# Tire Safety Monitors **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Created:** [January 1, 2008, 5:55pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/tire-safety-monitors/8901 "2008-01-01T17:55:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![1mccoady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/439d5e/32.png) [@1mccoady](https://community.cartalk.com/u/1mccoady)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2008, 5:55pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/tire-safety-monitors/8901/1 "2008-01-01T17:55:58Z")
I’m talking about the type that screws on the valve stem basically replacing the valve caps, they display green if the tire is properly inflated and red if your tire is low. So do they work and if they do which brand or type do I want? I think it would be a very practical device if they do indeed work without running your tires flat by leaking air. ---
**Author:** ![mcparadise](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mcparadise/32/32_2.png) [@mcparadise](https://community.cartalk.com/u/mcparadise)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2008, 7:24pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/tire-safety-monitors/8901/2 "2008-01-01T19:24:35Z")
There’s another device which works even better. It’s called a tire pressure gauge. Buy a good one and use it often. If you do you’ll never have to worry about underinflated tires. ---
**Author:** ![Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/joseph_e_meehan/32/21_2.png) [@Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Joseph_E_Meehan)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2008, 7:40pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/tire-safety-monitors/8901/3 "2008-01-01T19:40:22Z")
Well the “work” as far as that goes. They are not very accurate and you could have tyres rather low and some rather high and not trigger anything. You really want to keep them better matched and closer to the recommend inflation than those ggadgets are good for. About all they will do is to spot an wall low tyre. ---
**Author:** ![SteveF](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/stevef/32/2_2.png) [@SteveF](https://community.cartalk.com/u/SteveF)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2008, 9:59pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/tire-safety-monitors/8901/4 "2008-01-01T21:59:02Z")
Yes, they work and they do a reasonable job of responding to low pressure. The catch is that you must LOOK at them frequently for them to be of any real use. If you seldom look closely at your tires, then what’s the point of another gadget? ---
**Author:** ![bwringer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e99b99/32.png) [@bwringer](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bwringer)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 4:36am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/tire-safety-monitors/8901/5 "2008-01-02T04:36:13Z")
I’ve seen a few reviews in motorcycle mags, and the consensus is that these things are pretty useless – not very accurate, and when they do trigger, it’s at a ridiculously low pressure. In other words, if you’re looking down there anyway, you’ll do a much better job of seeing that something’s seriously wrong just by eyeballing the tires themselves. They also could give you a false sense of security by showing green at 27 psi when you really should be at, say, 33 psi. This makes a bigger difference on motorcycles than on cars, but it’s still a concern. It’s not a bad idea at all, but the reality is that the available examples aren’t made very well. If someone comes out with better ones that you can calibrate more usefully, they could be nice to have. ---
**Author:** ![Jeremy\_R\_Hoyt](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/jeremy_r_hoyt/32/37_2.png) [@Jeremy\_R\_Hoyt](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Jeremy_R_Hoyt)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 2:46pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/tire-safety-monitors/8901/6 "2008-01-02T14:46:53Z")
I tried them and eventually threw them away. You are better off getting a good tire gauge and checking the pressure regularly. The devices you are asking about only show a major drop in pressure anyway and they can fail, which in my opinion makes them useless. ---
**Author:** ![MikeInNH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@MikeInNH](https://community.cartalk.com/u/MikeInNH)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 3:37pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/tire-safety-monitors/8901/7 "2008-01-02T15:37:32Z")
Joseph is correct…I have them on my 4runner…came stock…And the ONE time they came on my one tire was about 15lbs low…That’s pretty bad considering the tires are only 30lbs.