TMI when it comes to tires

[RV Manager]

Ok, I now have a TPMS and think that possibly it creates to much information/questions.

So for the more informed than me:

How much should my tire pressure rise as I travel?

How much should my tire temperatures rise? What is to hot?

Is there or should there be a difference in temperatures or running tire pressure between to drivers and passenger sides?

What about sunny side versus shady side?

[LSC9901]

New innovations like this can only make me wonder how RV'ers survived years ago ?

[RV Manager]

I know, for over 40 years I have been driving, usually over 50,000 miles a year and never had a tire failure. Now I drive down the highway and have all of this information and am begin to worry about the information. Ignorance was bliss.

[Gary RVRoamer]

TMI is right! Stop worrying about the temperature. Just note roughly what it is in normal driving, so that you will recognize a major change, if it ever happens. Yes, the sunny side gets a bit warmer, and higher pressure too. Yes, the temperature goes up as you drive, even more so on very hot days. No worries - the tire engineers have it all figured out.

If a tire gets soft (low psi), or begins to come apart, or a brake drags and overheats the wheel, you will see a huge rise in temperature, very quickly. Until then, do worries.

My personal opinion is that monitoring tire temperature is a waste of time.

[Rambling Man]

I totally agree with Gary's first two paragraphs. I totally disagree with the last statement.

Pressure and tire temperature are directly related. As the tire heats up from friction with the road the pressure goes up. If the sun is shinning on the tire it will get a little hotter and the pressure will go a little higher. Don't worry about a few degrees or pounds difference in any one tire. Basically all the tires on an axle should remain fairly close to each other and rise and fall together within a few degrees.

Watch for quick changes and large differences across an axle and you should be fine.

When I first got mine I notice done front tire on my toad got a few degrees hotter and a few pounds higher than the other. I realized that the bus exhaust was heating up that tire.

You will get used to the fluctuations. You will also be alerted if a failure occurs and that is what you bought the TPMS for.

Wiley

[LSC9901]

Please believe me when I say that this is not an argumentative reply but if a failure occurs I'm pretty sure you won't need a TPMS to tell you about it. I readily admit that I've never had a failure on my MH, so experience doesn't play into my comment. I did have a tire failure on a motorcycle once and I can assure you that looking at a monitor wasn't my first thought or concern. Granted I did not have one, but I do believe I had other priorities. Correct me if I'm completely off base with this one.

[Rambling Man]

Originally Posted by LSC9901

Please believe me when I say that this is not an argumentative reply but if a failure occurs I'm pretty sure you won't need a TPMS to tell you about it. I readily admit that I've never had a failure on my MH, so experience doesn't play into my comment. I did have a tire failure on a motorcycle once and I can assure you that looking at a monitor wasn't my first thought or concern. Granted I did not have one, but I do believe I had other priorities. Correct me if I'm completely off base with this one.

I agree that at the moment of catastrophic tire failure, the last thing you will be doing is looking at a TPMS monitor.

The truth of tire failure is that tires don't just instantly go from being perfectly ok to thread flapping explosion. With a TPMS you have a chance to see the pressure increase or decrease, the temperature increase and pull over, slow down, and minimize the damage that occurs with a high speed blowout.

Without the TPMS you don't know trouble is brewing until it is too late. With TPMS you get a warning and a chance to avert damage and possible injury or lose of life.

That is my humble opinion and I'm sticking to it.

Wiley

[Gary RVRoamer]

Pressure and tire temperature are directly related.

That's the very reason you don't need to be much concerned about temperature - the psi will react as well and give you the same clue/warning. If the temperature rises because of some external heat source (a hot bearing, for example), the psi climbs along with the temperature.

I'm not claiming that tire temperature has no meaning, but PSI alone gives you 99.9% of the info you need on your tires. In my opinion, spending your time monitoring tire temps as well as psi adds very little value. Others may disagree, so make your own call.

Please believe me when I say that this is not an argumentative reply but if a failure occurs I'm pretty sure you won't need a TPMS to tell you about it.

The value of a TPMS is that it can warn you that a failure is imminent. The whole idea is to avoid the failure.

[Jupiter]

I tend to agree that tire pressure monitoring / alarming should be the primary concern or duty of the TPMS, and that temperature monitoring is secondary. I'm not sure about all systems, but my TST system has alarm parameters set by the user for both pressure and temperature.

That said, depending on where the user set the alarm points (both low and high, for both pressure and temp), you could have a scenario with a leaking tire creating a low pressure condition which could seriously elevate tire temperature without increasing the tire pressure to the high pressure alarm point.

Again, I agree that proper tire pressure generally dictates tire temperature and it should be our predominant concern. Just wanted to express a condition which I believe could possibly occur without necassarily alarming.

cheers,
Joopy

[Moxy]

Originally Posted by Jupiter

I tend to agree that tire pressure monitoring / alarming should be the primary concern or duty of the TPMS, and that temperature monitoring is secondary. I'm not sure about all systems, but my TST system has alarm parameters set by the user for both pressure and temperature.

That said, depending on where the user set the alarm points (both low and high, for both pressure and temp), you could have a scenario with a leaking tire creating a low pressure condition which could seriously elevate tire temperature without increasing the tire pressure to the high pressure alarm point.

Again, I agree that proper tire pressure generally dictates tire temperature and it should be our predominant concern. Just wanted to express a condition which I believe could possibly occur without necassarily alarming.

cheers,
Joopy

tst system alarms with any sudden change ie a rise or lowering of pressure, it also alarms when parameters are exceeded

Moxy

[Moxy]

Originally Posted by Gary RVRoamer

That's the very reason you don't need to be much concerned about temperature - the psi will react as well and give you the same clue/warning. If the temperature rises because of some external heat source (a hot bearing, for example), the psi climbs along with the temperature.

I'm not claiming that tire temperature has no meaning, but PSI alone gives you 99.9% of the info you need on your tires. In my opinion, spending your time monitoring tire temps as well as psi adds very little value. Others may disagree, so make your own call.

The value of a TPMS is that it can warn you that a failure is imminent. The whole idea is to avoid the failure.

the tst system shows trends or in the instance of rapid change it warms the operator of impending problems, not imminent failure, further it is and does reflect minor changes as confirmed by me that my exhaust raises temperature on curb side dolly and toad wheels at highway speeds, confirmed with infrared temp readings, it also highlights pressure loses and in one instance when my valve stem had a slow leak the system notified me that the pressure was slowly dropping in a tag wheel, another time the sensor did not properly seat on the toad rear wheels and they where slowly losing pressure, again avoided problems in both instances well in advance of any damage or failure.

Moxy

[Petro]

I am now a firm believer in a TPMS. About 4 years ago a motorist came alongside and flagged me down. I pulled over to the curb and the man came up to me and said you have no right front tire on your car. I went back and found just the 2 beads left on the wheel. Lucky for me I had not yet damaged the wheel. Had a motorist not pulled me over at the very least I would have wrecked the wheel. I could not see any wavering on the toad in the rear monitor nor did I feel any difference on the steering wheel. I realized right there and than I would never in the future be able to feel or see a tire failure on my toad.

Soon after I purchased a TPMS and in the past years it has alerted me to 2 tire failures on the toad. Both tires had to be replaced but both times it saved my aluminum wheels. I have never had a flat tire on my coach since I purchased the TPMS but never again would I feel comfortable towing a vehicle with out a TPMS.

Don

[taylorgso]

The pressure will rise with increase in temperature as you drive. Don't worry about these changes - the tire engineers quote "cold" pressure, knowing temps will increase.

And if for no other reason, I like my TPMS for the ability to read tire pressures in one place, without having to get out and read each individual tire with a stick gauge. Very convenient in this regard - I check pressures with the TPMS before a trip and if one seems low, then I'll check with stick gauge and pump it up if needed.

[Papa_Jim]

Originally Posted by taylorgso

The pressure will rise with increase in temperature as you drive. Don't worry about these changes - the tire engineers quote "cold" pressure, knowing temps will increase.

And if for no other reason, I like my TPMS for the ability to read tire pressures in one place, without having to get out and read each individual tire with a stick gauge. Very convenient in this regard - I check pressures with the TPMS before a trip and if one seems low, then I'll check with stick gauge and pump it up if needed.

I agree. It sure is wonderful to simply be able to 'take a glance' at the tire pressure monitor in the morning to assure yourself that all tires are up to pressure and ready to roll.

Jim