TPMS. Necessary or just peace of mind?

[afinepoint]

Pulling a 31' toy hauler with an F350 dually. How important is it to have a TPMS? Just how frequently are trailer tires blowing out around here?

This would be an aftermarket for truck and trailer. Was thinking about TireMinder: http://www.amazon.com/TireMinder-TMG400C-Pressure-Monitoring-System/dp/B0051WRSHA/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=366VIGS1UN48E&coliid=I3JZGLMTMU8HFG

Reg

[stripit]

Allworth wrote:
These are the same people who insist that you MUST use only the most expensive hitch, the most expensive tires, the most expensive dually, the most expensive wheel chocks, the most expensive.......

Do we see a trend here?

In not all cases, but the best costs more, possibly works better, or longer without failing or break downs. Might have better materials and possibly more engineering to get that product to actually work. Cheap is not always least expensive, been there and paid for that decision. There are exceptions, but I normally tend to go the best I can afford the first time. You can always spend your money the way you want on what you want, those are the rules of the game.

[RCMAN46]

When an 18 wheeler has a tire fail it rarely does any damage to him but if you run over the tire tread you will find it will do serious damage to your TV and trailer and may even cause an accident. I use the TPMS because when a trailer tire fails often you do not know it until someone comes along side and tells you you have a problem. With travel trailers the damage can easily go beyond $500. My TPMS has saved me problems with one trailer tire and on rear TV tire. Both times I was able to drive to a tire shop before the pressure dropped below 40 psi. Had I continued to travel I am sure I would have had a total tire failure both times.
As much as I hate laws I would like a law that requires the next truck that sees a truck tire tread on the highway he has to remove it and if he goes on by a stiff fine would result if caught. Then they may consider TPMS systems on the 18 wheelers.

[Dutch_12078]

mark5w wrote:

Gau 8 wrote:

Francesca Knowles wrote:
TPMS's are for people that can't/won't check the air pressure in their vehicles' tires on a routine basis, as used to be the norm.

Unfortunately, those are the same people that won't pay any attention to the TPMS either, so one has to wonder what the heck the point is.

Wow. I am speechless! Must be nice to have it all figured out.

When you have a small travel trailer like Francesca you really don't need one I guess. :S

Apparently Francesca has never heard a TPMS alarm go off. I don't know about other brands, but I can safely say that my TST 510 system's alarm is not easy to ignore, even with my poor hearing.

[Allworth]

These are the same people who insist that you MUST use only the most expensive hitch, the most expensive tires, the most expensive dually, the most expensive wheel chocks, the most expensive.......

Do we see a trend here?

[MrJoelieC]

MotorPro wrote:
Some people make it sound like if you don't have one you committing suicide. The fact is people drove and towed for over 100 years with out one. A majority of 18 weelers don't have them.With out one you should check your tires before every trip. Are they nesseary? No,but they do make life easier and give that extra peace of mind.

This just made me laugh out loud..... You sir are sooooo correct! I think there are people out there that are amazed we survived the 20th century without: cell phones, GPS, Internet, and now apparently: TPMS... LOL

[Francesca_Knowl]

mark5w wrote:

Gau 8 wrote:

Francesca Knowles wrote:
TPMS's are for people that can't/won't check the air pressure in their vehicles' tires on a routine basis, as used to be the norm.

Unfortunately, those are the same people that won't pay any attention to the TPMS either, so one has to wonder what the heck the point is.

Wow. I am speechless! Must be nice to have it all figured out.

When you have a small travel trailer like Francesca you really don't need one I guess. :S

Add good training into the mix, and you've got it figured out!:)

Like my Daddy always said: Ain't no substitute for touching, tasting, feeling- machines can be wrong, but only a living person can be DEAD wrong.

[mark5w]

Gau 8 wrote:

Francesca Knowles wrote:
TPMS's are for people that can't/won't check the air pressure in their vehicles' tires on a routine basis, as used to be the norm.

Unfortunately, those are the same people that won't pay any attention to the TPMS either, so one has to wonder what the heck the point is.

Wow. I am speechless! Must be nice to have it all figured out.

When you have a small travel trailer like Francesca you really don't need one I guess. :S

[Gau_8]

Francesca Knowles wrote:
TPMS's are for people that can't/won't check the air pressure in their vehicles' tires on a routine basis, as used to be the norm.

Unfortunately, those are the same people that won't pay any attention to the TPMS either, so one has to wonder what the heck the point is.

Wow. I am speechless! Must be nice to have it all figured out.

[ThorResidencyNe]

wanderingbob wrote:
No doubt a person that has bought one will think he needed it more than he needed the money . Do you need one ? Who knows ? Put the $250 in one hand and the TPMS in the other ,which hand do ya like the best .
To say one of dem thangs saved your bacon just means that you were not eyeballing and checking your tires . All they do is tell you that the pressure is low , thats all . They do not tell ya that the tire will not blow for hundreds of other reasons . It all boils down to how much money and how many gadgets does it take to make you feel safe !

They also tell you if your tire is heating up which could lead to a potential problem. Also, what happens if you run over a nail during the days driving and develope a slow sleak. You didn't see that when you checked that morning, but your tire is slowly losing air and heating up. The TPMS would tell you that and maybe you could at least save that expensive tire or keep from damaging a rim.

[kaydeejay]

Bobbo wrote:

kaydeejay wrote:

Bobbo wrote:
TPMS is peace of mind. Of course,if you don't have a TPMS 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.

I was not clear in my message. I went back to add if you don't have a TPMS. I readily acknowledge that the red letters in the quote above were not in the message you quoted.

THAT edit puts a totally different perspective on your comment! And we are now in total agreement!:B

[Bobbo]

kaydeejay wrote:

Bobbo wrote:
TPMS is peace of mind. Of course,if you don't have a TPMS 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.

I was not clear in my message. I went back to add if you don't have a TPMS. I readily acknowledge that the red letters in the quote above were not in the message you quoted.

[hotpepperkid]

Last summer my TPMS alerted me to a low tire which I guess could have resulted in bigger problems

[ktmrfs]

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.

[stripit]

After 8 years of weighing RV's by the wheel position and checking tire pressures before weighing the amount of folks that might say they check their tires before every trip are not necessarily telling the whole truth. At one rally where I weighed 57 rigs, 45 had at least 1 tire grossly under inflated. Some of these folks said they checked their tires just a couple of days ago, but that might have been 1,000 miles. Some said they just look at the tire and can tell how they are, some said they thump them. One fellow picked up a nail from where my scales were to the site in the rv park, a distance of 300 feet. Within 4 hours he had a flat. Will a TPMS save everyone a blow out or flat, no, but it sure does make checking tire pressures so much easier from the drivers seat. The damage resulting in a tire failure can be very expensive and take many days if not weeks to repair. One rig we weighed told us of his tire blow out, causing extensive damage to the floor right above the tire, where the refrigerator was, until it fell through the hole and partially out of the trailer. There are all kinds of scary stories from RV'ers of the damages and emotional stress involved when a tire lets go or fails. For the most part these failures occur on the side of the road and that is not a place most of us care to be. For the costs involved in owning a piece of equipment that 'could' make you have a trouble free trip, why not? No one is twisting your arm to spend money you care not to spend, but for a lot of folks they see some advantage and choose to make life a bit easier and maybe safer. I have the TST system and when the time comes to replace it I will own another TST system.