How often to you check your tire pressure?

[richard5933]

Originally Posted by Krikati

Hi all,...

Would a TPMS on my toad tires give me quick warning of a sudden blowout? ...

Krikati

My understanding is that yes, a good TMPS should provide nearly instant updates on tires when there is a problem. Obviously it cannot prevent a blowout, but it will enable you to know what's going on with the tires on the toad. On my setup I get notice of any change in tire pressure, whether a slow leak or a catastrophic loss of pressure.

Originally Posted by Peter C

My approach to tires

...Step 2 - Drop spare tire, check date code, condition, and pressure yearly ...

To solve this issue I ordered an extra sensor for the spare tires. No longer have to crawl underneath to check the pressure on the spare, or have to dig out the spare in the back of the Suburban. Both show on the monitor.

[Olscot]

Most 'professional' drivers learn to ALWAYS do a quick walk around visual check of entire rig anytime you get out of the cab. A quick feel/touch to tires and wheels will tell if one is hotter than the rest. Only takes a couple minutes to pull the normal one up on a block so you can spin the other and check for noise or loose/tight bearing with a dual axle TT. Doesn't hurt to do the walk around before driving off again even after a short break. I once came out and found someone had disconnected an air brake line to rear trailer of triple trailer combination. Most blowouts seem to happen on right/passenger side due to debris and dropping off pavement. Helps to give them a little more scrutiny. Learned this in my 50 yrs and 4 million miles experience. Saved me from troubles lots of times. Still do the same with my TV even when not towing. Better to have a flat in a parking lot.

[Hermes]

How often to you check your tire pressure?

To be honest, a lot less since we switched to the Endurance tires from the Marathons. We have the Eez-Tire TPMS system which does a good job, just in case... Getting rid of the (blowout prone) Marathons removed a whole lot of worry. We run our Endurance at 65 psi, which is what our AS sticker recommends.

[inthralled]

I also use Eez-Tire TPMS with and monitor the spare on the trailer and truck with it also. It works great!

[white laker]

K.I.S.S. works for me! Checking tires is part of my hitch up process. I carry a good guage and get all six tire pressures before we go anywhere. At the same time I look at general tire condition and anything else associated with the running gear. When we stop along the way, I grab my lazer temp gun and shoot the tires, brakes rims and bearings. The temperature numbers don't mean a thing to me. What I look for is any major changes or any one item running hotter than the other ones. It's easy and takes only a few minutes. Thats better than hours along the side of the highway!

[MMCMRET]

You are not the only one that is obsessive about this. We completed a 2,200 mile round trip to Texas and tires were checked (cold) before we departed and (cold) before we started our return journey home.

[SYC2Vette]

Temp gun on order (great idea) comparative not absolute values like you say. Checking tire pressure before hitting the road every time and lug nut torque on trailer and TV too. I have lost a wheel one time and that was one time too many.

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by jondrew55

After having a blow out on a SOB trailer several years ago I'be been pretty obsessive about checking tire pressure every time I go out. Eventually I got a TPMS system which gives me pressure and temperature of each wheel. If a catastrophic blowout occurs, eventually you'll get a warning, but it may take a minute or two for the readout to get to the monitor and you can still get damage from an exploding tire.

Because the sensors go into "sleep mode" when the tires are rolling, I have to drive a bit before I start getting readouts. So before I pull out of my spot, I take a hammer and whack the tread of each tire and listen for a reassuring "thunk" on each one. If a tire has gotten significantly low, the sound will be different than the other tires and I'd pull the sensor off and check it manually and look for a leak. But the thunk method gives me enough confidence to start rolling and after a couple of minutes I'll get live pressure data on my monitor.

Maybe you need to check your TPMS to learn if and how it works. When parked, take the monitor with you and slowly unscrew a sensor so the air is slowly leaking and watch to see at what pressure, or even if , the warning sounds.

The couple of systems I have used (TST and TireTraker) both present the readings within about 15 minutes of turning the monitor on so I learn the pressure without having to drive away. TPMS are monitoring the pressure all the time but they only report a loss when a loss occurs.

In my RV Tire Safety blog I cover how I recommend the warning levels be set (warning level to be no lower than 5 psi below the minimum pressure needed to support the measured load).

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by jondrew55

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This off-brand el cheapo. It seemed to work ok, but I'm never confident the sensors are actually communicating with the display even with the booster. And the display can be a bit hard to read sometimes. It takes a while for it to "wake up" and the only way I know it's updating is by watching the temperature increase. Of course once you've hit road pressure and temp, you really have no way to know it's updating unless it rains and the temperature goes down. If you unscrew one of the sensors, an alarm will go off. Sometimes almost instantly, sometimes it take a while.

I don't know if any of these higher priced systems are significantly better in that regard.

When you programmed the system what pressure is supposed to alarm? When doing the annual system check you can confirm the system is working as you want. If it isn't working then maybe it needs to be replaced.

[Tireman9]

Sorry I never answered the direct question.


With TPMS I am "checking" tire pressure every few seconds.

[RedSHED]

Fun subject.
I've watched tpms signals for random cars and trucks passing by with software defined radio and a $20 dongle. Typically at 315 or 430MHz, it's a pretty recognizable signal on the waterfall. I suspect the aftermarket are similar but haven't looked into it.
In theory with Gnu Radio, you should be able to interpret tpms signals - there are utoob vids about how. Some are supposedly encrypted, but again I haven't looked at that.

[jondrew55]

Originally Posted by Tireman9

When you programmed the system what pressure is supposed to alarm? When doing the annual system check you can confirm the system is working as you want. If it isn't working then maybe it needs to be replaced.

I think I have it set for 70 psi Low and maybe 95 high assuming my set psi for the tires is 80. Not sure what you are referring to by “annual system check”. The TPMS tracks my tire gauge setting pretty closely.

[jondrew55]

I've had this system for a year and know how it works. It updated faster on my old trailer. Unfortunately, when I sold it I forgot to remove the transmitters so I had to buy another one. This one does not seem as responsive. I've done the tire crawl with the monitor in hand and unscrewed the transmitters. Eventually (it's inconsistent) I'll get an alarm.

I just bought an EEzy Tire system some others had suggested and I'll try that ou to see if it's any better. I can always return it if I don't like it. The display is much nicer on the Eezy Tire. The one I have can be hard to read sometimes.

Originally Posted by Tireman9

Maybe you need to check your TPMS to learn if and how it works. When parked, take the monitor with you and slowly unscrew a sensor so the air is slowly leaking and watch to see at what pressure, or even if , the warning sounds.

The couple of systems I have used (TST and TireTraker) both present the readings within about 15 minutes of turning the monitor on so I learn the pressure without having to drive away. TPMS are monitoring the pressure all the time but they only report a loss when a loss occurs.

In my RV Tire Safety blog I cover how I recommend the warning levels be set (warning level to be no lower than 5 psi below the minimum pressure needed to support the measured load).

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by jondrew55

I think I have it set for 70 psi Low and maybe 95 high assuming my set psi for the tires is 80. Not sure what you are referring to by “annual system check”. The TPMS tracks my tire gauge setting pretty closely.

I would be much more concerned about the warning level for low inflation as running low inflation is what causes the excess heat that ages tire and can result in early failure. Basically tires do not fail due to high pressure as undamaged tires can tolerate a significant pressure increase with new tires usually able to tolerate an excess of +50 to +100 psi. I am not suggesting that running an excess of 30% but your LR-E tires (80 psi) should be able to tolerate well over 100 psi when running. My Class-C has LR-E tires and I set my Low warning at 75 psi.



Annual system check.
I recommend that at least once a year you check each tire position by allowing the air to leak out slowly so you can confirm that the system still works and confirm the low level is no lower than 5 below the inflation needed to support your measured load. I do this when at home where I have a good supply of dry air and the time to do the check.
I have seen some people say their TPMS "failed" but I am not sure what they mean. Was the battery low or did they have the low pressure warning level set too low. Like all mechanical or electronic items some can fail or wear out.

[jondrew55]

When I install the new system I'll change the low pressure range to 75. 100 sounds like a good high number.

I've never done a leak test like that but it sounds like a good idea.

Originally Posted by Tireman9

I would be much more concerned about the warning level for low inflation as running low inflation is what causes the excess heat that ages tire and can result in early failure. Basically tires do not fail due to high pressure as undamaged tires can tolerate a significant pressure increase with new tires usually able to tolerate an excess of +50 to +100 psi. I am not suggesting that running an excess of 30% but your LR-E tires (80 psi) should be able to tolerate well over 100 psi when running. My Class-C has LR-E tires and I set my Low warning at 75 psi.



Annual system check.
I recommend that at least once a year you check each tire position by allowing the air to leak out slowly so you can confirm that the system still works and confirm the low level is no lower than 5 below the inflation needed to support your measured load. I do this when at home where I have a good supply of dry air and the time to do the check.
I have seen some people say their TPMS "failed" but I am not sure what they mean. Was the battery low or did they have the low pressure warning level set too low. Like all mechanical or electronic items some can fail or wear out.