Tire Monitors

Having mine installed in my Prius today.

I got the remote display and mounted it to the dash so it's visible through the steering wheel.

Nate

 

Please let us know how that goes. I hope that you will not experience any signal problems due to the extra wires, shielding, and active EM in the Prius.

 

I'm interested in hearing about this product as well - let us know if you do any tests to see how accurate the monitor is and all that, thanks for pushing the envelope so much with new gadgets on this car, Nate! Here's a hundred points for doing so!

-m.

 

Yeah,

When I saw Nate's name on the second post, I'm thinking: "Man, I thought I was doing a lot of mods but this guy is the king!"

At some point Nate, when you slow down, you'll have to fill us in on the mods you got going so far...

Here's some more points for ya,

-bob

 

I can't take the title of "most modded" when there are guys here who are building their own boards and stuff (brosnan for example) but I dream big.

I really don't think the list is that long, but here's the list of mods on my Prius. Some of my mods are just different than anything anyone else would do.
(Changes other than stock):

-Canadian Mud Guards
-XM Radio (From Solara)
-Terk Xmicro mini XM antenna mounted inside spoiler
-Replaced shift knob with round knob from Lowe's (matches steering wheel and doesn't poke my knee)
-Headrests from 2004 Highlander (currently leather; to be recovered)
-Had an upholstery shop add more padding to center armrest (looks factory)
-Removed Wheel Cover Rings
-Tinted glass; professionally done, Non-reflective material to avoid reducing GPS signals. We tested pieces of tint over the GPS sensor until we found one that didn't reduce the satellite signal strength.
-GBS installed by me; activated by dealer
-EV button from Japan, with illumination, swapped with dimmer for easier access
-Ipod2car (removed due to incompatibilities with JBL 6-disc).
-"Clear Bra" on the Fog lights (professionally installed) to reduce risk of cracking

Mods in progress (committed, scheduled, ordered)
-Coastal Dave's autolock at 15 MPH
-Custom made subwoofer enclosure to be mated with 2 or 3 amplifiers and a cutom built break-out harness.
-Coastal Dave's NAV defeat.
-Coastal Dave's Video input for Rear Cam.
-Rear Camera
-Bluetooth override (on hold until I get a phone with BT).
-Smartire TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring System).
-Rear Seat Audio System from a 2005 Sienna.
-Seat relocating by a local welding shop
-Turn signal mirrors
-Auto-tilt in reverse for passenger mirror

Mods on the horizon (someday):
-Switch for the glovebox light (and add a light to the top box!)
-Raise front of seat slightly
-DRL
-Auto lock after shutoff for 2 minutes
-Sunroof
-DVD player in pocket for MP3's and movies for backseat (headrest monitors)
-Dave's ipod system (if it gets built)
-Autopark if anyone figures it out for the USA
-Supercharger (hey, I can dream) since I live at altitude.
-Rear fog lamps from Europe
-small inverter for easy 120V plug in

 

Can the batteries be replaced on the sensors? I've heard some of those the battery is not replaceable, and the sensors were so expensive to be not worth it.

 

Glad that someone is doing this....I thought about it, but hadn't decided if they were worth the money.

 

The sensors' batteries are not supposed to be replaced. I may try it 5 years from now when they go dead.

Watch this thread around March 2010 for an update...

Nate

 

I stopped by the dealership to monitor the installation; they were doing everything right so I was quite pleased. (I could have done it myself if I had a tire machine and a balancer!) Anyway, I'll pick it up after work today, and report back tomorrow.

I'm reallly curious to see how the pressure and temperature change as I drive.

Nate

 

Smartire is now installed! It's pretty cool, nothing much is displayed unless you press the "info" button; you can display pressure, temperature, and pressure differential (difference from baseline, like +3 psi). The next button rotates through the tires to determine which one you are looking at.

The "correct" pressure is settable as is the low pressure alarm point, the high pressure alarm point, and the high temp alarm point. I tested the system; when the pressure is low, the system beeps loudly, flashes a bright red light, and blinks the offending tire, as well as displaying the problem (low pressure, high temp, etc).

I am having this installed on my other cars as well; it's way too cool. I suspect that the sensors will last a very long time; they say five years or more; we'll see if they quit working after that. I suspect the batteries can be replaced but it's a pain. Like I said, it will be a while before that becomes a problem.

Nate

 

Nate,

What type of pressures are you getting when the tires are warmed up?

Are the temps higher now in Spring than they were when you first had them installed?

I'll be curious to see what you get for temps this summer.

This'll be good info for the whole tire pressure discussion, too.

 

A note on the TPMS, it has helped my diagnose a problem with my fancy manual gauge. It turns out the gauge I was using to fill the tires was off by about 25%! When it said 40, the tires were only at 31! The TPMS said 31, so I thought the TPMS was off! After trying to calibrate the TPMS, I finally got out another gauge and discovered to my horror that ALL of my tires were low on ALL three of my cars!

The conclusion? The TPMS sensors were accurate, my expensive dial gauge was not. The TPMS was money well spent.

On the temperature note, I've seen pressures climb more than 5 psi, especially after the car has been parked soaking up the afternoon sun on the south side (left side if facing west while parked). The temperature has climbed all the way to almost 100 F on an 85 degree day. (So, the temperature that day varied from 40 to 100 F inside the tire).

The Smartire system uses temperature compensation. I haven't figured out which way it is sloped, but I think it means the ALARM for high and low pressure is relative to temperature. It may mean the displayed psi is sloped as well, but I am not certain.

You can download the manual from their website and read it yourself if you want.

Nate

 

TPMS (Choices) I have been doing some homework. Found the TST, DORAN, PRESSURE PRO, RANGER, HELLA, DRILL, ORANGE ELECTRONICS, and the list goes on.... Some do Pressure only, Some do Pressure and Temp, Some have external screw in sensor caps (read that they get loose at times a bleed air, and some get stolen easily), some have internal sensors (require Tire mechanic to install usually cost about $10 to install new sensors and balance wheel/ per tire), Some have straps (around wheel hub internal - require Tire mechanic to install. Well after much thinking, reading and analyzing... I bought Orange Electronics P409-S with 4 sensors. It has 4 sensors readings all at the same time , every 3 secs, both pressure and temp, and internal sensors, sensors are supposed to last 5-7yrs... I paid $120 on ebay and then found it for $85 at prices are drive out prices... So I bought two (one on ebay and the other on speedy car parts website, one will be installed in Prius 2004 and the other Honda Odyssey 2000... . I hope they work well as they say they supposed to.... if you want to know how they work out, send me email... I won't be installing them probably for another 2 weeks or so (it's Sept 29th , 2009 today)... take care and God Bless...Prius folks... and others ...