do tow vehicles need tire pressure sensors

[classctioga73]

very new to dinghy towing, will be the very first time this spring. Do i need to invest in tire pressure sensors for the dinghy? yes no maybe so?
what do you use on your dinghy?

[2gypsies1]

Our opinion... definitely yes!

When we first got our motorhome we didn't have TPMS on either the MH or toad. We were traveling on a secondary highway in the West - not much traffic. Someone passed us doing the dreaded 'wave' at the rear of our setup. Luckily, there was a place to pull over that came up soon. We were shocked at looking at the front tire area of the Jeep. The tire was almost completely off. We were riding on the rim. The damage to the car's fender and front area was extensive.

As we were driving we didn't feel a thing. The motorhome had so much power that pulling the car with a flat didn't phase it. We had a rear camera but the tire well didn't show because it was straight on.

After repairs we bought our TPMS for both vehicles. We would never be without them.

[msmith1199]

I don't have a TPMS system, but I think they are a good idea. My current toad is a Jeep Wrangler and my rear view camera matches the roof of the jeep in a straight line. I'm hoping if a tire does go flat while towing that I'll notice a change in the angle of the roof on the rear view camera. I keep it on and glance down at it all the time while driving.

I've never had a flat tire on the toad.

[Solo]

I've been using an aftermarket TPMS for several years now and believe that is has paid for itself many times over. My system alerted me to a low tire on my toad several years ago while on the road. With my DP pulling a Jeep, I would have not felt anything if that tire had gone totally flat until I noticed tire smoke and plastic/rubber shredding in my rear vision camera. I paid around $209 on Amazon for the Tire Tech On a couple years ago. Certainly not one of the best out there but, it continues to monitor what I expected out of the unit. I've had zero issues with my TPMS and have not needed a repeater to receive the signal from the toad behind my 43' DP.

[road-runner]

I believe the signature appears only on the first post you make in a thread.

[cross21114]

But not on the last post. I give up.

[cross21114]

My sig came back?

[cross21114]

Isn't it the same with a trailer?

[Sultan1966]

I most definitely use them and monitor all 12 while driving especially audible alerts EEZTire gives.

[whemme]

Well everyone has their opinions. I am personally happy that I equipped my Class C and toad with a 10 sensor TPMS system. Have have a Advantage PressurePro system for 12 years. It has never failed to work except when the sensor batteries died. It is on its 2nd set of sensors that seem to last about 6 years if you remove them to save internal battery life whenever your motorhome is not being used.

Over the years it has caught two leaking rubber valve stems on the motorhome and a leak from a bolt puncturing a rear tire on my toad. Two leaking valve stems caused me to change out all of the motorhomes valves stems with custom metal valves stems from Borg tire.

I can't see the tires on my toad from the mirrors on my motorhome so there is no way to know that a tire is going flat with imminent damage waiting.

Several years ago, I was riding with a friend in his diesel pusher pulling a VW Golf toad on I29 heading north in North Dakota. A car came up on our right side displaying a sign that stated FLATTE TYRE. We pulled off as soon as we could and discovered that the left rear tire had disintegrated and was running on the aluminum wheel rim. No damage to the car itself luckily but the tire and rim were destroyed.

Click on the link below to see the system I use.

Advantage PressurePro 10 Sensor System

[Horizon170]

mowermech wrote:
This should be in the "dinghy towing" forum, but here is my answer:
Do you NEED TPS on a dinghy? IMO, no.
Have I ever used TPS on one of my dinghys? No.
Have I ever regretted not having TPS? Not at all.
Have I ever owned a vehicle that had TPS? Sadly, yes.
Did I like the TPS? No, not at all.
Would it be a good idea for YOU to have TPS? That is entirely up to you. Just because I had some bad experiences with the systems I had several years ago doesn't mean that you will have problems with a newer system.
Good luck.

X2------------no need for them, ever. They are forever going bad and too costly to replace.

[georgelesley]

A cousin of mine spent $3500 fixing his Jeep after it had a tire problem he did not notice. Think about driving at nite, will you actually be able to see the toad all that well? Will you look at the toad every few seconds without fail to check it? If you are sure you will and are confident you will be able to see the toad under all conditions, then you do not need a toad tpms.

My cousin now has a toad tpms.

[rjstractor]

Most newer cars already have a TPMS from the factory. No, the TPMS cannot be monitored while you are towing, but the chances of a slow leak developing and leading to a flat while towing are miniscule. If you have a catastrophic blowout and you are a perceptive driver, you should hear noise or feel vibration that makes you want to stop.

The main purpose TPMS was invented in the first place was to prevent crashes caused by underinflated tires. This has saved lives, no doubt. But no one is riding in your toad and no one will die if a tire goes flat while you are towing.

I know many feel that TPMS in a toad is a necessary thing, but in my mind after doing a cost/benefit analysis I would pass on it.

[lryrob9301]

classctioga73 wrote:
So could anyone recommend an economical TPMS that will have range to reach the toad vehicle. i see a lot of them on Amazon but they don't have the frequency range to use on the toad.

TST 507 with a sensor for each wheel. If you have a diesel pusher you may need a signal booster due to the rear engine.

[classctioga73]

So could anyone recommend an economical TPMS that will have range to reach the toad vehicle. i see a lot of them on Amazon but they don't have the frequency range to use on the toad.