Posted in Beginning RVing, but a reminder to the veterans as well.A cheap gauge and a tire shop just cost me $500 in trailer tires.I had new tires put on our fifth wheel before a trip. Tire guy says he set them to 50psi (where they should be). 250 miles into the trip we stop for lunch and I bought a cheap gauge to check them because they didn't feel right on the road. New gauge (I forgot my good one at home) says 53psi after being on the road. I shrug it off and we continue on our way. Still doesn't feel right. Another 250 miles to our destination. Now the new tires are starting to wear around the edges (after 500 miles), so I check them again before we leave: 45psi. I add 5psi to each tire and drive 500 miles home.When we get home the tires with 1000 miles on them are completely bald on the edges - all 4 of them. I get my good gauge out and check them. 25 psi!!! Perfect tread in the middle and damn near showing cords on the edges. Toasted after one trip. I am damn lucky I didn't have blowouts on the highway in the middle of nowhere Nevada. Lessons learned: don't trust the tire guy. Don't trust a truck stop tire gauge.

A close call for sure. I'm surprised the tires didn't look flat.

2oldman wrote:A close call for sure. I'm surprised the tires didn't look flat.Me too. Even on doubling their pressure to 50psi there was very little visual change.

JoshInReno wrote:Posted in Beginning RVing, but a reminder to the veterans as well.A cheap gauge and a tire shop just cost me $500 in trailer tires.I had new tires put on our fifth wheel before a trip. Tire guy says he set them to 50psi (where they should be). 250 miles into the trip we stop for lunch and I bought a cheap gauge to check them because they didn't feel right on the road. New gauge (I forgot my good one at home) says 53psi after being on the road. I shrug it off and we continue on our way. Still doesn't feel right. Another 250 miles to our destination. Now the new tires are starting to wear around the edges (after 500 miles), so I check them again before we leave: 45psi. I add 5psi to each tire and drive 500 miles home.When we get home the tires with 1000 miles on them are completely bald on the edges - all 4 of them. I get my good gauge out and check them. 25 psi!!! Perfect tread in the middle and damn near showing cords on the edges. Toasted after one trip. I am damn lucky I didn't have blowouts on the highway in the middle of nowhere Nevada. Lessons learned: don't trust the tire guy. Don't trust a truck stop tire gauge.I stop people on the road all the time that be ridin round with a flat one. Peoples don't realize how dangerous it be riding around like that on a folder tire. Be careful out there specially lugging all that there weight!

I am surprised that your TPMS didn't warn you of low pressure.:S

Yep! When we left the dealer with ours, I specifically asked if the tires were aired up appropriately and the answer was"yes". Well, when home, only 8 miles, I thought they looked low. 40 or less in every tire. Glad we didn't have to go a long way.

A reminder to check your tire pressures | Good Sam Community

kvangil
Explorer
Jun 25, 2014
Not to defend cheap gauges, but I've used them off and on for 20+ years on cars and RV's, and have never had one that was off by 25PSI as per your description. I'm wondering if there was not an air leak from improper installation of the tires on the rims....
mamasboy
Explorer
Jun 25, 2014
powderman426 wrote:
NYCgrrl wrote:
Ugh....that would peeve me no end!

Uhm could someone tell me what to look for in a good tire gauge? The last time I needed to check tire pressure had to use a gas station's apparatus and swore it was wrong...turned out well for me in the end but a good gauge is worth sticking in an car/RV's tool kit.

Milton has been making gauges for years and is used by many truck drivers. Not only is it a good guage, but at about a foot long it comes in handy if you need to get someone's attention.

I recommend not to buy the cheap ones. There are a lot of accurate tire gauges out there on amazon. Read the reviews, read their product description to what differs them from the others. Digital tire gauges from:

Mountain Crest Premium Tire Gauge
accuracy is topnotch
they focus more on digital tire gauges
5 years protection guarantee
90 days money-back guarantee

Accutire
accuracy is excellent
most widely used
affordable and have rugged design for a nice grip

Michelin
from a trustworthy company
widely used as well
accuracy is no doubt excellent

Milton, I dunno. Most of their tire gauges are dial and they only have 1 type of digital gauge, and I think most drivers prefer digital nowadays.
JoshInReno
Explorer
Mar 31, 2014
powderman426 wrote:
I am surprised that your TPMS didn't warn you of low pressure.:S

No TPMS on trailer.
powderman426
Explorer
Mar 29, 2014
NYCgrrl wrote:
Ugh....that would peeve me no end!

Uhm could someone tell me what to look for in a good tire gauge? The last time I needed to check tire pressure had to use a gas station's apparatus and swore it was wrong...turned out well for me in the end but a good gauge is worth sticking in an car/RV's tool kit.

Milton has been making gauges for years and is used by many truck drivers. Not only is it a good guage, but at about a foot long it comes in handy if you need to get someone's attention.
NYCgrrl
Explorer
Mar 29, 2014
Ugh....that would peeve me no end!

Uhm could someone tell me what to look for in a good tire gauge? The last time I needed to check tire pressure had to use a gas station's apparatus and swore it was wrong...turned out well for me in the end but a good gauge is worth sticking in an car/RV's tool kit.
4Powells
Explorer
Mar 29, 2014
Yep! When we left the dealer with ours, I specifically asked if the tires were aired up appropriately and the answer was"yes". Well, when home, only 8 miles, I thought they looked low. 40 or less in every tire. Glad we didn't have to go a long way.
powderman426
Explorer
Mar 27, 2014
I am surprised that your TPMS didn't warn you of low pressure.:S
Imouttahere
Explorer
Mar 27, 2014
JoshInReno wrote:
Posted in Beginning RVing, but a reminder to the veterans as well.

A cheap gauge and a tire shop just cost me $500 in trailer tires.

I had new tires put on our fifth wheel before a trip. Tire guy says he set them to 50psi (where they should be). 250 miles into the trip we stop for lunch and I bought a cheap gauge to check them because they didn't feel right on the road. New gauge (I forgot my good one at home) says 53psi after being on the road. I shrug it off and we continue on our way. Still doesn't feel right. Another 250 miles to our destination. Now the new tires are starting to wear around the edges (after 500 miles), so I check them again before we leave: 45psi. I add 5psi to each tire and drive 500 miles home.

When we get home the tires with 1000 miles on them are completely bald on the edges - all 4 of them. I get my good gauge out and check them. 25 psi!!! Perfect tread in the middle and damn near showing cords on the edges. Toasted after one trip. I am damn lucky I didn't have blowouts on the highway in the middle of nowhere Nevada.

Lessons learned: don't trust the tire guy. Don't trust a truck stop tire gauge.

I stop people on the road all the time that be ridin round with a flat one. Peoples don't realize how dangerous it be riding around like that on a folder tire. Be careful out there specially lugging all that there weight!
JoshInReno
Explorer
Mar 27, 2014
2oldman wrote:
A close call for sure. I'm surprised the tires didn't look flat.

Me too. Even on doubling their pressure to 50psi there was very little visual change.
2oldman
Explorer II
Mar 27, 2014
A close call for sure. I'm surprised the tires didn't look flat.

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