[VAC] Tire Pressure Monitor

["James Greene" <drgreene@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Found this information on monitoring tire pressure.

Jim Greene
' 68 Tradewind

----- Original Message -----
>
> U.S. gives automakers choice in tire sensors
> June 5, 2002 - The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
> (NHTSA) will allow automakers to install either one of two types of tire
> pressure monitoring systems that warn motorists when tires are dangerously
> underinflated, beginning with 2004 model vehicles. One method incorporates
> MEMS pressure sensors while the other relies on a vehicle's antilock
braking
> system using wheel speed sensors.
> NHTSA announced on May 30 that the U.S. Department of Transportation
issued
> the first of a two-part ruling as part of the Transportation Recall
> Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation (TREAD) Act of 2000. U.S.
> lawmakers passed the act after receiving reports of Ford Explorers rolling
> over, sometimes fatally, when the treads on their underinflated
> Bridgestone/Firestone tires separated. NHTSA was to determine what
> constitutes monitoring by the end of November 2001.
>
> The ruling lets automakers choose between systems that monitor tire
pressure
> directly with sensors such as MEMS made by SensoNor, Motorola Inc. and TRW
> NovaSensor and used by suppliers such as Cycloid Co. and SmarTire Systems
> Inc. Or they can select a system that infers deflation by measuring and
> comparing wheel speed rotation. The latter can be incorporated into
antilock
> braking systems, which is considered less expensive but also less precise.
>
> The option will be in effect from Nov. 1, 2003 to Oct. 31, 2006. The
> transportation department said it will issue a second ruling by March 1,
> 2005, spelling out performance requirements for the rest of 2006 and
later.
> In the meantime, it will collect studies on the various systems to help it
> determine those requirements, according to its filing.
>