TireMinder

[PenMan]

I received a sale flyer from Camping World yesterday and they have the TireMinder on sale. Does anyone here have one and how do you like it? I understand from info I have read that the tire pressures don't show all the time but only when you cycle through them. It does alarm if any tire gets a certain percentage below normal or if a temperature gets high. Do other makes/models work this same way or do they show the pressures constantly? Any opinions will help as I plan to get some kind of TPMS in the near future.

[jdog]

Some of the tire monitors have batteries that can not be replaced. When the batteries go out, you have to replace the monitors. Expensive battery change!

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

I also have a TireMinder on a TT. This is the second trailer I've used the system on.

Some knowledge - the pressures are +- 4 lbs by their specs and +- 5 degrees by their specs. I think it might be a little more.

However, that isn't important. I check my tire pressures with a good manual gauge before each trip. That is important.

A TPMS isn't for detailed checks of your tires - it is for catching potential problems before they become BIG problems. Such as chronic under or over inflated tires (10% lbs in either direction), slow leaks, overheat from bearings or brakes dragging, etc.

A TPMS won't be any help if your truck or Class A/C kicks up a piece of steel lying in the roadway and it slices your rear tire with a huge gash. You will have a major blowout immediately.

A TPMS gives me peace of mind that I don't have a slow leak from a nail, or such. I've driven thousands of miles with TPMS systems, on the trailer and in my TV. Only once had a warning for low pressure - and it was a nail in the tire.

Once had a warning for high pressure on three tires at the same time. I'd check and adjusted tire pressures in Dallas at 38 degrees, when I got south of Corpus Christi and the temps were in the 90s a few hours later, the high pressure alarm sounded - and the change in temp had raised the pressure quite a bit. (Got to love Texas weather - 50 degree temp changes in a day are not uncommon)

Having a TPMS on duals or a trailer is essential in my opinion. A slow leak tire or a stressed tire by improper hitch angle or weight distribution will show up on a TPMS. If that tire eventually fails at highway speed, you are looking at not only the danger of a blowout and getting stopped, but also the very strong possibility of thousands of dollars of damage to the coach/ trailer.

I know two people in my Good Sam group who said that a $250-300 TPMS was a waste of money. Both have had to spend over $5,000 repairing damage to their 5th wheels in 2011/2012 from a blowout.

We have eight TireMinders and five TST TPMS in the group. Everyone is very happy with their system. One did't like the TireMinder, another didn't like the TST - they swapped and are happy now.

[rbutton]

I also bought the TireMinder for our class C. It works great! It's just quiet until one of the tire pressures goes out of the range it's set for, then it beeps at you and flashes a red light.
The rest of the time the screen dims.

Give you a sense of confidence that you can monitor the tires while traveling. I had a blowout on the inside rear of our class c because the valve stem was leaking. With the monitor I could have caught it and switched to the spare. I still carry a tire pressure checker and check them manually at the start of every trip.

Bought it at the CW store.

[powderman426]

From what I read, they all work about the same. I am happy with the tiretraker unit I bought. I think you ar on the right track by buying one.

[ReneeG]

We have the TST TPMS system that monitors pressure and temperature and it too shows temp and pressure when cycling through and produces an alarm if it falls below or above the safe range.