Tyre Gauge Testing

G'day folks seeing as I can't get about I decided to buy another set of ARB Tyre Gauges to use with the Twin Beast, I already had one set for the Single which all proved to be really good and spot on between the three of them, First off is their blue inflator Annie Log version or how ever you spell it and then The Red Ezi Deflator closely followed up with the 3.5" Low Pressure Gauge that goes from 0 to 50 in 1psi steps much to my surprize they are all right on the money,

After buying the Twin Pump and the Accessories Bag I thought I'd add another set of gauges, One for each pump, anyway I got another Blue inflator free when I bought the Twin so I just bought another 3.5" Low Pressure gauge @15.00/$27.15c and another Ezi deflator which cost me 40.80/$75.48c, with a total of 6 gauges in all I did a side by side and they were all absolutely spot on except Number 2 Low Pressure Gauge which is off by 0.5 PSI, Bugger ] Not to worry I can live with that or if it annoys me I can adjust it Que Sara Sara,

Also I bought another Hoes kit giving heaps of spare bits and another 6 metre length of hose so I have two sections to use with either compressor or with the 4 in total + 24m/80ft of Air Line.

While I was waiting for the delivery man I got on ebay and I saw cheap Deflators @ 5.99 + 1.99 postage $14.73 mmmm ?? Click click and I bought 2, they weren't meant to be here til the end of next week YarHooooooooo more Toys :inlove: Anyways after testing the ARB's out I though I'd give em a look see, First one absolutely spot on with the ARB's " Happy Day's" Number 2 off by 0.5psi with a quick adjust of the dial it too is spot On.

I have seen the ARB Ezi Deflator on Aussie web sites for up to $82.00 and I have seen it over here for over $100 also so it just goes to slow there are scalpers every where. But if you don't want to spend that much on one this cheapie is just as good and comes in a foam filled hard case with a spare Valve key and 4 valve caps and unlike the ARB version it has a needle rest button on the side at an 8th of the price,

Please note that all of these Gauges go up in 1 "ONE" psi steps.

This is the ARB 3.5" Low Pressure Gauge.



ARB Annie Log "Blue"



ARB Ezi Deflator



And this is the Cheap Alternative to the Ezi Deflator Note that the Gauge goes up to 75psi where as the ARB version only goes up to 60psi so if you camper or what ever uses over 60psi then you are better off with the cheapie. And to be honest I'd swear these two are made at the same factory. Because this one has the same Dial as one of ARB's other Gauges that I have seen, all the fittings are very snug and perfectly finished, and to be honest $14.73c Vs $75.48c If I was doing it all over again and know what I now know, I know which one I'd be buying first. Not to worry because a now have a set to measure others by.

Back In the early 80's I came over here and I was pretty high up in Dunlop and when ever Jaguar HQ Factory had a problem they sent for Me, this all started when they fitted 3 new Axles and 3 new Gear Boxes in some of their cars and still couldn't get em to run right, took me about an hour maybe an hour and a half problem solved, Which then led to me getting in to mechanics and having my own workshops when I cam home,

This taught me to be fussy or OTT when it comes to things like Tyres but most of all in the back ground Gauges, as it did building motors etc, Tyres are one Item that can have a grave effect on us whether we are just going to the shops or an epic journey across Australia, Tyres and Brakes are the only two "Non" She'll Be Right Items on a vehicle and Tyres are the most vulnerable part of a vehicle, Not getting the pressures right can lead to all sorts of problems from blow outs and of coarse accidents and I have even seen Insurance Assessors refuse a claim due to incorrect tyre pressures,

Changing Tyre sizes also has a huge impact on getting those pressures right, When you go up in size the pressure needs to come down when you get to a certain size and bigger, The easiest way to do this is to chalk your tyres putting a 1"+/- band of chalk across your tyres say about 6 to 10 inches apart, Find a quiet straight bit of road with the vehicle unloaded set the steering straight and Chalk both front and rear tyres, Drive in a straight line for a couple of hundred yards and they reverse back up, and get out and check the chalk bands, If there is still chalk on the edges of the tyres then they are Over inflated and if you can still see faint traces in the middle with NON on the edges then they are Under Inflated, going up or down a couple "2" psi at a time will bring you closer to where you want to be, Once you have done this you then want to do the same thing fully loaded, you don't have to go and load the truck unless you have time on your hands but it would be wise to, or you can just wait until you are loaded and test it then.

you can also get and Idea when you have been driving in mud and then you hit the black top and drive for about 60 to 100k's because where the tyre is making perfect contact with the road the tread area will be black and the area if over inflated the edges will still be greyish or if under inflated the edges will be dark black and the centres not so much ??,

There are 3 ways + another 3 ways to set your tyre pressures but the best way is, 1) In the shade in the morning 2) If you are a night driver then do it at night 3) when you have been driving the Vehicle, and of coarse at the same 3 times only this time fully loaded,

Airing Down

This is another grey area where people just ask their mates, But my Challenger weighs a lot less than your 3 ton Cruiser so your 20/25 psi what ever won't work for me, Dirt roads, wash boards and forest tracks you need to drop your tyres by about 25%, Rocks and Mud need about 30/35% and soft sand needs up to 50%.

Airing Down For Extreme Conditions

This is used "ONLY" in extreme conditions like Snow and Deep Snow Icy Conditions or Bull Dust. DO NOT use someone else's Gauge when doing this because if you set your pressures with your Gauge theirs might read +/- of what yours says and in this situation a couple of psi really matters which is why I have made sure that all my Gauges match,

To get "your" Extreme Low Pressures, Get your Truck on Level ground, Concrete is best, You will need a Tape measure or a ruler but if you use a ruler don't forget to allow for that blank bit on the end unless you are using a steel rule/ruler. 1) Look at the sidewall of your Tyre and read the maximum pressure stamped on the sidewall, If is say 44psi or "what ever" It could say 36, 50, 56, 65 what ever you brand has on it, IE So it might say 44psi, So Inflate your tyre to 5psi lower than what is printed on the Tyre, IE 44psi inflate it to 39psi, Now measure the lowest edge of the rim and say it says 148mm, get a calculator and take that 148mm and times it by 0.75 or .75 which (75%) So 148 x 0.75 = 111, which is 111mm, Now Lower your tyre pressure until the lower edge of the rim is 111mm from the road surface and then take a pressure reading and that is your absolute lowest pressure that you can go, when set to this pressure do not make fast turns and your speed needs to be no more than 10k's 12k's "MAX" and steer/turn very gently slowly, this will get you out of just about anything, forget wheel spinning etc or you will pop the bead, If the conditions are as described you can Drive for miles like this as long as you keep your speed down and are gentle on the steering. If conditions allow or you can travel up to 20kph if you increase the pressures up by 5 or 10psi as long as you keep your speed under 20ks ish.

Hope this helps, :Y:

J.

By the time youre finally happy with your tyre pressure Id have been back in camp in my jocks and thongs and just sucking the last dregs from my third beer!

madtuna said:

By the time youre finally happy with your tyre pressure Id have been back in camp in my jocks and thongs and just sucking the last dregs from my third beer!

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In an ideal world so would I, but things never turn out as planned,

They only have to do it once and once a person has got all the numbers for their vehicle it's just adjusting their pressures to suit. As per normal. you have to adjust/set tyre pressure no matter where you are going.

I love the Staun deflators. Quick & easy, by the time I've put the 4th one on the 1st is nearly at my preset of 16psi.
They are prone to sticking sometimes (& deflate further) when they get fine dust in them. Easily solved with an occasional clean with the air gun & a tiny bit of graphite powder.
I always do a check of the pressure with a stand-alone gauge when inflating or deflating.
I don't know what the beach & dunes are like on the east coast but in WA there are areas where the sand is so soft & deep it requires the maximum track length that can be achieved (on any tyre). This sometimes means that tyre pressures down to 12psi are necessary.
Can always tell when someone has gone thru with tyre pressures too high... they leave corrugated ruts in the wheel tracks from wheel spin that are a biartch to follow over.
It takes a bit of trial & error to determine the best pressure in sand for each given tyre/vehicle/load combo.
This year I am trying a different brand & type of tyres so its a new experiment to find the best pressures for highway, gravel/dirt roads, & beach sand/dunes.

RR, good info my man, and it is true stuff too!!
A story, if I may, just quickly....and the reason why I will bag Coopers tyres for the rest of my days, to whoever will listen!

I'd heard about Coopers tyres legendary performance, and tested in the Australian outback stuff....so decided to buy a set..
They weren't cheap, by any means... and a set of 4 smacks you around a bit...

Now, in the early days, the road into the Palmer was not the 6 lane highway it is now.. it was a goat track...
And once you crossed into Palmerville, well, even mountain goats turned back....

So, armed with my new set of 'You Beaut Coopers' tyres, off I went....

1000 k's, total, in and back.... tyres were rooted...

I took them back to Tyrepower, who indeed confirmed that the tread had gone from 16 mm, to an average of 11mm.....
With serious chips and 'issues'... (They actually wrote this on a card, which I still have!!!)

Guess what, it was my fault!!!

I had over inflated the tyres!!! (Errm, no, you put the tyres on, you put the air in??)

Anyway, no amount of arguing was getting me any satisfaction.... I got just on 20,000 k's out of those POS tyres..

My only satisfaction now is bagging Coopers, and Tyrepower when ever I can!! Makes me feel so much better!!

Ded Driver said:

I love the Staun deflators. Quick & easy, by the time I've put the 4th one on the 1st is nearly at my preset of 16psi.
They are prone to sticking sometimes (& deflate further) when they get fine dust in them. Easily solved with an occasional clean with the air gun & a tiny bit of graphite powder.
I always do a check of the pressure with a stand-alone gauge when inflating or deflating.
I don't know what the beach & dunes are like on the east coast but in WA there are areas where the sand is so soft & deep it requires the maximum track length that can be achieved (on any tyre). This sometimes means that tyre pressures down to 12psi are necessary.
Can always tell when someone has gone thru with tyre pressures too high... they leave corrugated ruts in the wheel tracks from wheel spin that are a biartch to follow over.
It takes a bit of trial & error to determine the best pressure in sand for each given tyre/vehicle/load combo.
This year I am trying a different brand & type of tyres so its a new experiment to find the best pressures for highway, gravel/dirt roads, & beach sand/dunes.
https://www.prospectingaustralia.co...s/12692/1539418604_staun_deflators_lowres.jpg

Click to expand...

Yep the Staun are one of the most trust deflators on the market, between them and the ARB one I don't think you can get better, that cheapie is well worth the money,

Sounds like you got down pat, That Chalk test will give you a good base to start from, I went from Generic road AT's to Cooper STT M/T's and there was a big difference due to sidewall stiffness but also because they were bigger that added even more testing.

Interesting story Simmo. The Coopers have been in my sights for a try but I keep hearing some negatives. That does not sound like a very rugged tyre.
Neat cop-out they hit you with. They claim you did it & you cant prove them wrong so they win! Pricks!
That seems like a lot of rubber to lose in about 1000km. Did you notice if you were getting much wheel spin or slip on loose stretches?
Ive worn rubber down on long back-country gravel roads but never at that rate!

Simmo said:

RR, good info my man, and it is true stuff too!!
A story, if I may, just quickly....and the reason why I will bag Coopers tyres for the rest of my days, to whoever will listen!

I'd heard about Coopers tyres legendary performance, and tested in the Australian outback stuff....so decided to buy a set..
They weren't cheap, by any means... and a set of 4 smacks you around a bit...

Now, in the early days, the road into the Palmer was not the 6 lane highway it is now.. it was a goat track...
And once you crossed into Palmerville, well, even mountain goats turned back....

So, armed with my new set of 'You Beaut Coopers' tyres, off I went....

1000 k's, total, in and back.... tyres were rooted...

I took them back to Tyrepower, who indeed confirmed that the tread had gone from 16 mm, to an average of 11mm.....
With serious chips and 'issues'... (They actually wrote this on a card, which I still have!!!)

Guess what, it was my fault!!!

I had over inflated the tyres!!! (Errm, no, you put the tyres on, you put the air in??)

Anyway, no amount of arguing was getting me any satisfaction.... I got just on 20,000 k's out of those POS tyres..

My only satisfaction now is bagging Coopers, and Tyrepower when ever I can!! Makes me feel so much better!!

Click to expand...

Yeah funny you should say that and I feel your pain because I had the exact same issue with the first version of BFG Mud Terrains, it seems back then they made the compound of MT's way too hard and I was loosing about 1mm per 1000ks, So I switched to a set of Coopers for normal road use and they were great but very noisy but off road they were useless, On or off road no matter how much air they had in them they always looked Low/flatish which caused the sidewall to fall victim to getting damaged. thank goodness things have moved on since then because I got so fed up of shelling out big bucks based on all the wild claims only to have to pay out again. :Y:

Ridge Runner said:

Yep the Staun are one of the most trust deflators on the market, between them and the ARB one I don't think you can get better, that cheapie is well worth the money,

Sounds like you got down pat, That Chalk test will give you a good base to start from, I went from Generic road AT's to Cooper STT M/T's and there was a big difference due to sidewall stiffness but also because they were bigger that added even more testing.

Click to expand...

Cheers RR, I generally get up to 80,000km out of a set of tyres (depending on how much gravel road I do).
I will do that chalk test on these new tyres. Good indicator. :Y:

Ded Driver said:

Ridge Runner said:

Yep the Staun are one of the most trust deflators on the market, between them and the ARB one I don't think you can get better, that cheapie is well worth the money,

Sounds like you got down pat, That Chalk test will give you a good base to start from, I went from Generic road AT's to Cooper STT M/T's and there was a big difference due to sidewall stiffness but also because they were bigger that added even more testing.

Click to expand...

Cheers RR, I generally get up to 80,000km out of a set of tyres (depending on how much gravel road I do).
I will do that chalk test on these new tyres. Good indicator. :Y:

Click to expand...

Yeah give a chalk test when you first get em and also next time you are fully loaded when ever that is, no need to load test them straight off it's more import to do it base on how the vehicle is loaded under your normal driving conditions be it empty or loaded. :Y:

Good luck.

Ded Driver said:

Interesting story Simmo. The Coopers have been in my sights for a try but I keep hearing some negatives. That does not sound like a very rugged tyre.
Neat cop-out they hit you with. They claim you did it & you cant prove them wrong so they win! Pricks!
That seems like a lot of rubber to lose in about 1000km. Did you notice if you were getting much wheel spin or slip on loose stretches?
Ive worn rubber down on long back-country gravel roads but never at that rate!

Click to expand...

Nah, mate, I've been driving in and out of there for over 10 years now. Never a failure like the Coopers.
Dont get me wrong, some of the other vehicles that I have up there, have what we call 'Palmer river tyres', 'coz they're stuffed!! It's rugged country!
I will try and dig out that card, where they actually wrote down my k's on the ODO, and the wear!!

Simmo said:

Ded Driver said:

Interesting story Simmo. The Coopers have been in my sights for a try but I keep hearing some negatives. That does not sound like a very rugged tyre.
Neat cop-out they hit you with. They claim you did it & you cant prove them wrong so they win! Pricks!
That seems like a lot of rubber to lose in about 1000km. Did you notice if you were getting much wheel spin or slip on loose stretches?
Ive worn rubber down on long back-country gravel roads but never at that rate!

Click to expand...

Nah, mate, I've been driving in and out of there for over 10 years now. Never a failure like the Coopers.
Dont get me wrong, some of the other vehicles that I have up there, have what we call 'Palmer river tyres', 'coz they're stuffed!! It's rugged country!
I will try and dig out that card, where they actually wrote down my k's on the ODO, and the wear!!

Click to expand...

They look great and all the specs seem right up there but real world testing has the final say, There are place's in Aus and Africa and here where tyres are always the first victims, In a lot of cases the older LT tyres on split rims work best due to their 8,10 and 12 ply rating and the good thing about them is they have inner tubes so as long as you are careful you can run lower pressures. Some times the tyre's we like/want are not the tyre's we need, damn I have wasted so serious money on tyres. :argh:

Simmo know many that have purchased Cooper tyres and many that will never again.
Heard many stories similar to yours in regards Cooper tyres over the years.

RR your best to get a gauge checked and calibrated at an instrument repairers then you have a "true" know value to go by ?
Most gauges are pretty ok in the common 10 to 50 psi area but below 10 psi the gauge error is huge.
Critical when setting suspensions etc that run very low pressures . Out of 5 submitted for testing only one was accurate

RR said:

Changing Tyre sizes also has a huge impact on getting those pressures right, When you go up in size the pressure needs to come down when you get to a certain size and bigger, The easiest way to do this is to chalk your tyres putting a 1"+/- band of chalk across your tyres say about 6 to 10 inches apart, Find a quiet straight bit of road with the vehicle unloaded set the steering straight and Chalk both front and rear tyres, Drive in a straight line for a couple of hundred yards and they reverse back up, and get out and check the chalk bands, If there is still chalk on the edges of the tyres then they are Over inflated and if you can still see faint traces in the middle with NON on the edges then they are Under Inflated, going up or down a couple "2" psi at a time will bring you closer to where you want to be, Once you have done this you then want to do the same thing fully loaded, you don't have to go and load the truck unless you have time on your hands but it would be wise to, or you can just wait until you are loaded and test it then.

Click to expand...

I used to do something similar after fitting new tyres. Drive through a shallow puddle before drive across a concrete slab and see how well the pattern is transferred to the cement

One thing I noticed while working in New Zealand. The workshop I was in had a rolling road that was used to check brake performance and could individually calculate the performance of brakes on each wheel and compare. Different tyre size and even tread patterns made a huge difference in performance and balance and often would result in a failure because of the imbalance. And newbees to that sort of tester would often go off chasing other non existent problems, ignoring the basics like tyres.

Not trying to hijack the thread but here is my Cooper ST Max. :N:



Now running Hankook Dynopro AT's :Y:

Cheers

Doug

Sweeper said:

Simmo know many that have purchased Cooper tyres and many that will never again.
Heard many stories similar to yours in regards Cooper tyres over the years.

RR your best to get a gauge checked and calibrated at an instrument repairers then you have a "true" know value to go by ?
Most gauges are pretty ok in the common 10 to 50 psi area but below 10 psi the gauge error is huge.
Critical when setting suspensions etc that run very low pressures . Out of 5 submitted for testing only one was accurate

Click to expand...

Here are the tolerances of gauges that use a fully geared, solid brass precision movement with bronze bourdon tube, I get all my Gauges and measuring gizmo's Calibrated by someone I know at British Aero Space, he even gives my Straight Edge's the once over.

The mechanical accuracy rating is 2% from 25% to 75% of scale and 3% below 25% and above 75%.

A 15 psi tire gauge is accurate to 0.5 psi from 4 psi to 11 psi and is calibrated to 0.25 psi at 7.5 psi.

A 30 psi tire gauge is accurate to 0.6 psi from 8 psi to 22 psi and is calibrated to 0.5 psi at 15 psi.

A 60 psi tire gauge is accurate to +/- 1.2 psi from 15 to 45 psi and is calibrated to 1 psi at 30 psi.

A 100 psi tire gauge is accurate to 2 psi from 25 to 75 psi and is calibrated to 1.5 psi at 50 psi.

A 160 psi tire gauge is accurate to 3.2 psi from 40 - 120 and is calibrated to 2 psi at 80 psi.

Mr Magoo said:

RR said:

Changing Tyre sizes also has a huge impact on getting those pressures right, When you go up in size the pressure needs to come down when you get to a certain size and bigger, The easiest way to do this is to chalk your tyres putting a 1"+/- band of chalk across your tyres say about 6 to 10 inches apart, Find a quiet straight bit of road with the vehicle unloaded set the steering straight and Chalk both front and rear tyres, Drive in a straight line for a couple of hundred yards and they reverse back up, and get out and check the chalk bands, If there is still chalk on the edges of the tyres then they are Over inflated and if you can still see faint traces in the middle with NON on the edges then they are Under Inflated, going up or down a couple "2" psi at a time will bring you closer to where you want to be, Once you have done this you then want to do the same thing fully loaded, you don't have to go and load the truck unless you have time on your hands but it would be wise to, or you can just wait until you are loaded and test it then.

Click to expand...

I used to do something similar after fitting new tyres. Drive through a shallow puddle before drive across a concrete slab and see how well the pattern is transferred to the cement

One thing I noticed while working in New Zealand. The workshop I was in had a rolling road that was used to check brake performance and could individually calculate the performance of brakes on each wheel and compare. Different tyre size and even tread patterns made a huge difference in performance and balance and often would result in a failure because of the imbalance. And newbees to that sort of tester would often go off chasing other non existent problems, ignoring the basics like tyres.

Click to expand...

Yes Spot On, One thing that most folks are not aware of is that when you go up from say 31/33 up to say 37"s you really need to change up to a bigger braking system, From 31/33s 35's are about the Limit before you need to be buying bigger brakes because the contact patch and the rolling force is greatly multiplied. Along with bad fuel economy, un-sprung weight and slow acceleration which then leads to Re-Gearing in order to counter the above as well as your road speeds matching your speedo.

I have 3 loose gauges in my compressor kit. I never rely on the in-hose gauge as its subject to heavy air pulses, moisture (mostly when used on the coast), & other knocks & occasional drop on the ground, & they often seem to be a couple of psi out (had 1 at 5psi error).
I occasionally grab 2 out to check & keep each other honest layful:
The 3rd came with an air hose kit so just lives with the others, & its handy if a mate needs to borrow 1,
I find good gauges are usually within about 2psi of each other, & the ones I currently have read 1psi diff.
Once you have a good single or set of gauges that will last a while, the exact true pressure isn't really critical, its about knowing what pressure to set using your own gauges.
eg, my mate lost his gauge last Easter & I lent him mine. If his old gauge was 5psi diff to mine, then he would be using a pressure not quiet what he's used to running. But in this case he didn't have any issues.

And just a side note, a good compressor is handy (with a blow gun) to clean dirt n dust off the detector, camping gear, & other stuff, like your lady friend/wifes hair when a willie-willie/cock-eyed-bob hits ya unexpectedly :lol:
(& of course blowing your cars air filter out)

I put Hancooks on my work 4wd too...