So in addition to my new wheels & tires, I also picked up this tire pressure monitoring system by SmarTire. I had some frustration of not knowing when my previous set of tires were a little low or even critically low. I wanted to avoid this frustration (or learning curve of the profile shape) with these new tires; especially with the thinner side wall.
The kit was pretty easy to follow. The metal bands get cut to length and wrapped on the rim with the sensor. The sensor is placed near the valve stem, which makes it easy to locate. During tire installation, we just had to position the wheel to avoid the sensor. There's a colored washer that goes on the valve stem that matches the color marked on the sensor. Fairly straight forward; just don't mess up (I didn't).
The display can mount to the windshield via suction cups or to another surface with the velcro (tm). The cigarette lighter plug makes power hookup a snap. I, of course, wanted to be more complex. I decided to remove my never used and waste-of-space ashtray. This made lots of room for the small display. With the ashtray removed, this made a power line available. I picked up an auxiliary cigarette lighter socket and wired it up to the old ashtray line. Even though I got the aux kit that had wires and inline power connectors, it took me longer than necessary. I'm blaming it on the fact it was a Friday evening. Thanks, Jerry, for the help. I'm glad I can go to a fellow ME for EE troubles. I then velcroed it underneath.
The basic display has a single light (red LED) for each wheel. Low tire pressure warning is set to 22 psi and critically low pressure is at 18psi. These cannot be changed unless you have the full function display. With the full fuction display, I can change these and have much more information displayed. It displays the current tire pressure, temperature, and deviation from the cold pressure setting. There's a low pressure warning, a pressure deviation warning, and a high temperature warning. Tire information is displayed one at a time and only when the info button is pressed. It's in a sleep mode the rest of the time (unlit).
I really like the system. I no longer have to forget about checking my tire pressure before trips or even on a scheduled basis. This can make a person lazy about concerning themself with tire pressure, but it also gives me warning if ever I lose pressure while driving. Plus, it's more live data of my vehicle, which adds to my Driver Information Center. If only I could route all this info to my HUD...
So in addition to my new wheels & tires, I also picked up this tire pressure monitoring system by SmarTire. I had some frustration of not knowing when my previous set of tires were a little low or even critically low. I wanted to avoid this frustration (or learning curve of the profile shape) with these new tires; especially with the thinner side wall.
The kit was pretty easy to follow. The metal bands get cut to length and wrapped on the rim with the sensor. The sensor is placed near the valve stem, which makes it easy to locate. During tire installation, we just had to position the wheel to avoid the sensor. There's a colored washer that goes on the valve stem that matches the color marked on the sensor. Fairly straight forward; just don't mess up (I didn't).
The display can mount to the windshield via suction cups or to another surface with the velcro (tm). The cigarette lighter plug makes power hookup a snap. I, of course, wanted to be more complex. I decided to remove my never used and waste-of-space ashtray. This made lots of room for the small display. With the ashtray removed, this made a power line available. I picked up an auxiliary cigarette lighter socket and wired it up to the old ashtray line. Even though I got the aux kit that had wires and inline power connectors, it took me longer than necessary. I'm blaming it on the fact it was a Friday evening. Thanks, Jerry, for the help. I'm glad I can go to a fellow ME for EE troubles. I then velcroed it underneath.
The basic display has a single light (red LED) for each wheel. Low tire pressure warning is set to 22 psi and critically low pressure is at 18psi. These cannot be changed unless you have the full function display. With the full fuction display, I can change these and have much more information displayed. It displays the current tire pressure, temperature, and deviation from the cold pressure setting. There's a low pressure warning, a pressure deviation warning, and a high temperature warning. Tire information is displayed one at a time and only when the info button is pressed. It's in a sleep mode the rest of the time (unlit).
I really like the system. I no longer have to forget about checking my tire pressure before trips or even on a scheduled basis. This can make a person lazy about concerning themself with tire pressure, but it also gives me warning if ever I lose pressure while driving. Plus, it's more live data of my vehicle, which adds to my Driver Information Center. If only I could route all this info to my HUD... 
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