it does the wheels any favours either

Chris

"Chris Lawrence" wrote in message
...
Roger Mills wrote:

And presumably you also have a system of elaborate mirrors so that you
can
watch the tyres while in motion?

S'okay, I was taking the ****. You just set it up so good!

As others have testified, if these very low profile tyres lose pressure,
they're knackered in very short order!

I can't imagine it does the wheels any favours either

Chris

I thought some cars use the antilock braking sensors to compare the speed of
each wheel - over a significant distance. If one is revolving at a different
speed consistently then it warns of a puncture

John wrote:
"Chris Lawrence" wrote in message
...
Roger Mills wrote:

And presumably you also have a system of elaborate mirrors so that you
can
watch the tyres while in motion?
S'okay, I was taking the ****. You just set it up so good!

As others have testified, if these very low profile tyres lose pressure,
they're knackered in very short order!
I can't imagine it does the wheels any favours either

Chris

I thought some cars use the antilock braking sensors to compare the speed of
each wheel - over a significant distance. If one is revolving at a different
speed consistently then it warns of a puncture


That quite clever. Does it warn of four punctures while you are going
round a roundabout? Or one, when one wheel is spinning in the verge? :-)

John coughed up some electrons that declared:

I thought some cars use the antilock braking sensors to compare the speed
of each wheel - over a significant distance. If one is revolving at a
different speed consistently then it warns of a puncture

MINIs do that, or at least the latest revision.

Cheers

Tim