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> This 19 wooden tire thumper lets you know if your tires are fully pressurized by making a thump as it hits the rubber. Just swing the thumper and listen for t

> This 19 wooden tire thumper lets you know if your tires are fully pressurized by making a thump as it hits the rubber. Just swing the thumper and listen for the sound. If your tires are low in pressure it makes a different sound. Save time checking tire pressure on your rig with this wooden tire thumper. Is this some kind of nonsense to avoid marketing it as a weapon, or do people really use these to check tyre pressures instead of… looking at or kicking the tyre? Or even a tyre pressure gauge?

mikestew 5y ago
Yes, if one views the package marketing at your local truck stop (and probably not at your family-friendly Pilot) it is quite obvious that it is a versatile tool, and you might even use it on occasion to check tires. But, yes, it is manufactured and market to thump one thing: someone’s skull.
- awb 5y ago
  Wikipedia says that the murdered woman’s husband bought it for her for self-defense rather than to check tire pressure.
- darksaints 5y ago
  Tire thumpers are an actual thing that truck drivers use to check tire pressure. Unlike cars, you can't just visually inspect tire pressure on empty trucks, because dual-mounted tires with one tire completely deflated will still "look" normal. Checking with a small bat is something so routine, I would wager on you never finding a truck anywhere that doesn't have one readily accessible in the cab, and that tire thumpers are used to thump tires over thumping humans 10000000:1. Source: I paid for college as a class A truck driver, and I used one to check every single dual-mounted tire every single day.
riffic 5y ago
it's absolutely a weapon.
- darksaints 5y ago
  Anything can be a weapon if you use it as one. That doesn't mean they are meant to be weapons.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
ozzmotik 5y ago
https://lancasteronline.com/opinion/columnists/tire-thumper-tool-or-weapon/article_9cb5c0b0-bf1f-11e3-b8f9-001a4bcf6878.html https://lancasteronline.com/opinion/columnists/tire-thumper-... >Drivers of big rigs, with a gazillion tires, don’t want to take the time to apply a pressure gauge to each one... so according to this, the intended market for a tire thumper is evidently drivers of 18 wheelers, as it would take an inordinate amount of time to check the tire pressure of every single tire with a pressure gauge. that being said, it very clearly can be used for other, more nefarious purposes, and I would be inclined to assume that a large percentage of individuals purchasing one intend to use it for said other purposes. it's conceptually similar to how gas stations, etc, ostensibly sell "glass roses" as a gift a and a certain type of tire pressure gauge as a tool, when in reality, the majority of purchases for them are to be used as paraphernalia for consuming illicit substances (methamphetamine/any substance to be vaporized via indirect heat and freebase cocaine/"crack", respectively.) it's telling in the latter case that you can usually find chore boy or some other similar scouring pad generally sold near the gauge (which is used as a screen for capturing the melted substance,) especially in places where no such cleaning products are sold elsewhere.
jws 5y ago
Thumping is a quick and dirty check for a grossly under pressure tire. This video shows the sound difference… https://youtu.be/6yboxSUt26s https://youtu.be/6yboxSUt26s You can use a hammer, a bat, a pry bar, anything with some mass and some reach so you can easily hit the inner tire of the dual pair. (All of which are perfectly serviceable weapons in their own right.) And sure, in an ideal world maybe people would use gauges, or have internal monitors, or some fancy solution, but time is money and money is money, so a quick thumping suffices and don’t follow the trucks so closely that you get hit by the fragments went their retreaded tires come apart.

mikestew 5y ago

Yes, if one views the package marketing at your local truck stop (and probably not at your family-friendly Pilot) it is quite obvious that it is a versatile tool, and you might even use it on occasion to check tires. But, yes, it is manufactured and market to thump one thing: someone’s skull.

awb 5y ago
Wikipedia says that the murdered woman’s husband bought it for her for self-defense rather than to check tire pressure.
darksaints 5y ago
Tire thumpers are an actual thing that truck drivers use to check tire pressure. Unlike cars, you can't just visually inspect tire pressure on empty trucks, because dual-mounted tires with one tire completely deflated will still "look" normal. Checking with a small bat is something so routine, I would wager on you never finding a truck anywhere that doesn't have one readily accessible in the cab, and that tire thumpers are used to thump tires over thumping humans 10000000:1. Source: I paid for college as a class A truck driver, and I used one to check every single dual-mounted tire every single day.

riffic 5y ago

it's absolutely a weapon.

darksaints 5y ago
Anything can be a weapon if you use it as one. That doesn't mean they are meant to be weapons.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

ozzmotik 5y ago

https://lancasteronline.com/opinion/columnists/tire-thumper-tool-or-weapon/article_9cb5c0b0-bf1f-11e3-b8f9-001a4bcf6878.html https://lancasteronline.com/opinion/columnists/tire-thumper-... >Drivers of big rigs, with a gazillion tires, don’t want to take the time to apply a pressure gauge to each one... so according to this, the intended market for a tire thumper is evidently drivers of 18 wheelers, as it would take an inordinate amount of time to check the tire pressure of every single tire with a pressure gauge. that being said, it very clearly can be used for other, more nefarious purposes, and I would be inclined to assume that a large percentage of individuals purchasing one intend to use it for said other purposes. it's conceptually similar to how gas stations, etc, ostensibly sell "glass roses" as a gift a and a certain type of tire pressure gauge as a tool, when in reality, the majority of purchases for them are to be used as paraphernalia for consuming illicit substances (methamphetamine/any substance to be vaporized via indirect heat and freebase cocaine/"crack", respectively.) it's telling in the latter case that you can usually find chore boy or some other similar scouring pad generally sold near the gauge (which is used as a screen for capturing the melted substance,) especially in places where no such cleaning products are sold elsewhere.

jws 5y ago

Thumping is a quick and dirty check for a grossly under pressure tire. This video shows the sound difference… https://youtu.be/6yboxSUt26s https://youtu.be/6yboxSUt26s You can use a hammer, a bat, a pry bar, anything with some mass and some reach so you can easily hit the inner tire of the dual pair. (All of which are perfectly serviceable weapons in their own right.) And sure, in an ideal world maybe people would use gauges, or have internal monitors, or some fancy solution, but time is money and money is money, so a quick thumping suffices and don’t follow the trucks so closely that you get hit by the fragments went their retreaded tires come apart.