best thumper??

[new2road]

Hi all....just wondering what all you vets out there use for a tire thumper?

I seen all the 20 buck ones at the truck stops, but can you use a hammer?? or will that damage the tires?/


sorry...rookie question


thanks

[GMAN]

A small sledge hammer works just fine. It won't damage the tires.

[yoopr]

Oak but after awhile you'll be able to tell by smacking your hand on the tire.

[Rev.Vassago]

Oak but after awhile you'll be able to tell by smacking your wrist on the tire.

Or you can buy a tire gauge and do it the right way.


A tire thumper isn't going to tell you if there is 100 psi in a tire, or if there is 90 psi in a tire. A tire gauge will.

[jegzus]

You could do that Rev, but for the average company driver they aren't going to check all 18 tires with a gauge.

The best way to do it if you aren't tone def is to do it a few times with a tire gauge while "thumping" the tires you can hear the difference between 100psi and 90 psi pretty easily. If you are tone def you might not notice the sound difference until about 80-85 psi.

[Rev.Vassago]

You could do that Rev, but for the average company driver they aren't going to check all 18 tires with a gauge.

They will if they care about being broken down on the side of the road with a blown tire.

The best way to do it if you aren't tone def is to do it a few times with a tire gauge while "thumping" the tires you can hear the difference between 100psi and 90 psi pretty easily. If you are tone def you might not notice the sound difference until about 80-85 psi.

No, you can't. You may think you can, but you can't. I could give you 18 tires, all between 90 and 100 psi, and I can guarantee you wouldn't be able to tell how much air is in any of them.

[jegzus]

You could do that Rev, but for the average company driver they aren't going to check all 18 tires with a gauge.

They will if they care about being broken down on the side of the road with a blown tire.

The best way to do it if you aren't tone def is to do it a few times with a tire gauge while "thumping" the tires you can hear the difference between 100psi and 90 psi pretty easily. If you are tone def you might not notice the sound difference until about 80-85 psi.

No, you can't. You may think you can, but you can't. I could give you 18 tires, all between 90 and 100 psi, and I can guarantee you wouldn't be able to tell how much air is in any of them.

If they were in the low 90's I most certainly could, to bad we don't live very close because I would love to show you.

when I was a company driver, I used a Barjan thumper made of hickory.

Now I'm o/o and I use a tire gauge and I check pressure very frequently.

I put those Crossfire gadgets on all my wheels and now I never have to thump or check my pressure. Just as long as I don't go color blind, I'm all set!

[Fozzy]

I'm wierd, I just use a gauge... it takes some kneeling and bending at the waist to do it properly, when most drivers wont get out of the truck to dump their own garbage.. what do you expect from them?

[Roadhog]

I use my mirrors to check mine. :?

[devildice]

I use my mirrors to check mine. :?

[Malaki86]

Why check em at all? Other drivers will let you know when your tire is completely flat or already blown out and missing. :wink:

[kc0iv]

You could do that Rev, but for the average company driver they aren't going to check all 18 tires with a gauge.

They will if they care about being broken down on the side of the road with a blown tire.

The best way to do it if you aren't tone def is to do it a few times with a tire gauge while "thumping" the tires you can hear the difference between 100psi and 90 psi pretty easily. If you are tone def you might not notice the sound difference until about 80-85 psi.

No, you can't. You may think you can, but you can't. I could give you 18 tires, all between 90 and 100 psi, and I can guarantee you wouldn't be able to tell how much air is in any of them.

If they were in the low 90's I most certainly could, to bad we don't live very close because I would love to show you.

I like what drivermag http://driversmag.com/cover/truck_ti...enance_012605/ says it one of it's articles

“Inflation pressure cannot be accurately estimated by kicking or thumping the tire. Trying to determine if tires need air by thumping them is as effective as trying to determine if the vehicle’s engine needs oil by thumping on the hood.”

BTW this is a pretty good article about tires. Plus they have several articles relating to tires.

kc0iv

[trick_knee]

Why check em at all? Other drivers will let you know when your tire is completely flat or already blown out and missing. :wink:

Yeah, they'll try. It's no use when the offender has their cell phone glued to their ear and radio apparently turned off as I witnessed the other day. Guy was completely oblivious, just holding his steering wheel, gabbin' away as that blue smoke was rolling off of his right side drives. Oh well, my exit came up so I don't know how far he went before realizing, if ever.

[serbie]

Use my boot every day and a tire gauge 2-3 times a week. Rev makes a good point, I still maybe a co. driver, but down time still cost me money. Checking all 18 tires takes me less then 5 minutes, what would you do with 5 minutes besides nothing. Take the time, check your tires. Not to mention when you do your pre-post trip your supposed to CHECK OUT the tires for damage, why not do both, air pressure, and visual check in one motion???? 5 MINUTES LOL :?:

I maybe just a wired guy, I also wash my truck at home, polish as much as I can, wax, vacuum, and in other words take care of my truck. Never understood why people have issues doing what should be done, IE: THEIR JOB?!?!?!

[Malaki86]

Why check em at all? Other drivers will let you know when your tire is completely flat or already blown out and missing. :wink:

Yeah, they'll try. It's no use when the offender has their cell phone glued to their ear and radio apparently turned off as I witnessed the other day. Guy was completely oblivious, just holding his steering wheel, gabbin' away as that blue smoke was rolling off of his right side drives. Oh well, my exit came up so I don't know how far he went before realizing, if ever.

You mean we're supposed to pay attention while we're driving???

[jegzus]

Use my boot every day and a tire gauge 2-3 times a week. Rev makes a good point, I still maybe a co. driver, but down time still cost me money. Checking all 18 tires takes me less then 5 minutes, what would you do with 5 minutes besides nothing. Take the time, check your tires. Not to mention when you do your pre-post trip your supposed to CHECK OUT the tires for damage, why not do both, air pressure, and visual check in one motion???? 5 MINUTES LOL :?:

I maybe just a wired guy, I also wash my truck at home, polish as much as I can, wax, vacuum, and in other words take care of my truck. Never understood why people have issues doing what should be done, IE: THEIR JOB?!?!?!

I bolded the bottom part of this post because unless you are getting paid for it, it is not OUR JOB. Granted most people do keep their trucks fairly clean but many do not go out of their way to make a company truck a show truck.

And as far as the article saying thumping your tires doesn't tell you if your tires are low must have been done by a deaf person. It is completely idiotic to say that you can't tell if a tire which holds air is low or not, that's like saying that buckets filled with water don't make different sounds if a bucket has more or less than the other.
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[Karnajj]

Oak but after awhile you'll be able to tell by smacking your wrist on the tire.

Or you can buy a tire gauge and do it the right way.


A tire thumper isn't going to tell you if there is 100 psi in a tire, or if there is 90 psi in a tire. A tire gauge will.

Most people don't thump their tires to tell how much air they have in them but whether they are flat or not. I thump them every time I fuel. There is no way I would have time to gauge them that often.

[kc0iv]

Oak but after awhile you'll be able to tell by smacking your wrist on the tire.

Or you can buy a tire gauge and do it the right way.


A tire thumper isn't going to tell you if there is 100 psi in a tire, or if there is 90 psi in a tire. A tire gauge will.

Most people don't thump their tires to tell how much air they have in them but whether they are flat or not. I thump them every time I fuel. There is no way I would have time to gauge them that often.

I don't see a problem with thumping tires (I did it myself). I would however recommend you use a gauge each time you do an inspection. It is a good time while you are inspecting the tires.

One thing I had was an air hose I could connect to the glad hand so I could fill a low tire. Save me the hassle of pulling to island to get some air.

kc0iv