Tire Pressure Monitoring

fj12ryder wrote:
"Before buying a high tech, super deluxe system check the price of battery replacement, up to $50 per sensor!"

FWIW the TST system using common button batteries. My last ones were about 30 cents each.

Would definitely bump the TST system to the head of my list!

"Before buying a high tech, super deluxe system check the price of battery replacement, up to $50 per sensor!"

FWIW the TST system using common button batteries. My last ones were about 30 cents each.

I highly recommend a TPMS, it’s saved me before I had a blowout before. I have the EEZRV one and really like it. The TST and EEZRV are commonly recommended brands. I will not have a trailer without one. It’s nice to be able to just look at the monitor instead of manually checking each tire. I still do a visual check at every fuel stop. I also took the security covers off. It’s just like removing a valve stem cover to add air or to manually check at home when preparing for a trip.

I have low and high pressure thresholds set to alert for under or over pressure. I drive a lot in FL and the southeast where it’s hot. I start around 110 psi and they will get up to around 120 psi on a hot day. Also watch the temperature of the tire. A rising temp should warrant a check of the tire and could be a sign of a possible problem. Low pressure often causes the temperature go rise until the tire finally fails.

I bought the 4 sender Carchet system for my Toyota for the rear duals. I went with Carchet as they seem to be the only one that has much info online and replacement sensors can be purchased for.

It is a cheap setup and not NASA accurate for psi, you become accustomed to the inaccuracys. I have tested it numerous times and too low of pressure or a quick falling of pressure will set off the alarm without fail.

This is the third year I have had it, it has detected one quick release of pressure that I would not have noticed while driving. And now something is wrong with the display it is not showing one tire.

Before buying a high tech, super deluxe system check the price of battery replacement, up to $50 per sensor!

https://www.ebay.com/p/CARCHET-Car-TPMS-Tyre-Intelligent-Pressure-Monitoring-System-4-External-Sensors/2286669655?iid=182325896577&chn=ps

bob213 wrote:
I think any of the top 3 (TST, TireMinder, TireTracker,+ One I can't recall) will do what you want and all in the same price range. TST has great customer service.
I started with flo thru but have switch to regular monitors and removed the anti theft cover. New flow thrus are smaller, so may be better.

X2 any of those brands should work fine for you. I've had TST for about 7 or 8 years. Seems to work fine

Gulfcoast wrote:
Do you have to remove a sensor just to add a little air?

I could buy new 4 tires for the price of that rig.

I like checking my tires.

I removed the rotating security covers from our TST 507 sensors, so now it takes no more effort to remove one to air up a tire than it does to remove an ordinary valve cap. Removing the covers also left the sensors smaller and less noticeable, plus a bit lighter. I visually inspect our tires regularly, but pressures are easier to check from the driver's seat than squatting down with a tire gauge. Particularly the inside duals...

Do you have to remove a sensor just to add a little air?

I could buy new 4 tires for the price of that rig.

I like checking my tires.

After my second blow-out, I purchased a TPMS. The first blow-out was obvious, the trailer shook, giving me physical feedback the tire had gone.

The second one had no vibration. Someone pulled up alongside us, and pointed towards the trailer behind us... as we're traveling up I-95 at 65MPH. Sure enough, I could see bits of tire coming off. Still couldn't feel or hear anything.





I also got rid of the Marathon tires, and went with the highly recommended (thanks to this forum) Maxxis tires. Zero issues since.

Late last year, we bought the Class A motorhome. We also tow our Jeep with it. I was going to move the TPMS to the new setup, and simply buy more sensors. It was actually cheaper to buy an all new system, with 6 sensors, and use the original 4 sensors from the trailer, on the Jeep. I keep the original monitor as a hot spare. Now I can monitor all 10 tires at once.

Before we roll, I cycle through the tire readouts, and cruise down the road. The screen goes into a sleep mode, only showing the outline of the MH and Jeep, with a dot indicating which tires are being monitored. If a tire pressure changes, or the temperature increases, it will alert, and the display will immediately show which tire is having an issue, and exactly what reading is out of range. So the monitor is NOT distracting at all. It is doing its job in the background, only wanting attention when there's a problem.

I bought the TireMinder A1A Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) with 6 Transmitters. Here's the source: https://amzn.to/2BD2sWX

The main reason I'd like a TPMS has nothing to do with diagnostics while driving, but simply the ability to jump in and confirm the tire pressure is good without having to pull hub caps and lay on the ground with my hand-held tire pressure gauge. Anything else is gravy.

Sadly you can get a 4-tire system for about $50 but you go to 6 tires and you're looking at closer to $300. I'd probably pay $100 but that's tops for me.

TakingThe5th wrote:
When we came home and parked we discovered that we had a problem. Tires looked absolutely fine, no pressure loss. But neither of the X-chocks would fit on one side which was very strange since they were pre-adjusted and interchangeable. I looked everywhere for a problem but could not find anything. Took it to a frame shop and they replaced some spring bushings but knew they hadn't found the problem until they measured the diameter of the tires. Two tires on the street side were larger in diameter then the other two on the curb side. But the tires looked fine to them too. I took the rig to my favorite tire shop and the problem became obvious only when the tires were dismounted. Iit took no special skills or tools to see that two of the four tires had lost their integrity. Those tires probably hit something, got damaged, and were ready to blow. Lucky me! And I'm careful with my tires - don't roll over curbs or cut corners and I try to avoid potholes.

So how can I realistically expect a TPMS system to detect something that myself and several experts cannot readily detect. No, I don't have a TPMS system, not yet anyway, but it sounds like a good tool to have onboard. Although tire pressure was never an issue, It might have discovered some excess heat being generated.

I actually had a TPMS tell me that I had broken a belt in a tire. But, it was only through regularly checking pressures and temperatures. I could see that one tire went from being consistent with the others to running at a higher pressure and temperature than the other 3. Sure enough, when I finally dealt with the problem- the tire had a broken belt.

For me, TPMS are an invaluable tool. We don't watch it like a hawk like we used to, but we do definitely like the information at a glance.

More information on TPMS (what they can and cannot detect along with brand suggestions and links to buy):
http://learntorv.com/how-and-why-to-monitor-tire-pressure/

And here's a "How to Use Your TPMS" article that gives helpful hints on programming and how to not get information overload from it:
http://learntorv.com/how-to-use-your-tpms/