Opinions wanted on tire monitors

If you use the back of your hand to sense the temp on all tires you will know if one is hotter than the others on that side. The sunny side is usually warmer so you compare the tires and hubs that are on the same side. You can do this check as you get out of the cab and walk back to the rear of the unit then back up to the passenger side. Touch each tire and hub briefly, and note if one is not "normal". It is also a good time to check doors, windows, tie downs, etc.

Like I said TMS are fine to let you know if you have a slow leak, but they are no good with increases in pressure or heat. You may have an increase in pressure or temp due to altitude change or just because the tire is on the sunny side of the vehicle or you could have a bad tire, the only way to know is to stop and check. You still stop and check it out and if it is a bad tire you change it. BTW I have never had a slow leak in a trailer tire. Truck tires yes but not the trailer.

With TMS I get to many false warning, especially driving in the desert and mountains. TMS is like the kid calling wolf. You begin to ignore it and have to fall back on the more reliable self inspection.

I do not drive 400 miles between stops. We stop to eat, pee, walk the dog, take pictures, etc. etc. every 1-2 hours but maybe that is just me. If I go 400 miles all day that is a day I am pushing to get home.

Anyway, I do not claim I have never had a blowout but I will say the TMS I have has never prevented a blowout nor alerted me to a overheated hub. Checking at each stop has allowed me to change tires before a blowout and get an axle serviced before it burned out the bearings.

Some people use one thing and others use another. If you are happy with your TMS and rely on it for all your info then have fun. I carry two spare tires and a set of bearings, grease, and an appropriate size socket :)

NMDriver wrote:
TMS are fine to let you know if you have a leak, but I find them just about useless for a blowout or bearing overheating. I still check the temp of my tires and hubs at every stop.

By the time TMS registers a tire pressure is up due to heat the tire is wasted and needs to be changed anyway. I have pulled over due to the tire pressure being high and found chunks of my tread missing. So maybe it saved the actual blowout but it did not keep me from rolling around in the sand and cockle burrs at 110 degree to change a tire.

I check my tires each morning before I roll and, as stated, feel for temp changes on hubs and tires at each stop.

A TPMS that measures temp and pressure will let you know if your tire is heating up. Nothing prevents you from still manually checking your hubs and tires at the gas station... this system allow you to check on the 400 miles driven between gas stations. Your pressure could be perfect in the gas station... then you pick up a nail in your tire on the way out. Your lose a pound of pressure per mile... I'd rather know 10 miles out that I lost 10 lbs of pressure as opposed to suddenly have a blow out in the worst possible location.

NMDriver wrote:

I check my tires each morning before I roll and, as stated, feel for temp changes on hubs and tires at each stop.

Good point but how can you "feel for tire temp' while rolling, isn't when overtemp conditions occurs during the driving time and how can you tell what is an acceptable temp by hand? I'm not discrediting you I'm trying to understand. As everyone who posted I RESPECT all replies.

TMS are fine to let you know if you have a leak, but I find them just about useless for a blowout or bearing overheating. I still check the temp of my tires and hubs at every stop.

By the time TMS registers a tire pressure is up due to heat the tire is wasted and needs to be changed anyway. I have pulled over due to the tire pressure being high and found chunks of my tread missing. So maybe it saved the actual blowout but it did not keep me from rolling around in the sand and cockle burrs at 110 degree to change a tire.

I check my tires each morning before I roll and, as stated, feel for temp changes on hubs and tires at each stop.

I be ordering this spring when I pick up my TT.

Have the TST on the Phaeton with a TST repeater mounted in the bedrooom closet and our old PressurePro System on or B+ and eventually our 2011 Miata, I am setting up to tow. I have had to replace 4 of 10 sensors in the PressurePro System, but they are 8 years old. Bought the TST system due to being able to cange the batteries and temperature also given by the sensor.

Nunyadamn wrote:
Not to hijack your thread, but I had TST and didn't like them for my trailer. They would work for a little while, then loose contact with my trailer. I have a Silverado and my trailer was 21ft long. I would pull up to the trailer and every single time, one or more tires would not register. I would have to go reset that/those tires. I would be driving down the road and get a notification that I was low or hot on a tire. Get out, check with IR gun and check pressure, no problems. It sent them back. I felt I had more issues with the TST system than I had with the tires. I know others have had no issues, but my personal issues made me not want them anymore. If I were going to go do it again, I would get the monitors that go into the rim on the backside of the stem. I hear those have better antenna's and will monitor better.

I had that problem with my TST when I went from a 25 to 35ft trailer. Solved the problem by mounting the monitor higher on the dash and never had another problem. TST systems are generally trouble free.

I don't see the value in those types of monitors so I would not waste my money on them. I have a TST TPMS system like others here and would not leave home without it. The valve stem monitors you posted the link to will not alert you to a problem making them useless IMO.

Most people do not have a signal problem with TST even on trailers 35' and longer. The ones who do typically add a TST booster antenna and it solves any loss of signal problem.

Mine works fine on my 35' 5er.

Not to hijack your thread, but I had TST and didn't like them for my trailer. They would work for a little while, then loose contact with my trailer. I have a Silverado and my trailer was 21ft long. I would pull up to the trailer and every single time, one or more tires would not register. I would have to go reset that/those tires. I would be driving down the road and get a notification that I was low or hot on a tire. Get out, check with IR gun and check pressure, no problems. It sent them back. I felt I had more issues with the TST system than I had with the tires. I know others have had no issues, but my personal issues made me not want them anymore. If I were going to go do it again, I would get the monitors that go into the rim on the backside of the stem. I hear those have better antenna's and will monitor better.