TPMS Paid for Itself Today

[OldracerJim]

We were on a short trip to Austin, TX to do some wildflower drives while we parked at Lake Travis. After four days it was time to go home so we prepped and got on the road just after morning rush hour. The TPMS monitor went off and showed the drivers side, inner tire, to be low at 11 PSI. I had just checked them before we left four short days ago. Since the system sometimes gives an errant reading, I waited about 5 minutes and checked the readout again and it still said it was low. Temp of the tire was normal and matched those on the passenger side. The sister tire was normal pressure and temp too. I kept driving and soon started hearing a sound much like tire squeal whenever I used the brakes. As soon as it was clear, I pulled off the side of the highway and looked to see any obvious evidence of punctures, missing tread, etc. Seeing nothing and the tire looking "normal", I continued on for another 40 miles. That is when the TPMS went off again and showed the sister tire increased 6 psi and a temp warning. Now I was sure the outside tire was carrying the full load on that side and found a large parking area in a small town. Pulled off and used my Dewalt emergency battery booster and/or air compressor to check the pressure (11 psi) of the inner tire. I started inflating the tire and got it up to 38 psi when the compressor shut off to cool. As I watched, the pressure dropped about 0.5 psi every three minutes or so. I knew I had a serious problem.
Called my roadside provider and they responded with a service guy that arrived in one hour. He immediately said "I'll bet you there is a valve stem leaking", and proceeded to remove the tires. The inner tire had a steel valve stem with a "alligator" cap (one that has a ball seal so you don't have to remove it to put air in) and a 6" steel extension connected to the TPMS sensor. He pointed out there are four seals here prone to leakage so we bubble tested the stem assy and found a leak in the alligator cap. Went ahead and did a thorough examination and bubble leakage test on the entire exterior of the tire and when we found nothing, took the tire off and examined the interior of the tire. Nothing indicated a leak so we put it back together and checked with the bubble test one more time and found a small leak in the steel extension. Removed it and put the tire back on. Drove the 180 miles back home with no problem at all. The tire was the same PSI this morning as it was when we put the tire on.

Moral of the story is; I would not have pulled over as readily if I had not read many of the posts on this forum about TPMS and tire blowouts. The TPMS system I bought paid for itself yesterday with no blow out, accident or damage associated with a tire blowout. Thanks to all that posted their opinions and experiences.

[US1]

Hopefully next time the alarm goes off you will not continue to drive until
you hear noises while braking. Does that not defeat the purpose of having the TPMS system?
I believe that should be the moral, trust the system. Glad it all worked out for you.

[kmetz77]

Thanks for your post. I just bought a portable braking system for my dinghy, and it has the option to add the TPMS for the coach tires, and will display through the same tablet as the braking system. I'm definitely going to add the TPMS before my next trip.

Thanks again!

[OldracerJim]

Originally Posted by US1

Hopefully next time the alarm goes off you will not continue to drive until
you hear noises while braking. Does that not defeat the purpose of having the TPMS system?
I believe that should be the moral, trust the system. Glad it all worked out for you.

Agreed

[Mile Marker 42]

What time monitor system are you guys using?

[move on]

Well that is an awesome post that shows you why everyone should have a TPMS. Thank you for that.

[Toby Dog]

Best to turn the system on long enough before you leave to let it update pressures. Running on that low pressure likely compromised that tire. And possibly it's mate.

[UTTransplant]

We put one on a travel trailer had before the motorhome. We had another rig have a blowout with some damage. Two days after installation we were alerted to a low tire in time to pull into a parking lot. It was road debris we hadn’t even seen, but enough to cut the tire deeply. Replaced the tire and went on our way. A year or two later we got another alarm. We had picked up a nail in a parking lot next to a construction site. Swapped with the spare and got back on the road. We can’t manage a tire change on the motorhome by ourselves, but we still put a TPMS on all 6 tires there and the 4 tires on the toad.

[rffowler55]

Originally Posted by Toby Dog

Best to turn the system on long enough before you leave to let it update pressures. Running on that low pressure likely compromised that tire. And possibly it's mate.

I agree 100% with Toby Dog and this practice alerted us to a problem with a valve stem issue that had allowed a tire to lose pressure below a safe level. Our issue ended up being the actual valve in the valve stem was not sealing properly due to being loose, once tightened the tire pressure issue was resolved. Just a side note: we actually have had issues with the valve stem valves bending at the input plunger so we carry extra valves just in case.

[OldracerJim]

Originally Posted by Toby Dog

Best to turn the system on long enough before you leave to let it update pressures. Running on that low pressure likely compromised that tire. And possibly it's mate.

They also told me that so he did an inspection while we had the tire off. He said it had very little discoloration which is what happens when they are run low for too long. He felt it was okay and since he had two new tires in the back for me I felt he was being straight with me.

[OldracerJim]

Originally Posted by Mile Marker 42

What time monitor system are you guys using?

Tire Minder Smart TPMS is what I use.