Tire Pressure Monitor Systems

[tractors1]

Installing one on my 21 that I had on my Casita, and searches here didn't show much angst from owners on blowouts, flats, etc. Thought I might see a difference between single and dual axle owners, but nope. Just wondering why not..........

[Bruce Wray]

I had a tire go down in '11 on my 19, didn't notice it was going flat until it was toast. Pretty sure it was due to a crappy (i.e., Chinese) rubber valve stem failure. I bought a Tire Traker TPMS. I've had a monitor and one sensor go bad, and they were good about replacing them under warranty. For some reason, the new monitor wouldn't work over 3' away, they finally gave me a signal booster. Now the system works.

I think having a tire start to go on a dual axle trailer is much harder to recognize than on a single axle. I'm glad I got the TPMS (and steel valve stems), even though I've had no problems since. Peace of mind.

Bruce

[tractors1]

Originally Posted by Bruce Wray

I had a tire go down in '11 on my 19, didn't notice it was going flat until it was toast. Pretty sure it was due to a crappy (i.e., Chinese) rubber valve stem failure. I bought a Tire Traker TPMS. I've had a monitor and one sensor go bad, and they were good about replacing them under warranty. For some reason, the new monitor wouldn't work over 3' away, they finally gave me a signal booster. Now the system works.

I think having a tire start to go on a dual axle trailer is much harder to recognize than on a single axle. I'm glad I got the TPMS (and steel valve stems), even though I've had no problems since. Peace of mind.

Bruce

Exactly my thoughts! Although I set the low tire pressure alarm too tight and when it got cold the system said ALL my tires were going flat.....

[Kountrykamper]

I had the Dill TPMS on our Casita and purchased another when we got the Escape.


Trailer TPMS

[dfandrews]

Part of my "pre-flight" whenever I get gas on a trip is to walk around the vehicle, look at and feel each tire. If one feels different, or is a different temperature than its mate on the other side, I try to find the reason. Checking pressures is one part.

[tractors1]

Originally Posted by dfandrews

Part of my "pre-flight" whenever I get gas on a trip is to walk around the vehicle, look at and feel each tire. If one feels different, or is a different temperature than its mate on the other side, I try to find the reason. Checking pressures is one part.

Agreed, that's why I have the system. Monitors both pressure and tire temp.

[C&G in FL]

Originally Posted by tractors1

Agreed, that's why I have the system. Monitors both pressure and tire temp.

And, it allows you to monitor tire conditions between stops when you are moving along the road. A tire problem when stopped is not likely to cause any problems or be costly above and beyond the price of a replacement tire; when moving in traffic at speed it's a different story.

[Brian B-P]

Tire pressure monitoring systems make sense, because tire pressure is important and there are a lot of tires to keep track of. On the other hand, the world drove pneumatic-tired vehicles for about a century before these systems became common, and we seemed to manage. The systems became factory equipment on cars for two reasons:

• low-profile radial tires don't visually show pressure change as obviously as old bias-ply tires; and,
• vehicles with run-flat tires need a way to tell the driver to stop, even though the tire may be working adequately.

Trailers still have high-profile tires (although at least many - including all Escapes - are radial), and none of them are run-flats. A monitoring system would be useful, but I think life without one is quite manageable.

Originally Posted by tractors1

... searches here didn't show much angst from owners on blowouts, flats, etc. Thought I might see a difference between single and dual axle owners, but nope. Just wondering why not..........

Tandem-axle fans will often state that tandem axles are needed for redundancy, because the failure of the single tire on one side of the trailer would obviously be a catastrophe. Single-axle owners who have had a tire failure consistently report that controlling the trailer when the tire failed was not a problem.

[fudge_brownie]

For a number of years I have carried a "tire checker" of this design. It is also billed as a fish thumper and I believe you can find other uses for it as well. Most truck stops carry them. A side benefit is by thumping each tire you do a visual exam at the same time. Finally it generates a great deal of satisfaction to thump the tires.

[Kountrykamper]

Yeah but a TPMS is another one of those cool gadgets that modern technology has brought us like a GPS that make life easier and more fun. Unlike a TPMS on a car, a trailer one has both temperture and pressure readout for all your tires. It also has a alarm if you have a pressure loss so you don't have to mess with it going down the road and you know instantly if you have a problem before a tire comes apart and tears up your trailer. Peace of mind for me.

[markvt]

Originally Posted by fudge_brownie

I believe you can find other uses for it as we

Hi Paul,
I bet it will make a nice bed warmer to.
Mark

[cpaharley2008]

Do these TPMS systems mount on the tire stems?

[dfandrews]

Has anyone purchased a TPMS, sent the in-tire sensors to ETI to install before the tires are mounted and balanced?
Or, do you do the whole routine later, and rebalance?

[tractors1]

My system mounts on the valve stems and has user replaceable batteries.

Here's a link to install and setup for the model 507:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-KsnSUM2F8

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Kountrykamper

Yeah but a TPMS is another one of those cool gadgets that modern technology has brought us like a GPS that make life easier and more fun.

Oh, yes, stuff that's not required can still be useful and desirable!

Originally Posted by Kountrykamper

Unlike a TPMS on a car, a trailer one has both temperture and pressure readout for all your tires.

The temperature would be good.

Originally Posted by Kountrykamper

It also has a alarm if you have a pressure loss so you don't have to mess with it going down the road and you know instantly if you have a problem before a tire comes apart and tears up your trailer.

In the case of a slow leak, this could help find the problem before driving on the tire for hours. In the case of a sudden failure ("blow out") at normal pressure it won't help. I haven't had either problem on a trailer, and I suppose there's a whole range of possibilities between the two extremes.

[Kountrykamper]

The Dill system mounts inside the tire just like a car system. Its a little work having to take the tires off and having the sensors installed but I purchased one that screwed on the valve steams and did not feel comfortable with the sensor hanging on the steam and sent it back. That's just me though because there are a of systems out there that just screw on.

The dill system also comes with a additional antenna that can be mounted under the vehicle and a wire ran up the the cab of the truck which helped us because we would loose signal sometimes due to the length of our crew cab truck and the trailer. Now I can leave it in the console and not have to mount it on the windshield.

Dill Air Controls Products » Trailer TPMS

[Dave Walter]

I have a TPMS on my Toyota and it has worked well, notified me of a loss in tire pressure during our vacation at Moab last summer, and I was able to drive into a shop and have the tire fixed before I needed to swap it out with the spare.

TPMS on the trailer tires is one of those things that is not an essential, but if you have the $ and like gadgets, it would be useful to have. For a TPMS on the trailer, those valve stem sensors look fairly beefy in the video. I would expect that you would need to have your tires balanced again after installing the sensors.

[Kountrykamper]

I have to quit replying from my phone. To many typos.
Stupid autocorrect.

[C&G in FL]

Just thought of another concern with TPMS. I have had some interference problems with a wireless backup camera installed on a Honda CRV and though I'm not sure, suspect that the interference is being caused by the TPMS. Has anyone using one of the aftermarket TPM systems noted an interference with other Bluetooth devices? If so, which brand are you using? I am planning on using the system marketed by Tire Minder (sold at CW) when I get my 5.0, but don't want to find out one will interfere with the other. I do have a battery powered iBall Camera which I have used for hooking up, but had to inactivate the F150's Bluetooth because it was messing up the picture on the IBall's monitor.

[tractors1]

Tire Minder system runs at 433MHz, while Blue Tooth runs at 2.4-2.485 GHz, same range as the i-Ball camera, so the tire system shouldn't interfere with BT. Mine doesn't and it runs at 433 MHz (different brand.)