Chicago Auto Repair & Service Experts
Triangle Auto Service, Inc
4060 N Elston Ave, Chicago, IL 60618
773-539-5858
Tire pressure
We all know that under inflated tires wear out more quickly.
Under-inflation is also a major cause of tire failure. More flats, blow
outs, skids and longer stopping distances are all results of
under-inflated tires.
It’s hard to tell when a radial tire is
under-inflated. If your manufacturer recommends 35 pounds of pressure,
your tire is considered significantly under inflated at 26 pounds. The
tire may not look low until it gets below 20 pounds.
Uncle Sam to the
rescue! A new federal law requires manufacturers to include a Tire
Pressure Monitoring System – or TPMS system – in all vehicles by the
2008 model year.
Some 2006 and 2007 models already have TPMS. The
system is a dashboard mounted warning light that goes off if one or more
of the tires falls 25 % below the manufacturer’s pressure
recommendations.
The law covers all passenger cars, SUVs, mini vans
and pick up trucks. The system must also indicate if it has a
malfunction. This technology has been used by race cars for years. They
are able to head off problems from under inflation by closely monitoring
tire pressure on the track. It’s up to your car’s manufacturer to
determine which of many TPMS systems available they’ll use to comply
with the law.
Obviously, all of this doesn’t come free. Government
studies have estimated the net costs. Of course, the TPMS system itself
will cost something. Maintaining the system will have a cost,
replacement of worn or broken parts and tire repair cost increases. The
net cost is estimated to be between $27 and $100.
The costs are
partially offset by savings in fuel and tread wear. There is also a
saving in property damage and travel delay. Also, the government
predicts fewer fatal accidents. They estimate there will be between
$3,000,000 to $9,000,000 for every life saved.
Your safety has always
been a concern of your service center. They want you on the road and
accident free. They’ve traditionally provided things like tire
rotations, snow tire mounting and flat fixes at a very low cost. They’ve
been able to quickly and cheaply provide the service, and they pass the
low cost on to you as an expression of their good will. That’s why
they’re concerned about how you’ll perceive the changes that this new
law will force.
Every time a tire is changed: taken off to fix a
flat, a new tire installed, or a snow tire mounted, the service
technician is now going to have to deal with the TPMS system. Sensors
will need to be removed and reinstalled. The sensors will have to be
re-activated after the change. And, unfortunately, the very act of
changing the tire will damage some sensor parts from time to time – it’s
inevitable and can’t be avoided.
Even a simple tire rotation will
require that the monitor be reprogrammed to the new location of each
tire. When a car battery is disconnected, the TPMS system will need to
be reprogrammed. TPMS sensor batteries will need to be changed and
failed parts replaced.
And the service centers themselves will need
to purchase new scanning equipment to work with the TPMS sensors and to
update expensive tire change equipment to better service wheels equipped
with the new monitoring systems.
Service technicians will have to be
trained on many systems and new tire-changing techniques. All of this
adds up to significantly increased cost to the service center to perform
what was once a very inexpensive service for you. So when you start so
see the cost of tire changes, flat repairs and rotations going up,
please keep in mind that it’s because of government mandated safety
equipment. Your service center just wants to keep you safely on the road
– and it’s committed to do so at a fair price. The effects of the new
law will take some time to sort out, but it will help you avoid the most
common vehicle failure, and possibly a catastrophic accident. www.triangleradiator.com, www.triangleradiator.net, www.chicagobrakerepair.com
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