Tire Pyrometer to set tire pressure

StG58

StG58

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Something one of the members here said sparked a thought about setting tire pressure with a tire pyrometer. I did a little digging and came up with this on Amazon:
Tire Pyrometer_.jpg

Reading on the racing forums got me to thinking about using one of these to set tire pressure on the TJ for different load conditions and tire sizes. Pretty sure that it would be only marginally useful, but it would be kind of cool to be able to set tire pressure for general street use, say get a tire pressure for loaded and unloaded weight, and check to see if the toe-in is set correctly or camber is way off. This one runs about $100 on Amazon. Wouldn't be needed for off road, because we air down anyway. But for street driving it may be useful and give us a little feedback and possibly a little long term payback on some seriously expensive off road tires.
 
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Clearly I need to do some research, I don't even know what this thing does.
 
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Chris said:
Clearly I need to do some research, I don't even know what this thing does.
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It measures the temperature of the tire tread and indicates the amount of ground pressure on the tire. For best traction and wear, the temp should be pretty uniform across the entire tread i.e. If the center is hot, too much pressure. If the shoulders are hot, not enough tire pressure. Hot inside or outside shoulders on both front tires, bad camber or toe-in. On the TJ, we can't do anything about camber, but it's easy to fix toe-in.

This is one of my hair brained ideas that pop up occasionally, that is the result of cross breeding tips and techniques from other motorsports.
 
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bobthetj03 said:
It would be interesting to see if our 26-28psi recommendations are indeed good ones.
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Exactly.

Sometimes good advice is only good until it's tested and verified, right? I just put $1,800 worth of tires and wheels on the wife's JKU, and it would be nice to know that she's not scrubbing off rubber that she doesn't need to. If you're running bigger, more expensive tires, it would seem to make even more sense to be sure that tire pressure and toe-in are set correctly for conditions.
 
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How much is this thing? Post the link to it if you don't mind.

I guess if they were cheap enough, I could see how it would be a good purchase!
 
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Chris said:
How much is this thing? Post the link to it if you don't mind.

I guess if they were cheap enough, I could see how it would be a good purchase!
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Less than $100. I suspect that a really good digital meat thermometer would do the same thing for about $30. It appears that the temperature ranges we are talking about for street tires is in the 150°F range plus or minus probably 20 - 30°.

Here's the link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005JVFTTM/?tag=wranglerorg-20

(Edited to add: Sheesh! I can't seem to spell "temperature" today...lol.)
 
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I think I was talking about that. Interesting thought about doing it on a street car. Dunno if temps get warm enough? Never tried it. On our formula SAE car, we were running Hoosier racing slicks and they got up around 280 degrees, if you knew how to drive. Slide it around, and you just made a mess.

I would think a 99 cent piece of chalk would be just as good for street tires (draw a straight line across the tread, and see if it wears off evenly)
 
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Ranger_b0b said:
I think I was talking about that. Interesting thought about doing it on a street car. Dunno if temps get warm enough? Never tried it. On our formula SAE car, we were running Hoosier racing slicks and they got up around 280 degrees, if you knew how to drive. Slide it around, and you just made a mess.

I would think a 99 cent piece of chalk would be just as good for street tires (draw a straight line across the tread, and see if it wears off evenly)
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Yup, I think it was you, @Ranger_b0b, come to think of it. Most of the reading on this that I've done is in the context of SCCA and autocross. The chalk test is good, but consistantly gives pressures that are 5 or so lbs low.
 
StG58 said:
It measures the temperature of the tire tread and indicates the amount of ground pressure on the tire. For best traction and wear, the temp should be pretty uniform across the entire tread i.e. If the center is hot, too much pressure. If the shoulders are hot, not enough tire pressure. Hot inside or outside shoulders on both front tires, bad camber or toe-in. On the TJ, we can't do anything about camber, but it's easy to fix toe-in.

This is one of my hair brained ideas that pop up occasionally, that is the result of cross breeding tips and techniques from other motorsports.
Click to expand...
I remember seeing this in the 1970s at CanAm races.... altho the "digital" aspect did not exist. From my first race in 1969? I always bought the pit pass. And I'd live there from 6am when the gates opened.
 
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Man I loved those CanAm races in Edmonton until Penske, Donahue, Porsche killed the series. Something about a 501" Chevy alloy engine firing up when you are 6' feet away..... and in Grade 10.

Something about the freedom back then too. I remember my first year. 6am I HEARD the engines practicing. No one else was even awake. I got on my bicycle and rode north on 127st for 5 miles. I stayed there till the track closed. I got " where did you go Bill?" when I got home at 7pm. All I had to do was tell Mom & Dad how incredible the day was. No shit, it was that simple back then. No missing child, no police, no grounding, no drama. It really was a better world.
 
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I remember those days too. I went EVERYWHERE on my bike. One day, about 12 or 13 years old, my brother, neighbor friend, and, I hopped on our bikes and rode to my grandma's house, about 13 miles away. It was summer, hot, and she had a pool. Dad stopped on his way home from work to pick us up. No questions, just, did you have fun?
 
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No cupping on my GY Wrangler M/T w Kevlar either. I rotate them every 5K with oil change
 
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