I had a here's your sign moment tonight...

[Avery4jc]

I should have known better but every once in a while I catch myself doing stupid stuff... a couple of months ago I was in a pinch for a tire pressure gauge so I ran over to Harbor Freight and grabbed one of their all in one gauge/inflators obviously for next to nothing since it's HF.

Anyways I used it all the time for a while and then the other day (when a red flag should have gone up in my head) I got my tires back from a tire shop and bolted them up but decided to check the pressure just to be safe... HOLY SMOKES they were at 60psi! The max on these TSL's is 30 so I was shocked...

A few weeks ago I had my spare mounted at a different tire shop and sure enough when I got it back it was at 45psi! I let air out of all of them and got them back down to 25...

So tonight I'm working on some stuff and had to air up a tire on my dad's '54 Buick and when I went to use my gauge/inflator it was stuck on 20... when I plugged it into my TSL's (which at the time I was sure were at 25) it popped up a little so I figured it still worked but just didn't go all the way back down to zero....

Well after I got everything picked up this evening I decided to run over to the hardware store and get a nice gauge to replace my cheapo one that's stuck...

I get home and plug it into my TSL's....


They were at 10-12psi all around! I kid you not, I checked multiple times and sure enough they were all between 10 and 12psi!
I aired them up to 24psi and took it for a spin... holy smokes did that make a world of difference! I know it may seem crazy but it feels like I picked up 50hp... there is a nice stretch of freeway that has a few hills in it going north out of Fresno so I took a spin headed that way and not only did it feel 100X better and more responsive but it held it in OD the whole way up the hill where as it used to kick down at the slightest incline!


Soooo I said all that to say this... don't be cheap. Buy a nice tire pressure gauge!

 

[chevysmithz71]

Good insight. You should have told me, I could have used a good drive in this weather. Next time.

 

[Avery4jc]

Yep it's one of my favorite passes of road to test stuff out... 41N from Bullard all the way up to Yosemite... not that I go all the way to Yosemite every time but that stretch is beautiful.

 

[GsxrMike]

I was wondering the same thing because we checked the pressure in my tires tonight and they were at 45psi and I had only aired them up to 30psi. My buddy aired all of them down for me and I was using the same gauge as you. HF special! I think I might try to find a new guage that screws into the inflator dealy because I like the set up but I don't like something that isn't accurate!

EDIT: I just went down and checked two of my tires and they were 18psi!!! He aired them down to 25psi!!! Yikes!

 

[Avery4jc]

See that's exactly what I'm talking about...

 

[dfl701]

Well tyT really makes me second guess ever getting any tools from HF. Lol that is not a good sign if a air pressure gauge is off. What about the other stuff

 

[toomany]

I've got an Intercomp gauge, picked it up at a swap meat a few years ago. I origainaly bought it for my drag car, but it works great for the truck too. Extremly accurate.

The military tires on the K5 can have 3 psi in them, and still look drivable. However they look/handle a bunch better at 25 psi.

 

[Avery4jc]

Well tyT really makes me second guess ever getting any tools from HF. Lol that is not a good sign if a air pressure gauge is off. What about the other stuff

There is a big thread I was reading over on Pirate about HF tools... there doesn't seem to be any in-between on stuff... it's either a good tool or a dud.

I've had good luck with my floor jack, cherry picker, impact socket set, die-grinders, etc.... but I've also had bad luck with some odds and ends from them.

 

[blazin_blazer]

i use 1 of these on our dragster and also front and rear & side to side on my 4x4...i run @ 20-24 lbs. offroad and @ 30-32 psi onroad, all the way around on my tsl's and this 2way hose w/gauge, equals the pressure from tire to tire, side to side & you can hook it up front to rear and know they all are aired up the same.

http://www.jegs.com/i/Percy's/760/01005/10002/-1

this 1's from jegs, or you could make 1 pretty easy, i would think. you could even make 1 to hook up to all 4 tires at once like i'm planning on making, i'm going to get a couple of T's and a couple more lock on air chucks and some hose and make my older 1 fit all 4 tires at once for my truck since we just got a new 1 for the track, just 1 tire low can make it ride funny(especially running 44'' tires) & if its up front, its harder to steer, may pull or dip bad to the low side when you brake,(especially if you have a real low tire), not to mention the tires wear more uniform when the psi is identical in all the tires,

also tire pressure affects the tires circumference, and if drastic enuff, say,1 tire 60psi & oppisite side 12psi, may be enuff to try and make a locker, go in and out causing a unusual & mysterious chatter sound or make limited slip clutch discs slip and wear out prematurely. and again, if the psi is accidentally that far apart upfront it will handle like crap!

i believe they already make 1 that is for all 4 tires at once(4way), but i just bought a new 1 of these 2way to equal the tire pressure side to side on the rear of the ol' dragsters's slicks, for a good straight launch, thinkin about converting the old 1 we have(3 psi increments to a 4way, the new 1 is 2way & graduated in 1 psi increments)

it would be a good way to air down all the tires at once also, i've seen these gadgets that you screw on each valve stem that automatically airs the tire down to a certain pressure for offroad, w/this type hose, you could use just 1 of them and air down all 4 tires at the same time and have them all equal & use the 4way hose when you air back up also.

sorry for such long post, but i think tire pressure is a very very over looked part of a vehicle, maybe not by those of us on here, that air down and have to air back up, but most people over look it, never even check it unless they think a tire is low & then they will prolly only check that tire & it could actually help them get better mpg, if their tires were properly inflated.

btw, we have a couple sets of 30x10.50x15'' radial tsl's that we run on the rear of our derby wagons, & they get aired up to @ 75psi and rubber glued to the rim (b/c beadlocks are against the rules), we do this so they don't get knocked off the bead and they work well aired up tight, we've never lost a tire due to being knocked of the rim, and have only had to replace a few after yrs. of use, due to thru-n-thru sidewall cuts, wish i could get interco to make me a set w/10 or 12 ply sidewalls.yea! i may have to email them.

THE END!

 

[Avery4jc]

I've seen some guys on here make an "octopus" style inflator/deflator setup where it hooks up to all four tires and then has one gauge and fitting to equalize all of them... looks like a pretty slick setup.
Oh and you mentioned those deflators, I have a set from Staun and they work really well.

 

[Avery4jc]

I checked the pressure in my k3500 as well as my mom's car and they were way off as well...

The max pressure on the Terra Grapplers I have on my truck is 65... I set them at 48psi this morning and it made a world of difference... you guys think I should bump it up to 55 or so or am I fine at 48?