TPMS

Quote from Bigdog

Years ago my car had a rear flat tire and I was going 70 miles an hour on it without any indication of its condition until a guy pulled along side and pointed to the back end....unless it’s acting squirrelly swerving around ....the difference would be how straight the road is...I was on an expressway without radical turns like driving in town...

Not saying it wouldn’t have sooner or later cut the tire and been on the rim throwing sparks...

Seriously.....

Although I shouldn't be surprised about you not noticing it, I bet you are the type to let your gas get to empty, miss all the warning signs/lights and then wonder why the vehicle won't start.

Quote from Neosolidus

wjfyfe

All my vehicles except the Jeep have low profile tires and at least on bridgestones/bfgoodrich(brands of tires I buy since its what Costco carries) I can confidently say based on first hand experience that you have to be dead not to tell the difference.

Unless you have run flat tires(which are a complete separate EXPENSIVE mess) you absolutely will notice low profile tires being low/flat even faster than reg ones.

Thanks, Neosolidus, Though I have only experienced the tires being low a couple of pounds, (compared to completely flat), I have noticed so far is that as tire pressure decreases on the front the more our SlingShot likes to follow the ruts in the road, but that is real subjective. And, I am only assuming here, that the lack of overall response to my question is also telling us that a flat tire on the SlingShot is a very relatively rare happening?

Bill

Quote from wokka

It's not just low tires, different tire manufacturers and tire softness can affect that. My new tires track every groove, gripping everything. It's like riding a bronco on bad roads.

MACAWS warned me that would happen, and it's some spirited driving on some of our bad Texas roads.... so much fun!

Are you saying that you are experiencing this all the time, wokka? With the proper inflation, the Grasshopper tracks straight and true, only as the pressure drops does it start to become some what disobedient. Maybe you might want to consider getting an alignment done, though finding a place that can do a three-wheeler can be a challenge. Our closest is 150 miles so that is a reason we have not had ours done yet.

Bill

Quote from wokka

It's not just low tires, different tire manufacturers and tire softness can affect that. My new tires track every groove, gripping everything. It's like riding a bronco on bad roads.

MACAWS warned me that would happen, and it's some spirited driving on some of our bad Texas roads.... so much fun!

I think it just the width of the front tires that causes this. I ran the same tires in a 17" on the front with very little issue but when I went to the 18 x 9.5 up front it was more reactive to bad road surfaces. But get that bad boy on some smooth asphalt or concrete it tracks like a train

I ran a Sumitomo HTR Z III 295/30ZR18 tire on the rear of my Base model Slingshot and on normal Interstate pavement, the rear end seem to respond to any minor steering wheel movement. That particular tire model has been reported to have a soft sidewall, which I believe was why it felt a little squirrely during normal driving. Oddly enough, it felt very stable during high-speed lane changes at Interstate speeds.

Quote from Neosolidus

Seriously.....

Although I shouldn't be surprised about you not noticing it, I bet you are the type to let your gas get to empty, miss all the warning signs/lights and then wonder why the vehicle won't start.

This was on a 1989 full size 4 door Chevy caprice.....it was not a low profile tire and the car did not had TPMS. The car was not acting abnormal in any way....I didn’t start out with a flat.....it happened during my ride.....

I don’t have cameras mounted on all 4 corners of my vehicle ...and since I’m not psychic I didn’t notice it....

And I have never run out of gas. I’m very aware of what my vehicles.

From experience I know any part can fail at anytime without warning.....

Had a tie rod snap off.....that’s fun while you’re going around a bend and one wheel wants to rapidly flail from side to side. You lose most of your ability to steer.

Had a rear shock mount snap off without warning.....the shock dug into the road....twisted the rear axle on a 45, pulled the driveshaft off the tranny and sent the vehicle into on coming traffic...

Rolled my dune buggy heading into a curve....

Crashed my street motorcycle into the woods...skidded on gravel in a turn...a little to fast.

Running on a flat tire is no big deal....this is your captain speaking....please remain calm.

I use my FOBOBIKE on every ride...right on my cell phone...even get pressure updates in my recliner...

Quote from wokka

A follow up on this thread after running the cheap TPMS from ebay for a few months. It's still working and have had no issues. It's consistently showing the correct tire pressure, stays plugged in via mini-USB. For $31, I've been happy. It worked fine with 3 wheels before I put the quad on it. From reviews I've read, people don't recommned using the solar charging part of it full time, it will overheat. I have it mounted above my head on the TD soft top bar, out of the elements.

An image of it from before the quad:

Basically, I recommend this for some piece of mind on your tires. You may not be able to hear the alarm on it while at highway speeds, but it will also flash the screen and I'm hoping it will catch me out of the corner of my eye and look at it.

Display More

I had one of there for a couple of months. Couldn’t find a really good place to mount it and did not have the external power for it. I found the display to be a little too dim to read in right sunlight. Unfortunately, I didn’t have it secured to the panel and it ran away from me on the Snake a couple of weeks ago. 😏

Quote from wokka

Yeah, I struggled to find a place to mount it until I built my shelf above.

I found this nifty guy to do power easily : DC-DC 12v to 5v 3a USB converter on Amazon

That’s a pretty coot tool. Does it help brighten the display? If so, I just might try it again. Got mine for $25 on flea bay.