tire pressure monitoring

[wagonmaster2]

RVRoamer -

Do you leave your sensors on the tires all the time or just when you're going to be driving the coach? When I'm at home for a couple of months, or going to be in a campground for a month I've been removing the sensors, both for battery savings and theft prevention. I happen to mention this one time while talking to a Pressure Pro representative and she had a fit. Said that didn't help the batteries that much and they weren't that much when being replaced. Guess she didn't consider $250 for the 10 sensors all that bad. And she said it could start the little rubber seals to leaking, which I'm sure aren't that hard or expensive to replace. Also she said for theft prevention they had locks, which I had ordered for $6.50 and consisted of 10 little nuts I could have purchased at ACE Hardware for 50 cents. And they do absolutely no good. They screw onto the valve core first before the sensor then tighten up against the sensor. A person with a good strong grip can still unscrew the sensor.
Still a good low tire pressure prevention product and wouldn't drive without them.

Wagonmaster2

[C Zimm]

With respect to my Tire Sentry units I leave them on the coach full time. It sits in front of my home and so far have had no problems with theft or vandals. I remove them from the tow vehicle when not in use and then place a paper spacer between the battery and contacts to prevent battery drain, otherwise they sense low pressure.
As noted above, the batteries only go active at the preset low pressure.

[tmar10]

I am looking at these caps to monitor tire pressures on the MH and toad:

http://www.accupressurecaps.com/

Has anyone had any experience with this product?

[AFChap]

all the other units the sensors are too big for the aluminum wheel holes

Not the case with my TST sensors ...I have Accuride aluminum wheels with round holes. Four of the six sensors on the MH are mounted at least partially within the holes in the wheels. Getting the special mounting wrench out after they are mounted is a bit tight, but doable! You can see 'em on my webpage, url in my sig. Click on "RV Travels" on the left, then go down about mid-page to a link to "RV Tire Care" and you'll find pics of my setup.

[Roam America]

i have the Doran unit since 2005. 6 sensors on the pickup and 4 on the 5er. In the past I've only keep them on spring thru fall; when I may be towing my trailer. Now that I'm fulltime, I will put them on and leave them on. In cold weather the pressure swing of fairly radical and the alarm is going off every morning. I wired the monitor thru a switch so that I can turn off the monitor when not needed.

[Gary RVRoamer]

Do you leave your sensors on the tires all the time or just when you're going to be driving the coach?

Mine stay on coach and car all the time. The first year I removed them for about three months during the winter but the seals got messed up and I had leaks on 3-4. After that, I just left them in place year around.

Yes, the little red seals are inexpensive and easy to replace - PP gave me a set of 10 when I asked.

[UFO Pilot]

I bought the Tire-SafeGuard system mainly because of the flow thru sensors, no removing of the sensors to check air pressure. They also have a locking system which requires an allen wrench to remove them.

[DAN L]

quote:
Do you leave your sensors on the tires all the time or just when you're going to be driving the coach?

i leave my tst system on all the time. the batteries in the sensors are supposed to last 7 years.
if you remove the sensors, they stop transmitting and the batteries would last longer.
it was necessary for me to use 4 haltec 90 degree valve stem extensions for clearance of my wheel liners.
all this info and more used to be in my signature block on the old irv2. what happened with the new improved? irv2?

[Richard 34A]

Originally Posted by DAN L

quote:

i leave my tst system on all the time. the batteries in the sensors are supposed to last 7 years.
if you remove the sensors, they stop transmitting and the batteries would last longer.
it was necessary for me to use 4 haltec 90 degree valve stem extensions for clearance of my wheel liners.

I like the TST brand TPMS the best, so far... are you happy with the monitor-quality and do you use the 12v power adaptor or did you hard-wire it to the motorhome's 12v electrical system?

I stopped to look at the Hopkins brand but none were on display. Based only on pictures that I've seen, it looks like the TST has a larger, more readable display than the Hopkins but haven't seen the actual unit of either system.

[Max Hubrich]

UltraClassicElectraGlide,

I installed the TST system several months ago. TST is a sponsor of the Newmar forum on irv2.

I installed eleven sensors-- Seven on the coach (I have a mounted spare) and four on the toad. I had steel valve stems put on the toad (recommended) and rebalanced all the wheels on the toad. The motorhome has steel valve stems and Equal (balancing media) in its tires. I just plug the unit into a power outlet on the dash board.

I installed an extra repeater antenna underneath the coach to ensure positive transmission of the toads signals. I recommend this. I can even read the toads tire pressures and temperatures in the garage at home with the garage door down.

I've only made a two hour (each way) trip so far. The system works as advertised and I am tickled with the data I now receive.

I got very interested in the TST system because it provides tire air temperature readings. The tires are in very close proximity to my brake calipers. My Workhorse chassis has a history of the Bosch brake calipers hanging up. I'm hoping that an abnormal tire air temperature rise would give me an early warning of an impending catastrophic caliper failure.

I can set the exact pressure and temperature parameters for each axle-- no percentages involved.

The system comes with two cute little locking tools for the sensors to the valve stems.

You will get an immediate alarm (both a red light and an audible signal) if any parameter is exceeded. The sensors report in routinely about every five minutes.

Battery life in the sensors is five years. You must send them in for renewal/exchange. Twenty five dollars per sensor.

I'll be reporting in on my progress with this system after my annual trip to Maine. It will be my first major trip this year--- in May.

If anyone is interested you can see the complete install here.

Good luck to you folks looking at similiar systems,

[DAN L]

Originally Posted by Richard 34A

I like the TST brand TPMS the best, so far... are you happy with the monitor-quality and do you use the 12v power adaptor or did you hard-wire it to the motorhome's 12v electrical system?

I stopped to look at the Hopkins brand but none were on display. Based only on pictures that I've seen, it looks like the TST has a larger, more readable display than the Hopkins but haven't seen the actual unit of either system.

i hard wired it to a source on the ignition sw. (back up display circuit) i use the cig plug for power when parked for a long time so that it is always working. i just switch power sources on the side of the display. i mounted the display unit with velcro on the right side lower section of the instrument panel so that it faces upwards toward the driver.
the tst monitor display quality is very good. the numbers are large enough to see at a glance. the lcd display is backlit. the low pressure alarm is loud enough to wake me up in the bedroom, an anti theft feature? that is why i leave it on all the time.

[Richard 34A]

Originally Posted by Max Hubrich

UltraClassicElectraGlide,

I installed the TST system several months ago. TST is a sponsor of the Newmar forum on irv2.

I installed eleven sensors-- Seven on the coach (I have a mounted spare) and four on the toad. I had steel valve stems put on the toad (recommended) and rebalanced all the wheels on the toad. The motorhome has steel valve stems and Equal (balancing media) in its tires. I just plug the unit into a power outlet on the dash board.

I installed an extra repeater antenna underneath the coach to ensure positive transmission of the toads signals. I recommend this. I can even read the toads tire pressures and temperatures in the garage at home with the garage door down.

I've only made a two hour (each way) trip so far. The system works as advertised and I am tickled with the data I now receive.

I got very interested in the TST system because it provides tire air temperature readings. The tires are in very close proximity to my brake calipers. My Workhorse chassis has a history of the Bosch brake calipers hanging up. I'm hoping that an abnormal tire air temperature rise would give me an early warning of an impending catastrophic caliper failure.

I can set the exact pressure and temperature parameters for each axle-- no percentages involved.

The system comes with two cute little locking tools for the sensors to the valve stems.

You will get an immediate alarm (both a red light and an audible signal) if any parameter is exceeded. The sensors report in routinely about every five minutes.

Battery life in the sensors is five years. You must send them in for renewal/exchange. Twenty five dollars per sensor.

I'll be reporting in on my progress with this system after my annual trip to Maine. It will be my first major trip this year--- in May.

If anyone is interested you can see the complete install here.

Good luck to you folks looking at similiar systems,

Nice write-up; are you a member of the other RV forum? There's a current thread there you could copy this to- great information here, and thanks for posting it.

[Max Hubrich]

Richard34A,

I do not belong to any other forum. This one keeps me busy enough. I got lots of other things to do----.

If you would like to copy and paste my TST thread, please go ahead and do it--

[Richard 34A]

Originally Posted by Max Hubrich

Richard34A,

If you would like to copy and paste my TST thread, please go ahead and do it--

Thank you Max H; I did just that!