Maintain Your Fleet with These AutoMeter Garage Essentials

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It wasn’t too long ago that two-car households were a big deal. Today, having several daily drivers, a project vehicle or race car, an ATV/UTV or a bike, and lots of lawn equipment doesn’t even raise an eyebrow.

Whether you’re the commander of an internal combustion-powered fleet or just a couple of vehicles, three essential tools you should have in your shop are a battery charger/maintainer, good tire pressure gauges, and a jumpstart pack. AutoMeter makes very good versions of each that are worth a look.

BEX Series Battery Extenders
Batteries create electricity by using lead plates submerged in a sulfuric acid bath. A chemical reaction between the two produces electricity and lead sulfate. If a stored battery isn’t properly kept at full charge, the lead sulfate starts to crystallize and coat the lead plates. This sulfation process eventually reduces battery life or causes it to fail—and you’re stuck with a vehicle or piece of equipment that won’t start when you need it to.

A battery charger/maintainer like an AutoMeter BEX Battery Extender will keep your batteries fully charged and ready to go. They have advanced circuitry that provides fully automatic charging for lead-acid batteries, including AGM and gel types. A BEX Battery Extender will fully disulfate the battery, charge it at a one-amp rate until fully charged, then decrease power to 250 milliamps to maintain the battery at full charge. Just connect the leads to the battery and go—you don’t even need to remove the battery from the vehicle.

Other features include:
• Indicator lights—amber for desulfation, red for charging, and green for maintaining charge
• Reverse polarity protection
• Rugged, waterproof composite shell
• Three versions—5 amp for 6-8-12-16-volt batteries, 3 and 1.5 amp for 12-volt batteries only

Tire Pressure Gauges
Tire pressure is critical. If you don’t check and adjust it as needed, you won’t get the traction, ride quality, or tire life you expect. Tires lose one to two PSI for every 10° F decrease in temperature—and that’s on top of the one to two PSI they normally lose due to leakage around the rim or valve stem. Underinflated tires mean less reaction time for braking and less control in a skid on wet or snowy roads. If your vehicle has a tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS), a loss of five PSI usually trips the warning light. 

That’s why you need a quality tire pressure gauge like the ones AutoMeter makes. Better yet, get a couple—one for the garage and one to have with you on trips, racing, or off-roading.

AutoMeter analog tire pressure gauges feature a durable mechanical pressure release valve that retains the last measurement until pressed, plus a large 2.25 inch dial with rubber shock boot to prevent erratic readings. The 13.75 inch stainless braided line and angled chuck makes the gauges easy to use and view. They’re available in 0-40, 0-50, 0-60, 0-100, and 0-150 PSI pressure ratings.

AutoMeter’s digital tire pressure gauge uses solid state electronics with signal conditioning circuitry that compensates for temperature and calibration. That means you get very precise, reliable readings. Features include:
• Range: 0-50 PSI, 0-3.45 BAR, or 0-0.345 MPa
• Response time is less than one millisecond
• Button operated peak hold and zero calibration functions
• Remote mechanical pressure release valve
• Backlit LCD display
• 2.25 inch dial, 24 inch long stainless steel braided hose with swivel chuck

E-POWER 800 Power Pack
A jumpstart pack can be a lifesaver if you’re on the side of the road with a dead battery and no one is around to help. AutoMeter’s E-POWER 800 has a lithium-ion power pack with 400 cold cranking amps and 800 peak amps of power—enough to jumpstart a battery up to 20 times on a single charge.

The E-POWER 800 also has three quick-charging USB ports that can power a smartphone, tablet, laptop, digital camera, or other USB-enabled device. That’s a big deal when the power goes out in your house or if you’re camping or four-wheeling. The E-POWER 800 even has an LED flashlight with torch, SOS, and strobe modes so you can work in the dark or signal for help on the road or in the outback. Other features include:

• Compact and lightweight for easy portability
• Jumper cables protect the battery from reverse polarity, short circuit, reverse charging, low voltage, and overheating
• Includes Type-C USB cable and carrying bag