Patent ID: 8392048

Claim:
An improved vehicle wheel alignment measurement system having a processing system configured with at least one vehicle wheel alignment measurement software application, and at least one sensor operatively coupled to the processing system for acquiring data utilized to determine at least one vehicle measurement, the improvement comprising: an external tire pressure measurement gauge operatively coupled to the processing system, said tire pressure measurement gauge configured to directly measure inflation pressure within a wheel assembly of a vehicle via a temporary connection to a valve stem of the wheel assembly; a tire pressure monitoring system interface in the vehicle wheel alignment measurement system operatively coupled to the processing system, said tire pressure monitoring system interface configured to receive at least one tire pressure measurement from at least one tire pressure monitoring system sensor disposed within said wheel assembly of a vehicle; wherein said tire pressure monitoring system interface is configured to communicate said received at least one tire pressure measurement to the processing system; wherein the processing system is further configured to compare said direct measure of said tire inflation pressure with said communicated tire pressure measurement received from said tire pressure monitoring system interface to identify a difference there between; and wherein said tire pressure monitoring system interface is configured to identify a defective tire pressure monitoring system sensor disposed in a wheel assembly of a vehicle in response to an identification of said difference exceeding a selected threshold.