Purchasing tire monitoring system....or not

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by franklyfrank

I have a tire monitoring system. It DID NOT HELP with the blowout we had however. I just scanned the monitor and looked away, than boom there went one of the GYM tires. Tore up the side of our Airstream.
We installed Michelins all the way around and a few months later with the new tires the TMS showed a loss of pressure in one of the new tires. I would lose 5 # and that was it. I pulled into a tire shop they checked it out without taking it of and and they couldn't find the leak. So after I got home, I took the tire of, took it the local tire shop and sure enough there was a 2" long screw in it.

Have to wonder if your failure was a Run Low Flex failure

or a Tread Separation like this

Term "Blowout" is used by many to describe any failure. TPMS will not warn of an impending Tread/Belt separation but a functioning TPMS will provide warning of air loss which is their intended purpose.

If you don't know the real root cause for the failure how do you know the action you took will prevent another failure?


RE your experience with Michelin tire. If you didn't have a TPMS and the air leak continued and you had a Run Low Flex Failure i.e. "Blowout" would you have then considered the Michelin "defective".
After all this is the logic that many seem to use.

[gecko]

Originally Posted by Tireman9

Have to wonder if your failure was a Run Low Flex failure

or a Tread Separation like this

Term "Blowout" is used by many to describe any failure. TPMS will not warn of an impending Tread/Belt separation but a functioning TPMS will provide warning of air loss which is their intended purpose.

If you don't know the real root cause for the failure how do you know the action you took will prevent another failure?


RE your experience with Michelin tire. If you didn't have a TPMS and the air leak continued and you had a Run Low Flex Failure i.e. "Blowout" would you have then considered the Michelin "defective".
After all this is the logic that many seem to use.

Fireman--very good points!

Our last trailer tire "failure" occurred when my wife, about to pull out of a gas station, noticed "something weird in the tire" in her side view. I hit out to check it, and it was a new 10" long bubble on the sidewall near the tread.

We check cold tire pressure every morning, and that morning was no exception. We have NEVER rubbed a sidewalk against a curb--we are both super attentive about it.

Because we caught it early, there was no damage. That tire was 6 months old and had about 6000 miles on it. The tread looked new. We checked the pressure when it was removed and the tire was not under inflated.

After the spare was put in place, we were fortunate to only be twenty minutes from Les Schwab, who replaced the tire and another one of the same young vintage that they didn't like the looks of. These wee part of a full new set of Towmarks from Schwab after we had w complete tread separation on a GYM the previous season, and another that was showing early bubble in the sidewall.

We now have a full set of Michelun's in 16" wheels, and recently added the TireMinder 66 system for peace of mind. Because our TV has duallies, it did not come with TPMS, so we have a ten sensor attempt in place.

The TireMinder has been working well, but has its own challenges because the dually valve extensions need to be under full air pressure for the sensors to work. This makes fir many potential leak points, each of which TireMinder has caught in time.

Since we replaced our original tires at 40K miles with new ones on the TV, we changed to Aneruca's Tires metal stems, and the nightmare started. Even though we carefully checked each component before installation (by submerging each tire/she'll/valve/extension/sensor in water tank), several have subsequently developed leaks after just sitting in the driveway..

After much research, I have just purchased Slrinter wheel specific metal valves which are supposed to make a better deal than the ones America's Tire has in stock. I will take my fourth trip to the tire shop tomorriw and we will start again from scratch.

So TPMS? I guess at this point I'd call it a mixed blessing. If we do get it right, it will be wonderful.

Oh--zero problems with the sensors in the Sendels/Michelins on the Airstream that are part of the same system!

[TheCabin]

Related to TPMS are actual scales to measure tire loading. Has anyone used one of these:

https://www.pce-instruments.com/us/w...art&_listpos=1

[polarlyse]

I went for the wheels and Michelins a few years ago and couldn't be happier with them. Also had been thinking about a TPMS system but have not decided to pull the trigger on that yet. I hear too many mixed opinions. We have a friend that tows a BIG 5th wheeler and they had 2 flats on the road a few weeks ago. They have a TPMS and still had significant damage with the first one. They fared better the next day with the second as far as damage goes. SO, for me the jury's still out.

[m.hony]

For me there is some peace of mind that comes from constantly knowing the tire pressure and temperature.


Sent from my iPad using Airstream Forums

[NWRVR]

I just installed the TST 507 and it does give piece of mind to see the pressures and temperatures. It may not avert a blowout but it could lessen the time the tire has to continue to do damage. Also, I had a shredded tire on my aluminum tandem axle boat trailer and didn't know it until another driver alerted me. The trailer has heavy gauge diamond plate fenders so no damage but had the flat and subsequent shredding (it wasn't a blowout) occurred on my AS it would have caused significant damage that could have been averted. TPMS is like a security monitoring system for your house, it may not deter the event but may lessen the loss if the responders are quick to arrive.

[israndy]

I don't know if it is true of the trailers, but I am satisfied that the module keeping me up to date on the pressure means my crappy MPG in my RV is at least as good as it can be. I personally have the TST, it was cheapest, but I have fallen in love with the design.

-Randy