Community Forums

Skipper Tom · 07-17-2013, 12:02 AM

After reading how important proper tore pressure is I've been wondering if I should make the investment in a wireless monitor. Does anyone have experience with them? What care the positives and negatives?

sirpurrcival · 07-17-2013, 12:47 AM

Positives are that:
You can take them with you if you sell your rig
Easy to self-install
Can be used on different vehicles

Negatives include
Sensors can be stolen
Sometimes receiver can have trouble getting signal from farthest sensors on the biggest rigs. (not so much with new models)
Can leak air if not installed properly or if you have extenders to get at your valves.
Sensors require batteries

In short, when you have 20000 lbs of vehicle going down the road, it is absolutely helpful to see if you have a tire that is under pressured, overheating, losing air. My system has saved me more than once and has more than paid for itself in piece of mind and saved tires.

Here is a real world example. I took my rig to a tire dealer to get the lug nuts tightened (I recently had new tires installed and was told that I should have the lugs re-torqued after 100 miles or so). So this I did, the fellow who did the job had to remove the lug covers to do this and I guess somehow in the process of doing this, he managed to loosen one of the valve extenders so that it was leaking. I went on my way and the last thing you might expect is your tire to be leaking when they weren't really being touched. If I hadn't had the monitor, I wouldn't have noticed that I was loosing a pound or so of air every 3 or 4 minutes. had just enough time to get down the road to the next branch of the tire center before, the pressure reached dangerously low levels. The monitors saved me a brand new tire and possible damage to my coach and/or a nasty accident. Wouldn't be without em.

JFXG · 07-17-2013, 12:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skipper Tom

After reading how important proper tore pressure is I've been wondering if I should make the investment in a wireless monitor. Does anyone have experience with them? What care the positives and negatives?

NOTE: There have been numerous threads discussing this. You can easily search the forum to find the information.

Hi Skipper Tom! I have the TST system, and monitor all ten tires-- six on the coach and four on the toad. It has worked very well, and the folks at the company in Georgia are friendly and helpful.

Pros: you can see trends developing. You'll have some level of real time information, not merely the knowledge that your pressures were good at 7 this morning. You won't quickly feel a few pounds of pressure loss per hour, but your tires will, and by the time you notice it at the end of the day the tire maybe seriously heat damaged. On a dual rear, if one goes flat the partner is immediately seriously overloaded, and will likely be a total loss if driven more than the distance required to stop the coach. On a toad behind a sizable MH, you could have a complete blowout and never know it until you see the smoke of the burning tire carcass in your mirror.

Cons: $600 price tag, if you consider that a con. Its the price of one coach tire, not counting the possible several thousand $$ of damage that one tire can do to your MH if it blows out.

Good Luck, whatever your decision.

**CLIFFTALL** · 07-17-2013, 03:56 AM

Here's a link to some previous threads on TPMS.

http://www.google.com/search?q=Tpms&...earch=irv2.com

gemini5362 · 07-17-2013, 09:31 AM

I agree with what JFXG said. I bought a used coach and it had 8 year old tires on it but they have perfect tread and absolutely no weather cracking. I was not sure whether to replace all of the tires or not so I replaced the front ones and had the tire shop check the old tires internally and did not find anything at all wrong there either. I purchased a tire monitoring system so I could see if the tires started showing any leaks or more important started showing one tire heating up more than the other ones. My tire system was cheaper than the one JFXG bought it cost me about half the price of one tire. I ran 5000 miles on those rear tires and still I am using them a year later.

Don The Ham · 07-17-2013, 01:30 PM

Something to consider. -- I installed the Tire Minder system. My dual rear inside tires had flexible extensions installed from their tire valves. Within a few days, the Tire Minder detected the drivers side inside tire was leaking.

Problem: When you install the wireless transmitter on the tire valve extension, the tire valve extension is always under pressure and one of mine was leaking. They are not designed to be under continuous pressure.

Per comments on iRV2 and from the Tire Minder people, I installed solid rear tire valve extensions from Duallyvalve. Cost of parts and installation of the Duallyvalve was $300. Additional cost, but I should have a safer system.

bdickson · 07-17-2013, 03:12 PM

I agree that a TPMS is an essential piece of equipment. One word of caution: the sensors I installed on my 2012 Honda CRV protrude beyond the tire rim. I ran it through a car wash where a track system moves the car through. The sensor caught and caused the valve stem to break, so the car came out of the wash bay with a flat. I put the spare on and headed to the Honda dealer. The replacement valve stem cost $120! Yes, a hundred and twenty dollars for a valve stem, plus labor. The Honda TPMS uses an electronics box on the inside end of the valve stem. An expensive lesson learned. I guess it could also happen with a careless clip of the curb.

MSHappyCampers · 07-17-2013, 03:37 PM

I installed the TireTraker system with the range extender in the BR closet for the toad tires. The batteries are easy to replace and the programming is pretty simple. So far so good!

**CountryFit** · 07-17-2013, 07:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MSHappyCampers

I installed the TireTraker system with the range extender in the BR closet for the toad tires. The batteries are easy to replace and the programming is pretty simple. So far so good!

i installed the same but named "tire minder" and the extender in BR closet too (what a chance

. it works like a charm.

Hikerdogs · 07-18-2013, 10:27 AM

We use the TST 507 system. It's worked well, but as others have mentioned there are some precautions that will make life easier. Most manufacturers recommend using steel valve stems even on the towed vehicle. If you need valve stem extensions on any wheels use rigid brass or steel, not the flexible style. Longer extensions may require a retainer to keep the extension from vibrating or moving. Many companies make either rigid retainers that clip to the steel wheels or rubber plug style ones that fit aluminum wheels.

On our old motorhome we had to spend some cash to replace the original valve stems and extensions so the pressure sensors would fit through the openings in the wheel covers. Depending on the stems and extensions necessary it could cost up to $250 to have all the tires removed, new stems and extensions installed, tires rebalanced and installed. Make sure to take this into account as a possible additional cost

The TST 507 system has vandal resistant covers over the sensors. The top outer cover just spins on the sensor body to make unauthorized removal difficult. They come with a special wrench which makes installation and removal easy for the owner.

ru499 · 07-18-2013, 01:22 PM

We have TireMinder system. Seems to work pretty good. Plus, no more thumping tires!

is.chowa · 07-18-2013, 05:58 PM

There are other considerations:

If you are using powder or beads to balance, you will need special valve cores to ensure the valves do not leak, so ask if the TPMS is compatible. Also depending on style of rim (aluminum/steel), it may not be possible to install the external TPMS in the drives, in or out (my case) they do have options which install inside the rim. So ok, the batteries last 5 years? time to change rubber. JMHOP.

Steve

bdickson · 07-19-2013, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Don The Ham

Something to consider. -- I installed the Tire Minder system. My dual rear inside tires had flexible extensions installed from their tire valves. Within a few days, the Tire Minder detected the drivers side inside tire was leaking.

Problem: When you install the wireless transmitter on the tire valve extension, the tire valve extension is always under pressure and one of mine was leaking. They are not designed to be under continuous pressure.

Per comments on iRV2 and from the Tire Minder people, I installed solid rear tire valve extensions from Duallyvalve. Cost of parts and installation of the Duallyvalve was $300. Additional cost, but I should have a safer system.

Don, did you have to remove the outer wheels to install the Duallyvalves?