TPMS. Necessary or just peace of mind?

jeffcarp wrote:
To me, it isn't so much a question of how likely is a blow out to happen. For me, the question is the potential for catastrophic results if it does. I am not referring to the damage to our RV. That is why I have insurance. I can replace it. I am referring to the life of me and my family.

As I understand it, prior to a full blow out, a tire will almost certainly loose air. If a TPMS has the ability to warn me of a sudden loss of pressure during that short time before the actual blow out then hopefully I can brake somewhat, firmly handle the steering wheel at the least but hopefully bring the coach to an organized stop or slower speed before the blow out inevitably happens then it is worth every penny I spent.

Without TPMS your first sign of a blow out is a blow out. I see enough rubber laying around the freeways to know that I'd never consider driving an RV without one.

my thoughts exactly. I've had two nail punctures in trailers w/o TPMS, and luckily caught the low tire at a rest stop and avoided a blowout. PURE LUCK. Since then a TPMS. no punctures yet, but I firmly believe than many of the "blowouts" on TT tires are a result of a slow leak that isn't caught and then overheating and a blowout.

In fact, on another board a member had a "blowout" of a sidewall after my comments on nails, he found a big nail in the center of the tread...... more than likely a TPMS would have caught the problem. Will it eliminate ALL blowouts, probably not, some are catastrophic failures. But past experience says it's virtually impossible to feel a tire going down in pressure on a tandem axle trailer, so you get no advanced warning.