Valor TPMS and Smart Tool

[gswindle]

I wanted to update everyone on my experience with the Valor System and my smart tool on my 2019 Anthem.

I had my coach weighed at NIRVC in Atlanta. I am going with 125 psi on the front and 85 on the drives and Tag. I am a fully loaded full-timing coach.

While I was in Atlanta Don Rigby the Valor RV Rep was teaching a class to the Techs there. He invited me to sit in the class he was teaching. The
class was very informative. After the class Don set my baselines as described above. He also took me to lunch. Very nice man.


On the way to Texas the system worked fine. As the tires heated up in the summer heat I received a yellow warning that my tags pressure had rose to 102 from 85 base line. The system worked as it was supposed to.


When we arrived at our home base I took at my smart tool and within 10 minutes I had set my tag baseline up to 90 (allows for temp up to 108) to
compensate for the heat. We took our next trip a few days later and everything was green.

I may be the only one that likes the system but it works. I had an EEZ system on my Tiffin and I like not having to change batteries or be concerned about some place to put the monitor.

I do recommend purchasing a smart tool for $207 it will come in handy as I make small corrections or rotate tires on the tow vehicle.

Gary

[Rollin101]

Since that tool is required to set any new values it should come with every coach that has the Valor system.

[brobox]

Gary, thanks for that update. I hope something can be done about the narrow baseline settings. We should not have to manually change baseline temps every time we travel to a different climate zone. I brought it to the attention of Ted Cook and it was going to be discussed at Entegra. I hope it can be corrected.
Along with what Rollin said, I am not going to be adding it to the toad until there are some improvements made.

[Gary.Jones]

Gary

You were not clear..... do you mean that you set your baselines to those pressures or did you mean that you inflated your tires to those pressures.? Big difference.

I got my smart programming tool a few days ago but have not changed my pressures or baselines from what I published a few weeks ago on this forum.

Gary

[gswindle]

Originally Posted by Gary.Jones

Gary

You were not clear..... do you mean that you set your baselines to those pressures or did you mean that you inflated your tires to those pressures.? Big difference.

I got my smart programming tool a few days ago but have not changed my pressures or baselines from what I published a few weeks ago on this forum.

Gary

Gary,

I only changed my base line to 90 and left my actual pressure at 85. My PSI went to 102 on a hot travel day and the baseline of 90 allows me to go to 108 top and 79 bottom.

I agree that the smart tool should be provide but there are several other things that should also be provide on these new coaches but that is another topic of discussion.

The fact that these sensors are internally mounted inside the tire makes them (in my opinion) the most accurate when determining PSI and internal temperature.

Because this is a Commercial System for Truckers I am assuming their range is tighter then we might need for an RV.

The only real issue for me is that you have to remember to turn it on for the tow vehicle each time the motor is turned off. I almost have it down to do that before I push in the Brake.


Gary

[Aussies]

Must have missed this in another thread, but how do I obtain the tool to program the tire sensors?

Thanks,

Bob

[Holmrun]

Contact Don Rigby at Valor (734-634-3278) - he will get you taken care of. You can borrow one or purchase one for $207.

[Gary.Jones]

Yes, Don is the distributor (and programmer for all new coaches) for the Valor system for coaches now..... retired Valor rep. However, very good at what he does once he knows the weight of your coach. He almost always has available programmers that he will loan to you.... costs you $7 to return it and you need to do that in a reasonable time frame.

Many of us have decided that we needed to invest in the programmer. Many of us with the new digital systems are struggling with the right coach tire pressures and then the appropriate baselines to establish in the Valor system since their points which define problems cannot be changed (12.5% low pressure threshhold and 20% higher threshhold before the system warns of possible tire pressure problems. The toad tires are the worst problem once you know your weights and get good baselines, as that range -12.5 to +20% is a very narrow range of "normal". "Normal" tire pressures which have no effect on my Honda's own TPMS system will trigger warnings on the Valor system. For example, yesterday, getting further north and cooler morning temperatures, my Honda showed no errors on its own system, but the Valor showed that the pressure was low (28#) on 3 of 4 tires (usually set to 30# but probably actuaclly 28# due to the cooler morning. I ignored those warnings, as I assumed that as soon as I dragged the Honda down the road 10 miles, the pressures would read just fine (they did at 30#). I am still trying to figure the best "ride" tire pressures that give me a good ride and stay well within the Michelin pressure/load guidelines.... My sense is that many of us are using more pressure on the steers and tag than is necessary. That is certainly true given my 4-corner weights. I will next drop my tags down to 85# to match what I will be trying in the drive tires..... My hypothesis is that the coach will porpoise less at those pressures than currently. I am still running the pressures and baselines I published earlier in the thread "Some things I have learned about my 2019 Cornerstone" whichg are working just fine except for the ride. and when I get some time, will lower the pressures to 85# and see what happens.

Gary

[757driver]

It certainly seems that the Valor system would benefit from user settable pressures for the high and low alarms and not a percentage of your running pressure. Even if the percentage for high and low alarms was user settable it would be better than what they have now.

[Gary.Jones]

Don

I bet it is a legal liabiliy issue.... Don pointed out to me that the pressure and temperature points are consistent with some "industry standard". My guess is that if they let us program in any warning level we wangted, they leave themselves open for lawsuit. I might be wrong, but that is my guess.

Simply using less stringent criteria, particularly when programming the toad's pressures would make a lot of sense.

I have now added roughly 3500 miles on the system with the pressures and baselines that I have previously published with no warnings except for the recent warning on the OK toad pressures. Those settings work just fine, but I suspicion that my tags are a bit high and will help reduce porpoising. I will let you know when I get it done.

Gary

[757driver]

Originally Posted by Gary.Jones

Don

I bet it is a legal liabiliy issue.... Don pointed out to me that the pressure and temperature points are consistent with some "industry standard". My guess is that if they let us program in any warning level we wangted, they leave themselves open for lawsuit. I might be wrong, but that is my guess.

Simply using less stringent criteria, particularly when programming the toad's pressures would make a lot of sense.

I have now added roughly 3500 miles on the system with the pressures and baselines that I have previously published with no warnings except for the recent warning on the OK toad pressures. Those settings work just fine, but I suspicion that my tags are a bit high and will help reduce porpoising. I will let you know when I get it done.

Gary

Not sure about the “industry standard” claim and any possible liability. My TPMS allows me to set what I want for temperature and also high and low pressure alarm values.

[jestew3]

Originally Posted by gswindle

I wanted to update everyone on my experience with the Valor System and my smart tool on my 2019 Anthem.

I had my coach weighed at NIRVC in Atlanta. I am going with 125 psi on the front and 85 on the drives and Tag. I am a fully loaded full-timing coach.

While I was in Atlanta Don Rigby the Valor RV Rep was teaching a class to the Techs there. He invited me to sit in the class he was teaching. The
class was very informative. After the class Don set my baselines as described above. He also took me to lunch. Very nice man.


On the way to Texas the system worked fine. As the tires heated up in the summer heat I received a yellow warning that my tags pressure had rose to 102 from 85 base line. The system worked as it was supposed to.


When we arrived at our home base I took at my smart tool and within 10 minutes I had set my tag baseline up to 90 (allows for temp up to 108) to
compensate for the heat. We took our next trip a few days later and everything was green.

I may be the only one that likes the system but it works. I had an EEZ system on my Tiffin and I like not having to change batteries or be concerned about some place to put the monitor.

I do recommend purchasing a smart tool for $207 it will come in handy as I make small corrections or rotate tires on the tow vehicle.

Gary

Afternoon Gary,


I have a very similar coach (2019 Anthem 44A) and I have had it weighed (each axle individually). I have my drive axle pressure set at 80 PSI, which corresponds to 20,600 lbs of load carrying capability on the 20,000 lb axle according to the Michelin tire charts for our tires. I also have the tag set to 90 PSI, which is 12,440 lbs of load carrying capability on the 12,000 lb tag axle. Why do you have your tires set at 85 PSI? Is that what Valor recommended? Please do not take offense to my question, I am just trying to make sure I have properly inflated my tires. I also have my fronts set to 125 PSI, which is 16,540 lbs of load carrying capability and within my front axle weights.


Thanks

Ted

[757driver]

Originally Posted by jestew3

Afternoon Gary,


I have a very similar coach (2019 Anthem 44A) and I have had it weighed (each axle individually). I have my drive axle pressure set at 80 PSI, which corresponds to 20,600 lbs of load carrying capability on the 20,000 lb axle according to the Michelin tire charts for our tires. I also have the tag set to 90 PSI, which is 12,440 lbs of load carrying capability on the 12,000 lb tag axle. Why do you have your tires set at 85 PSI? Is that what Valor recommended? Please do not take offense to my question, I am just trying to make sure I have properly inflated my tires. I also have my fronts set to 125 PSI, which is 16,540 lbs of load carrying capability and within my front axle weights.


Thanks

Ted

Ted,

With your known 4 corner weights you could most likely be much lower than you are for the drive and tag axle weights BUT Spartan (and I think someone mentioned that even Michelin) recommend not going below 85 psi on the drive and tag axles to help prevent rolling a tire off of the rim.

[jestew3]

Originally Posted by 757driver

Ted,

With your known 4 corner weights you could most likely be much lower than you are for the drive and tag axle weights BUT Spartan (and I think someone mentioned that even Michelin) recommend not going below 85 psi on the drive and tag axles to help prevent rolling a tire off of the rim.

Thanks Don, that is good info. I was setting my pressures strictly by the Michelin tire charts. I'll make sure I air the drive axle tires back up.


Ted