You should add a TPMS to your shopping list!

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

My point exactly. Creates a problem where one didn't exist.

I for one am convinced that the chances that a TPMS will create a problem (or at least no more of a problem than one that is pretty easy to fix), are infinitesimally smaller than the odds that it will save me from a big problem. Your caution about things like a hair getting in the way is valid and part of proper use. I trusted my life to a single o-ring many times at up to 110 feet under the surface of the ocean, but you can be sure that I checked it for loose hairs or other issues before we hit the water!

Originally Posted by Jon in AZ

... I have had a couple of false alarms on really cold mornings with snow against one wheel.
..

In fact a drop in temperature creating an alarm is covered in the manual.

But was it really a false alarm? As we know from Charles' Law, a drop in temperature results in a drop in pressure for the same volume of gas. So its not uncommon to need to add a little air to a tire when there is a substantial drop in temperature. Of course if the snow next to the tire was the sole cause, thats different. But cold mornings sometimes do call for an air compressor to come out.

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

Just to add to your level of stress, the TPMS on my RAV4 didn't work on at least one occasion. Tire was very low and I had no indication that it had been losing pressure. So, how does one know if the system is working or not? Must be a TPMS monitoring system out there somewhere on the web.

TST claims that the display will alarm when it has lost the signal from a sensor. Mine is not alarming for loss of signal. I have emailed TST will let you know what their reply is.

Thanks for prompting me to check this function.

[WizWid]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

My point exactly. Creates a problem where one didn't exist.

I strongly suspect that if someone invented today for example, seatbelts, you would try to make the same argument.

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by widgetwizard

I strongly suspect that if someone invented today for example, seatbelts, you would try to make the same argument.

In fact if you have a very full bladder and get in a collision, a lap belt can cause the bladder to rupture causing sepsis. A ruptured bladder would not be a problem if you were not wearing a seat belt.


(But the decapitation might be a bit of an issue for you )

[C&G in FL]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

My point exactly. Creates a problem where one didn't exist.

Wrong. It reports a problem that does exist, and often does so before the driver is aware that there is a problem. As I see it, you do not makes valid point whatsoever.

[floyd]

Originally Posted by Jon in AZ

Isn't the point to detect the pressure loss BEFORE is it apparent or significant?

The TPMS in my tow vehicle is sensitive enough that I have had a couple of false alarms on really cold mornings with snow against one wheel.

My light came on last week with no obvious reason for a false alarm and no detectable change is tire appearance or driving characteristics. Since I was already in town, I drove a few blocks to the tire shop, and sure enough, it was a few pounds low with a screw in it. There's no way I would have caught it that early without the TPMS.

We were scheduled to leave the next day on a trip with the Scamp. I probably would have caught the low tire pressure during the pre-trip check, but I would have lost half a day putting on the spare and driving to town to get it fixed.

I can see your point that TPMS can lead to complacency, but I'd still rather have it than not.

Haven't gotten around to doing the trailer, but Gordon, you're pretty persuasive!

The average TPMS trips the light between 3 and 5 pounds of pressure loss, most do not indicate which tire. On my cars I can feel a 5 to 8 pound loss and know which tire is low.
It is common for ambient temperature drops to trip the light anyway, especially in winter.
The purpose of TPMS on cars was not to detect a leak (although it will).
The purpose was to compensate for negligent tire maintenance.

In the case of a trailer it seems that its best use is to detect a more rapid pressure loss while underway, like a road hazard or a tire failure.
It might prevent wheel well damage, except in cases of tread separation without pressure loss.

When I was in fleet maintenance I had a person call me about a flat tire.
It was a low profile performance tire which was down to about 8 pounds before it was noticed. The rest of the tires averaged about 12 pounds.
That was before TPMS, the car was 5 YO, the owner had never checked the tire pressure. The next day I got a call saying that the car drove like new again! (go figger).

After TPMS became mandatory I got a person call me for road service complaining of a flat. The driver's only symptom was the light on the dash. Sitting on the expressway shoulder in heavy traffic with a tire only 5 pounds low because of a dash light presents its own set of hazards.

The first anecdote shows the need for TPMS, the second shows a drawback. A little understanding would obviate both.
Still, it can be a useful device.

[floyd]

Originally Posted by CPW

Wrong. It reports a problem that does exist, and often does so before the driver is aware that there is a problem. As I see it, you do not makes valid point whatsoever.

Yeah, sometimes months or YEARS before the the driver is aware!

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by floyd

...
After TPMS became mandatory I got a person call me for road service complaining of a flat. The driver's only symptom was the light on the dash. Sitting on the expressway shoulder in heavy traffic with a tire only 5 pounds low because of a dash light presents its own set of hazards.

Floyd... you are talking about a TPMS that gives no more feedback than a warning light... an all or nothing warning, and perhaps not even a customizable threshold for the warning.

What I am talking about is a pressure monitoring system that reports true pressure ( +/- 3 psi) in more or less real time (every five minutes), and has programmable thresholds for high and low pressure as well as high temperature. And it is tire specific.

I have noticed that the pressure in my TPMS equipped vehicle's tires can in fact be pretty far from specs with no warning, and the limitations of the TPMS on my vehicle have me considering adding sensors to my TST 507 system to get better information on the vehicle tires also.

[Wacenturion]

Have had the TST 507 system on our previous Bigfoot motor home and now on our 2008 Bigfoot 25B25FB. All I can add is, I wouldn't leave home without it.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by widgetwizard

I strongly suspect that if someone invented today for example, seatbelts, you would try to make the same argument.

Sorry but you would be wrong. I was around when seat belts were invented and when I bought my first car it driven to a farmer's without seat belts and left the shop with them.

So you thing you're qualified to pass judgement about me?

[WizWid]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

Sorry but you would be wrong. I was around when seat belts were invented and when I bought my first car it driven to a farmer's without seat belts and left the shop with them.

So you thing you're qualified to pass judgement about me?

That is very cool. I have never met someone who was around in the mid 19th century (when seatbelts were invented) I'll buy you a beer someday.

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

Sorry but you would be wrong. I was around when seat belts were invented and when I bought my first car it driven to a farmer's without seat belts and left the shop with them.

So you thing you're qualified to pass judgement about me?

Originally Posted by widgetwizard

That is very cool. I have never met someone who was around in the mid 19th century (when seatbelts were invented) I'll buy you a beer someday.

As originator of this thread, I hereby request that this thread remain on topic without personal attacks or comments. If that is not possible I will have the entire thread deleted.

[floyd]

Originally Posted by gordon2

Floyd... you are talking about a TPMS that gives no more feedback than a warning light... an all or nothing warning, and perhaps not even a customizable threshold for the warning.

What I am talking about is a pressure monitoring system that reports true pressure ( +/- 3 psi) in more or less real time (every five minutes), and has programmable thresholds for high and low pressure as well as high temperature. And it is tire specific.

I have noticed that the pressure in my TPMS equipped vehicle's tires can in fact be pretty far from specs with no warning, and the limitations of the TPMS on my vehicle have me considering adding sensors to my TST 507 system to get better information on the vehicle tires also.

I was actually thinking more about the TVs system as it compares in purpose and usefulness to a system for a trailer. Results come down clearly on the side of trailer TPMS, due to less natural feedback from the trailer.
They do both give constant feedback, and the features you describe might actually reinforce the conclusion above.

Not really for me though, I would be happy with a system with a simple instant report of a loss of more than 10 pounds on the trailer, even then it would be "advantage trailer" since the system is not really necessary, especially on the TV.

TPMS doesn't bother me on the TV except for the original cost,and
its kind of a idea cool for the trailer.

[floyd]

Originally Posted by gordon2

As originator of this thread, I hereby request that this thread remain on topic without personal attacks or comments. If that is not possible I will have the entire thread deleted.

Can you actually do that??

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by floyd

..
Not really for me though, I would be happy with a system with a simple instant report of a loss of more than 10 pounds on the trailer,...

Which is easy to do.... if your trailer tire pressures is 50 PSI, then set the TPMS to alarm at 40 and also use high enough PSI and temp settings to not false alarm, then put the TPMS display in a cup holder or wherever, and ignore it unless it goes BEEEEP BEEEEP BEEEEP.

[Paul O.]

Good write up. I bought my 507 from the perfectcasita people that you listed, two sensors, about $160, three years ago.

I got convinced of TPMS usefulness after my right rear tire was punctured by a sharp rock (presumably*) on the gravel part of the Trans Labrador Highway, in the middle of nowhere. It was a fast leak and the Tacoma warning came on. I pulled over slowly, got my tire patch and fixed it in place and pumped up. Finished the journey and the tires lasted another few months. They were the original ones and had about 40k miles, so the tread was low and they may have been more vulnerable on the gravel road.

Also, on my first trip with those sensors one got flakey and TST sent me a new one after we got home. That was about 3 years ago.

I understand that the sensor battery is not drained when there is no pressure, so winter storing months extend their life. The sensors have to come off anyway to lower the pressure after the rig is on stands.

*)there might also be steel slivers on that road, from the grader blades. They run them constantly.

[Glenn Baglo]

Originally Posted by gordon2

If that is not possible I will have the entire thread deleted.

Once you post, it no longer belongs to you.
You can request that the thread be deleted, but I really doubt that will happen.

[floyd]

Originally Posted by gordon2

Which is easy to do.... if your trailer tire pressures is 50 PSI, then set the TPMS to alarm at 40 and also use high enough PSI and temp settings to not false alarm, then put the TPMS display in a cup holder or wherever, and ignore it unless it goes BEEEEP BEEEEP BEEEEP.

You know how that goes!If i had the features I would use them.
I just haven't justified a TPMS for my trailer yet.
I do have everything else though, like I wasted the effort to put piezo spark lighters on my stove just so it had them. So who knows, I may get bored and add TPMS yet??

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by Paul O.

...

I understand that the sensor battery is not drained when there is no pressure, so winter storing months extend their life. The sensors have to come off anyway to lower the pressure after the rig is on stands....

That is my understanding also. I always remove mine when stopped for overnight or longer, so they have only been in use for a small amount of time in the 18 months I have had them. However I had to replace a battery in 19 months, were normal battery life is 12-18 months. So I don't think I got very much extra life out of them by always removing them.

[k0wtz]

paul you are a neat guy do you carry one of those breakers in your rig to fix a tire. I had a guy that worked for me his tires were shot and he would get a flat along side the road and fix it right there!


I never got over that I thought he was so cool!!


bob