TPMS. Necessary or just peace of mind?

kaydeejay wrote:

Bobbo wrote:
TPMS is peace of mind. Of course, that means you need to check the tire pressure on a regular basis with a tire gauge. Also, you can bump each tire with a hammer for a rough idea of tire pressure. When I got a nail in one of my duallys, the hammer test is how I found out it was losing pressure. If one of the tires loses 10 psi, you can really tell the difference in sound long before the tire goes flat. But you STILL need to use a tire gauge on a regular basis.

If you have a TPMS that has proven to be accurate, why do you need to check the tires with a pressure gauge? You can check ALL tire pressures at a glance on the TPMS display.
I checked mine regularly when I first got my TST system, but when the readouts were consistently within 1psi of the gauge reading I figured that was good enough.

x2. and my TPMS system lets you set the pressure drop before alerts. I have one set for drop of 10% (caution) and one set for a drop of 25% (warning). both set off a flashing display, one yellow, on red, and an audible alarm. so far only tested the limits, haven't had a trailer problem.

I'd list a TPMS as a safety device, in addition to peace of mind. Like most safety devices, it doesn't eliminate or reduce the need for common sense and routine checks, but augments them. Used wisely it is a good device to have. Using it to get "extra miles" out of a bad set of tires, NOT a good idea IMHO.