Mounting Tire Pressure Monitor

[Silverbee]

We have a Truck System Technology tire pressure monitoring system. Does anyone have some ideas for mounting the monitor other than the ones suggested in the instruction manual? The owners manual suggests double sided tape which makes my wife cringe on the thought of putting tape on the interior of our new truck. The other mounting suggestion was to mount it on the windshield using a suction cup, but the mounting bracket is huge.

Looking for ideas for a more custom look.

Thanks,
Tom

[HowieE]

No suggestion for the unit itself but if you have valve stem mounted sending units make sure you install steel stems before mounting the senders. The weight of the senders will ripe the rubber stem clean off or damage your good wheels. Something they don't tell you.

[SteveSueMac]

Unfortunately, I resorted to Velcro on a large black plastic clip for an angle I could see near my radio:

Here's the TST monitor on my radio face:



Here's the big plastic clip that serves as the base - TST velcroed to one side, clip velcroed to side of radio. Works for me. I'll just use alcohol or nail polish to remove the sticky Velcro glue when needed.

Alternatively, I think 3M makes a removable Velcro strip - that could work. I agree - the suction cup as mounting pad supplied are not very useful but the system is great! Great peace of mind!

[Silverbee]

Thanks Howie E. The company we purchased our TPMS from was very helpful and recommended stainless steel valve stems and also recommended a company to purchase them from. We had a local tire company install the valve stem. A bit of trouble as all the tires had to come off, but they took their time and did a good job

Thanks SteveSueMac for the pictures and descriptionof your set-up. That gives me an idea of something to work toward in setting mine up.

Tom

[streamintrip]

The TST TPMS is awesome! I have a big truck which I drive for a living and it also has the same system. I mounted our personal one on the extreme LHS of the dash of our 2010 Armada next to the w/s pillar using double-sided tape. Very inconspicuous and easy to see. A tip - since the Armada has its own TPMS, I use a TST sensors on both the Armada and Airstream spares.

[Jared129]

My TST system came with the windshield mounting suction cup- I placed it along the A pillar down low above the dash and it works well, I like not needing to take my eyes off the road to glance at the info.

[overlander63]

Tom, your truck has a large flat area, bounded by a raised ridge, in the center of the dash. That's there to hold the GPS and whatnot with the bean-bag type cradles. You can see if you can adapt one of those for your TPMS.

[Silverbee]

Thanks Terry. Deborah had suggested something like this too. I use one of the bean bags for my GPS and it works well in that application. Will give this idea some thought.
Tom

[andreasduess]

I looked at a TPMS today. $350 including tax. Is this money well spent?

We don't really travel long distances at the moment.

[RichHog]

It's money well spent if you have a tire blow out and it costs you $3000 in damages to your trailer.

[andreasduess]

That I get. But can't the same effect be achieved by manually measuring pressure before long journeys and generally keeping an eye on things?

How likely is tire failure whilst travelling? I need some arguments here to stop my wife rolling her eyes when ordering YAG (yet another gadget)

[wolverine]

Originally Posted by andreasduess

That I get. But can't the same effect be achieved by manually measuring pressure before long journeys and generally keeping an eye on things?

How likely is tire failure whilst travelling? I need some arguments here to stop my wife rolling her eyes when ordering YAG (yet another gadget)

While I always check tire pressure at the beginning of a trip, I had tire blow outs on two consecutive days on a return trip from Arizona and drove significant distances without realizing the problem. I spent a lot more on repairing the resulting damage than one of these units would have cost to install in the first place. Dual axle airstreams with one blowout tire don't normally alert you to a problem until it is much too late and after lots of damage has occurred. A $350 investment in a TPMS system is exactly like the insurance coverage you have on your unit. While you hope that you never use it, they will give you an immediate warning if pressure drops suddenly, tires are overheating, or a blowout occurs allowing you to stop before the damage is compounded. The piece of mind alone is worth the $350. I would not think of traveling without insurance coverage on my Airstream or a functioning TPMS for immediate notification of a tire problem.

My wife just told me to have you tell your wife she will really roll her eyes when she sees what a repair will cost if you are not properly protected.

[andreasduess]

Just found a system that sends the monitoring data to my Android phone. Awesome.

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by andreasduess

That I get. But can't the same effect be achieved by manually measuring pressure before long journeys and generally keeping an eye on things?

How likely is tire failure whilst travelling? I need some arguments here to stop my wife rolling her eyes when ordering YAG (yet another gadget)

You might ask the wife if she would be comfortable if all the instruments on the dash stopped working after 5 minutes. TPMS "monitors" the tire inflation just as all the dash instruments monitor the engine etc.
Checking the tire inflation before every trip would be like checking the engine oil & water level each morning but not while driving.

[andreasduess]

The more I read about this, the more I am getting confused. There's people who say "never drive without one" and then there's the other camp claiming that these things actually cause tire failure...

Who's right?

[SteveSueMac]

Originally Posted by andreasduess

The more I read about this, the more I am getting confused. There's people who say "never drive without one" and then there's the other camp claiming that these things actually cause tire failure...

Who's right?

:-)

I think the only concern is with the externally mounted sensors on rubber stems. Externally mounted sensors on metal stems or internally mounted sensors with metal stems should be fine and can warn you well in advance (to pull over) if things are heating up abnormally or losing pressure - hopefully to avoid a tread separation or blowout.

One rookie's opinion. Let's have more seasoned folks chime in!

[Jared129]

In my paperwork, it specifically mentioned not to install the sensors on rubber stems. I lucked out since the wheels already had metal...

[Silverbee]

The distributor we bought our TPMS from told us up front that metal stems were a must for our external mount system. He also recommended a company, Always Shiny Wheels and RV, that sold quality stainless steel valve stems (Einky Valve Stems) 4 for $32. We had our local tire distributorship remove the wheels and replace the valve stems.

[Tireman9]

Check out my post. There are other posts on that thread that you might find of interest too.

I am not aware of any tire failures due to the use of TPMS but anything is possible. I am however aware of many thousands of failures from not constantly monitoring tire inflation.

Think of it this way. How would you feel if you didn't have any instruments in your TV to monitor engine temp, voltage, oil pressure or fuel level? After all you can check these items every morning and every time you make a rest stop