Professional_Tool_And_Equipment_News_April_2021 - 40

Purchasing a TPMS Tool with Legs

S

o, you are looking to buy a new
Tire Pressure Monitoring System
(TPMS) tool for your shop. You
want one that can activate and read
every TPMS sensor out there. One that
displays the Relearn procedures for
each specific vehicle and can perform
OBDII relearns for the mostly Asian
vehicles requiring it. You want one that
offers a sensor programming solution
so you can easily replace damaged
or failed sensors once detected. And
you want a tool that can diagnose the
module itself and its associated antennas and wiring.
OK, TPMS is covered, but those
pressure sensors don't just come through
the bay doors on their own; there are
tires attached. Why not get a tool address
the condition of the tires head on? That
tool is the MaxiTPMS ITS600. In
fact, what truly separates this tool from
Autel's preceding TPMS tablets, besides
its Android operating system upgrade
and a lighter and slimmer design, is the
tool's inclusion of much needed industry
solutions to overall tire safety.
The ITS600 Tire Identification
Number (TIN) scan and forthcoming
DOT registration feature produces a
real-time safety check for the customer's current vehicle tires and a method to
ensure your shop is in compliance with
government regulations when selling
new tires. The TIN is the string of six
to 13 numbers or letters marked on the
tire sidewall following the letters DOT
(Department of Transportation) identifying among other things, the week and
year the tire was manufactured.
The date, of course, is vitally important as tire makers recommend that a
tire six years or older be replaced-and a
quick scan and the subsequent display of
the tire's last four digits quickly identifies the age of that tire and advises the

technician he should recommend a tire
placement to the customer.
TIN registration is another matter
and one who's responsibility has shifted
over the years between seller
and consumer. But in
2016, the FAST Act made
it mandatory that the tire
seller register just-purchased tires on behalf
of the customers. The
goal, of course, is to alert
customers of a tire recall
and to get those tires off
the road. Eighty-five
percent of recalled tires
are believed to be still
out there. The ITS600
brings the capturing and
registering of the TIN
into the modern age,
eliminating the hassle
of mailing in postcards
and reducing the possible
transcribing errors (40 percent of registrations are invalid because
the TIN was incorrectly written). The
ITS600 makes compliance easy: Input
the customers contact information, scan
the tire and tap submit.
Still, the ITS600 offers more.
Purchase either the TBE100 or TBE200
Tire Brake Examiners for laser-enabled

measurement of tread and depth and
brake disc wear analysis. Pair either of
these tools with the ITS600 to generate
detailed customer reports advising of
depth and disc wear. Here again, Autel
takes thread depth and
wear measurement into
the modern age. (Surely,
it's time to move on from
the Penny test.) The Tire
Brake Examiners enlists
a laser to scan the surface
of the tire and generate a
real-time image of the
tread depth and overall
tire wear. The tools display color-coded values
or tire images (TBE100
and TBE200, respectively) alerting the tech to
needed tire replacement.
In a similar manner, the
TBE100/TBE200 produce detailed analysis of
disc wear. With both tests, the
technician need not remove the wheel.
Regardless of the industry, the best
tool investment should offer opportunities. Make sure the next TPMS tool
you buy enables your shop to measure its
success with improved efficiency, greater
customer satisfaction and a flourishing
bottom line. n

maxitpms.com
Circle 58 on card, or enter at " e-inquiry " on VehicleServicePros.com

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40

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APRIL 2021

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