Tire pressure sabotage

[Christ]

Unpaid labor, I can agree with that... I don't mind helping, but I won't do "it all".

I rather like the idea of adding cards or notes, rather than randomly checking someone's tires and filling them.

Also, what about the high school carwashes and such that go on all summer long?

Maybe someone could sit there on a day off and help to educate? Maybe bring along a few tanks full of air or something, and pump up tires, while helping to teach people why it's important?

People who just got their car washed for charity by girls in bikinis might be more receptive to someone letting them know how a soft tire is potentially wearing on their pockets AND their car.

[brucepick]

Originally Posted by Christ

... People who just got their car washed for charity by girls in bikinis might be more receptive to someone letting them know how a soft tire is potentially wearing on their pockets AND their car.

+1
Great idea!

Anybody here think they might be willing to hang around those bikini-clad young women and check tires on a Saturday morning?? The line forms to the left...

Actually, I think it's an excellent idea for a way to educate folks.

[Christ]

Originally Posted by brucepick

+1
Great idea!

Anybody here think they might be willing to hang around those bikini-clad young women and check tires on a Saturday morning?? The line forms to the left...

Actually, I think it's an excellent idea for a way to educate folks.

Some of the girls I've seen around here, it'd be my luck that one of them forgot to "tuck" LOL

Na, I'd be willing to do it, but I somehow don't get the idea that my wife would understand that I'm there to "educate" rather than "salivate". Then again, she might just don a 'kini her self. Not that I'd mind.

Seriously though, there are several events that behavior like this might be welcomed, like trade shows, auto shows, racing events, etc.

[instarx]

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

I spent many years in NC and know that people throw beer cans at you just for riding your bike on the same road as their truck

True, but now that cans are aluminum and not steel, it isn't nearly as painful. I have people yell at me to get on the sidewalk every so often - I guess that's where they think bicycles belong. They also like to sneak up on you and bang the side of the car right when they get even with you. It's getting a lot better though - I haven't had any door-bangers or can-throwers in years. I've also had a spill and had five cars stop to see if I was OK, so it's not all bad down here.

Originally Posted by Christ

Also, what about the high school carwashes and such that go on all summer long?

Good idea. Kids today are very environmentally minded. I bet they would be happy to check tire pressures. They just haven't thought of it.

Back to checking pressures in parking lots: I wonder if it is possible to check pressures without using the valve stem. Some sort of resistance gauge pressed against the sidewall? It might not be able to give a psi reading because of differences in tire construction, but would be able to tell if one tire is lower than the others. The card could say:

Your right front tire has low air pressure. Running even one tire low will cost the average driver $200 per year in extra fuel costs.

[instarx]

Hmmm. I'm thinking it might even be possible to write a proposal and get a grant from the DOE, DOT or EPA to set up a free parking lot tire check service. If you could show that it would result in measurable decreases in fuel use or air pollution I could see that being a very fundable project. It would be pretty easy to calculate how many pounds of pollutants would be saved by checking 10,000 cars a month. The data is already available, you'd just have to do some math.

Heck, it might even turn into one of those new green companies.

[bennelson]

I kinda like the bikini car wash idea.

If anyone is especially extraverted, volunteer at your next local fundraising car wash to fill people's tires.

Even if you didn't have an electric outlet right in the parking lot, there are plenty of portable air compressors that run from 12V or an internal battery.

At my local Hybrid Car Group Meetings, they do free air checks, and post the old and new tire pressures on a car put under the windshield wiper.

[Christ]

BenNelson - I find those carwashes are almost always near a gas station, which is almost always near an air pump... I know from personal experience that $0.75 can get you at least 3 20gallon tanks full of air (up to 80-100 PSI) which will fill a large number of "soft" tires.

All day, you might spend *maybe* $5.00, if you have A LOT of customers. And it's a charitable deduction. Plus, you'll probably get "tips" while you're there, since people tend to reward information with cash, so I've found. <(--- new motivation

Oh, and umm...

<(---- Door Banger... in a past life :P