http://images5.fotki.com/v70/photos/4/43793/304279/LaserThermo-vi.jpg

Picked this up at Sears today ... $49.95 ... includes a built-in laser that shows you where you are reading ... very fast ... good up to something like 500 F ... does C also.

Already discovered that my rear brake rotor is hotter then my front ones? That after a "normal" drive the top of the downpipe shield is over 270 ... that the base of a lava lamp can be over 150+ degrees, that the inside of my front tires are running hotter then the outside ... that the middle is coolest ... just driving down the fwy with moderate neg camber and 36 psi cold in my Azenis .... :D

Just FYI, infrared thermometers don't work very well on shiny surfaces ;)

That's pretty cool for $50. Even if it's not perfectly calibrated at least you can determine the temp variations across a tire, which is what's most important.

Cool. I wonder if that's more or less accurate than the thermocouple that came with my multimeter. Anyone know?

Originally posted by makofoto
... that the inside of my front tires are running hotter then the outside ... that the middle is coolest ... just driving down the fwy with moderate neg camber and 36 psi cold in my Azenis .... :D

Time to change your alignment or run more pressure.

That's a pretty neat little toy for $50. I might have to go pick one up. Did they have any that read higher than 500*?

A nfrared thermometer won't work for a pyrometer, you need one with a probe you can stick into the tires surface. Thats the accurate way to get temps.

I dont' think Sears has one that reads higher the 500? F ...

It's better then nothing SG ... ;) and for the price it's pretty neat ...

if you are just trying to compare tire/caliper/rotor temps with the other 3 corners, i wouldnt think that accuracy matters. does it give the same reading time after time on the same surface, or does it tend to vary?

I think accuracy is rated at plus/minu 2.5? F

reading seems consistent ... you just have to remember that the size of the reading area of course grows with distance ... there is a scale on the meter

In some books I have rear that those are not suitable for use on tire temperatures. You need the kind of temp probe that you can press into the tire. since surface temps will rapdily drop/change when you stop.

of course ... but you can still monitor the relative difference across the tire surface ... it's not as accurate ... and probably more influence by the last corner ... but I rather have this device then nothing at all.

Scared the owner of the local Cinnebon store ... he thought I was from the health department when I checked the temp of my boys' after school snack. Now he wants one of his own ....

how much is one of those temp probes that you push into the tire? i'd think those would be less since its not some fancy infrared thingy

http://www.soloperformance.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=22&BrandID=17

$129 ... SEARS is going to make many thousands of the remote thermometer ... while the market for the probe types is much more limited ...

here is one for about $100
http://www.pitstopusa.com/detail.aspx?ID=6636

and another
http://www.bakerprecision.com/longacr12.htm