Cat's Eye or Crossfire?

[JimT]

Title says it all. What have you used? Which do you prefer? Pro's, Con's? Price point is nearly identical when buying 4 so that's a non-issue. I know Rawze and a few others have used the Crossfire and the other threads on here and Rawze's Amazon review seem to suggest that they have a 1-2 year service life. Can't find many reviews about the Cat's Eye so it's hard to get a good picture. I'm leaning toward giving them a try. Thoughts?


EDIT:
Small correction, price is actually about $20-$25 more each for the Cat's Eye. Somehow i was comparing Stainless Steel hose crossfire with Rubber hose cat's eye.

[Rawze]

they are both problematic.. however I will not run my truck without them, the benefits outweigh the crappy quality of them... keep a spare handy is all I will say.

related post: http://rawze.com/forums/showthread.php?t...8#pid33488

[JimT]

Yeah, also read through this older thread:

http://rawze.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=544

[Waterloo]

I like the Crossfire, I have had the company actually replace one for free, and Fleet Pride stocks them, as do a few Petros. I haven't seen the Cat's Eye units since the 90's, I did not know they were still around. Other than that one replacement, I have not had any issues with mine in what, ten years? Somewhere around there, only issues are with the tire monkeys that cannot thread them properly on the valve stems. I always wind up re-installing them myself after any tire work.

And one item I would suggest, no matter what you get, is a long handled 1/2" wrench, as long as you can find, as it makes it much easier installing them at the inner tire valve stem. I found this one on Amazon and carry it in the truck.

https://amzn.to/3qOOSb7

[JimT]

So I opted for the Cat's Eye, simply because I wanted to give them a try. Wasn't much in the way of reviews out there and the literal handful that I found were all positive (which doesn't actually tell me much - although real people are much more likely to post a review for a negative experience). Functionally and physically they appear nearly identical. Feature-wise the only thing that stands out as potentially superior is the larger visual area that shows if you're pressure is low. I'll give them a try (installing them today actually) and (assuming I remember) update with my experiences.

[JimT]

FYI, manufacturer's website for the Cat's Eye:

https://www.linkmfg.com/products/special...s/cats-eye

---------------

First impressions: unboxing.

They come in 2-packs with multiple brackets for installation to either the wheel lug nuts or to a hub bolt. All connections are sealed; some parts, like the body, with a red substance (could be red locktight, though seems too translucent) and the air lines are all sealed with what appears to be plumbers putty. Enough of it was used that it is transferred to other parts by touch. Even the sight glass had some smudged on it. No big deal though as it wipes right off.

Didn't get to the actual install today, got side tracked with other things. I did some planning and decided to mount the bracket to the lug nut as it sits slightly further inside the rim. Plus, regardless of where it's mounted it will need to be removed to change a tire, so I'd rather not have to mess with a hub bolt if I don't need to (or worse, let some tire company's employee handle that!). I thought about sandwiching the bracket between the existing nut and a second one, for either the lugnuts or hub, but neither option has enough thread space for a second nut and I don't have any on hand either.

Since I've never dealt with the lugnuts on my truck, does anyone know off hand the proper torque? Also, it appears the bracket will be sandwiched between the lug nut and the aluminum rim. Should I be concerned about damage to the rim or improper torque due to the additional bracket? Would it be safe to apply anti-seize to the surface between the bracket and rim and/or the bracket and lugnut? Rim is aluminum and bracket appears to be galvanized/zinc plated steel. Maybe a stupid question, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

The directions are fairly simple. One thing that stood out was that you can supposedly order individual replacement parts instead of buying the complete assembly. Item number are listed in the package. So if the main valve goes bad you can order that instead of the full assembly. No clue on prices or availability, but it's a nice option. Also, they clearly state the maximum torque for the mounting bolt (15 ft-lbs), which should please some people here.

I'll try to add some pictures later.

[Nilao]

475 is the lug nut torque...well 450-500. I always shoot for the middle.

My crossfire's came with SS brackets. I'm surprised cats eyes cheaped out with steel. I wouldn't worry about the anti-seize as it's flush mount and not interior and will most likely get washed away. My friends crossfire's we're mounted to the lug for years with no issues so I'd just torque like usual.

Oh and I mounted mine to the hub stud. Didn't want something else hanging way off balance for my centramatics to compensate for.

[JimT]

Installed everything last weekend no problem. Of course after i asked about torque I noticed that the aluminum rims had both the torque and maximum pressures stamped on them. Everything went on nice and easy, no initial leaks and 1 week out nothing has changed.

Brackets are electro-plated galvanized steel, I wouldn't call them cheap, probably more than sufficient for the application. As for the weight and balance, they are pretty light weight and even on the wheel studs they sit fairly close to the hub so I don't think balance will be noticeably affected.

Checking for proper inflation is easy with a quick glance. Even a 1 psi drop below the manufactured setting will cause the "eye" to visibly start to open. A 10 psi drop results in the eye being fully open. Interestingly I found my cheap-o tire inflation stick gauge was off by about 2-3 psi (resulting in slight under inflation) so I switched to a dial gauge that instead.

Will attach some pictures in a few minutes.

[Rawze]

(07-18-2021 )JimT Wrote:  ...
Checking for proper inflation is easy with a quick glance.
...

suggestion based on my own experience with them ...

I would suggest you paint/dust the windows yellow ... D.O.T. LOVES to look at them when you go across scales and pull you over for an inspection when they show black for any reason. .. paint them so you can still see what their reading thru the paint, but from a distance ... make em look yellow.