China Bombs Got Me
I have read many posts about the poor quality of tires RV manufacturers are putting on new RV's. Well these tires (the infamous Tow Max Power King) blew on my 5er causing damage. I always check for p...
Forum Discussion
JJBIRISH wrote:
The NEED for TPMS is due to lack of operator responsibility as it relates to safety issues…
The ruling requiring them is to replace that lack of operator responsibility…
There are no RV specific studies that have been done, but you can expect the results would be worse, as when they are unused, unseen, they are largely forgotten, and long periods of time and just sitting can add to the under inflation problem…
That said TPMS are a good tool in the arsenal available to us and they do what the operator can’t while in motion… that is a good thing for sure…
They still address only the air pressure, and only when in use…
RV’s and especially trailer tires require more attention not less and not attention to air pressure only…
Nothing scientific here, but my own observations and in talking to TPMS users, and reading different forums about them confirm that they promote less and fewer normal and visual inspections of our RV tires…
It is my opinion that no matter what type you use or how well they work, this is over reliance on them and is counterproductive…
Alarming a loss of air from a tire that has cracks in between the treads is help to late… cracked rubber valve stems are damaged from the outside and often visible and repairable before leaking begins… bulging sidewalls can often be seen and repaired before the tire blows out taking the underside of the trailer with it…
I am not being critical of the TPMS or its value…
I am being critical of the belief and often expressed idea that these things are the answer to our tire problems and overstating their value…
I have pulled trailers with and without a TPMS and I can tell you I will never go without again. I agree that you should inspect your tires reularly, but doing that would not have helped when I picked up the 3" long bolt in my tire. Thankfully I had a monitor and was able to fix the problem BEFORE several thousnad dollars in damage had occurred. You can check and inspect your tires all you want and it wont help you one iota when you pickup something from the roadway.
