Tyre Pressure Gauge.

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MULDERKE

MULDERKE

Well-Known Member
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No Mans Land
Hello all.
I'm in the market for a reliable and accurate tyre pressure gauge. I've posted here because 1,I'm a FL1 Owner, 2. I know how important tyre pressures are to Freelander owners, so can point me in the right direction.
I did spend £12.50 on a Halfords gauge, but with in no time did not return to zero and when checked against other gauges it was very inaccurate.
Any advice or links welcome.
Cheers all.
 
I have a couple of slim electronic pressure gauges. I think they came from Asda, along with the tread depth gauge. I think they cost about £6, and both the ones I have are very repeatable, and show a pressure difference between them of 0.5 Psi, so they're pretty accurate.
 
Nodge68.
Thanks for your reply. This the kind of kit I'm looking for. When checked, all four wheels were different by as much as 3/4 pounds.
Cheers.
 
Hello Folls,
We (Wife and I) are new to Freelanders (Her FL1 arrives on Tuesday). I have been reading about the importance of tyre pressure in protecting the drive train.
Is any one using a tyre pressure monitoring system successfully? If so, what system are you using?
Thanks
Simon
 
Simessail said:
I have been reading about the importance of tyre pressure in protecting the drive train.
Click to expand...
Not just pressure, but tyres, tyres, tyres, full stop. They MUST be identical. So same make, same type, same size and same pressure. Also the front wear faster than the rear, so you need to swap them front to back every 2-3K miles. If you choose not to swap, you can replace just two worn tyres, however the new ones must go on the rear, and be identical replacements.
Simessail said:
Is any one using a tyre pressure monitoring system successfully?
Click to expand...

Htr has a TPMS fitted to his 1.8 K series.
 
Colthebrummie said:
I know all the freelander 1 owners are a bit paranoid about this but I remain unconvinced.

Col
Click to expand...
Hello Vol,
May I ask why you are unconvinced?
Do you have experience to the contrary, I will admit to being a little surprised to discover that Land Rover (I know that LR have had build issues in the past, but in my experience the design side has always been sound) had opted to include, in the design, a system that had such small working tolerances that tyres of different circumferences could make such a dramatic difference to the drive train.

Regards

Simes
 
Simessail said:
Hello Vol,
May I ask why you are unconvinced?
Do you have experience to the contrary, I will admit to being a little surprised to discover that Land Rover (I know that LR have had build issues in the past, but in my experience the design side has always been sound) had opted to include, in the design, a system that had such small working tolerances that tyres of different circumferences could make such a dramatic difference to the drive train.

Regards

Simes
Click to expand...

The VCU will allow some slip, to allow for tyre wear. However it's designed to work with 4 identical tyres, which is advisable for any 4X4, not just the Freelander 1. The FL1 is less tolerant than most others though, in this respect. I personally can't see the problem with making sure that all tyres are identical. It means the vehicle is being looked after correctly. ;)
 
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Simessail said:
Hello Vol,
May I ask why you are unconvinced?
Do you have experience to the contrary, I will admit to being a little surprised to discover that Land Rover (I know that LR have had build issues in the past, but in my experience the design side has always been sound) had opted to include, in the design, a system that had such small working tolerances that tyres of different circumferences could make such a dramatic difference to the drive train.

Regards

Simes
Click to expand...
I can attest that tyre pressures are very important having lost my IRD, I'm sure, to a tyre losing pressure. If you need real life experience of how much slight differences can make, have a read of this...

https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/feels-like-driving-with-brakes-on.260939/
 
I do have identicle tyres and had all four replaced as soon as I bought my fl1. The old one weren't particularly worn but they had a few cracks on the side walls. The reason given for having identicle tyres and keeping the pressure accurate is that differing pressures or differing levels of wear cause the wheels to revolve at slightly different speeds. I can get that but nearly all the roads I drive on are not straight, not even nearly straight. So Everytime the car goes around a corner etc, the wheel are revolving at different speeds to each other. If the vcu and IRD are so vulnerable to different wheels speeds, just driving it on bendy roads will cause damage irrespective of slight tyre diameter differences. I know I am probably alone in thinking this but there are plenty of fl1's driving around with 100k on the clock that have done most of this on bendy roads. Obviously, if the tyre diameters are widely different that will not do the transmission any good but a couple of millimetres over approximately 400 is only 0.5% difference.

Col
 
Colthebrummie said:
I do have identicle tyres and had all four replaced as soon as I bought my fl1. The old one weren't particularly worn but they had a few cracks on the side walls. The reason given for having identicle tyres and keeping the pressure accurate is that differing pressures or differing levels of wear cause the wheels to revolve at slightly different speeds. I can get that but nearly all the roads I drive on are not straight, not even nearly straight. So Everytime the car goes around a corner etc, the wheel are revolving at different speeds to each other. If the vcu and IRD are so vulnerable to different wheels speeds, just driving it on bendy roads will cause damage irrespective of slight tyre diameter differences. I know I am probably alone in thinking this but there are plenty of fl1's driving around with 100k on the clock that have done most of this on bendy roads. Obviously, if the tyre diameters are widely different that will not do the transmission any good but a couple of millimetres over approximately 400 is only 0.5% difference.

Col
Click to expand...
Funny that. My IRD went bang on the way home just after I'd been over this road and back...

Hilltop.jpg


Believe me, it seems a lot twistier than the map shows - and Google is optimistic on 18 minutes to travel it. The first time we drove it in our Discovery, it expired in an overheating heap by Summit Road, and the Freelander shat its IRD on that road - so not really our favorite - but it is a lovely drive :)
 
Yes I have a TPMS. It seems to work well too and it's one of these. A fat dust cap arrangement on each wheel and I mounted the screen unit where the door mirror remote switch goes. It needs a 12v feed and an earth as well. Pretty simple to fit! You can set a min pressure at which the alarm will sound. Works in PSI or Bar, gives an alert for: leakage, high temp, high pressure, low pressure & low battery power.

You can see my set-up if you scroll through this post of mine. It's interesting to watch the pressures. My normal 'cold' pressure is 28psi, it goes up to 31psi when driving and all tyres are warmed up. On a frosty morning the pressure drops to 26psi causing the low pressure alert to go off. It goes off after about 5km when things begin to warm up.
 
Nodge68 said:
If you set the tyres to the correct 30 Psi, then the alarm might not sound, when it's cold. ;)
Click to expand...

Hmm that's probably true. However I've run them at 28psi [cold] since I've fitted them in 2014 and have now covered nearly 80,000 km with them. They are wearing evenly across the tread face. A higher pressure would likely make them wear in the centre of the tread and low pressure would cause the outer edges to wear. The front tyres do wear slightly more on the outer edges and I had them turned on the rim to help keep the wear even and had the wheel alignment checked/adjusted. I'm hoping to get another 5 to 10,000km or so before replacement tyres are necessary. I think 80 - 90,000km is a pretty good life span for a tyre. Are others out there getting the same or better?
 
kermit_rr said:
I use a racex gauge which i bought to use on my bike, can't complain at all. Easy to read, supposed to be accurate but no idea how you'd test that
https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/93915/racex-tyre-gauge-rx0014
Click to expand...
Hello Folls,
Thanks for the interesting answers. I would have to say that looking at the VCU issue from the out side, the twister the road the better. As I understand it the VCU is supposed to deal with 6% difference and that more than that will engage 4 wheel drive. It seems that this is not the case. I will have to do some more research.
Just as thought, what happens when (if) you get a puncture? The spare is almost certainly of a different size as it has been stowed on the back door for a few thousand miles.
In the mean time TPMS looks like the way to go.
Thanks again
Simes
 
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