Tire pressure monitor systems

[snydzy]

I have noticed that there are some wireless tire pressure monitoring systems available for trailers for around $100+. Some of these systems even monitor tire temperature. Most utilize a sensor on the valve stem that sends real time info to a remote display. I think this would be a good investment for those of us who do a lot of trailering. The problem is that there are a lot of products out there,... some good,.. some not so good. Has anyone utilized one of thes TPMS? Is a repeater necessary? (this seems to be an upgrade on some systems) I want to purchase one, but I want it to work and anyone with some experience/advise would be appreciated.

 

[Scuffy]

We trailered coast to coast last summer. I would spend money on quality tires and have them balanced. I do an a tire pressure air check every morning. During stops for bathroom breaks and fuel I always lay my hand on the tires and take two fingers and touch the hubs before setting out for the days travels. That will tell you if anything is out of order. Some carry the hand held infra red temp sensors. I have one but never really use it for tires. We put Michelin XPS radials on our trailer. Got tired of the Chinese may pops and gonna pops. When the tires blow the pressure sensors will tell you what you already know.

 

[bill j]

I have the TPMS system by Dill. It is great!! I can look at tire temperature and pressure constantly from the truck. It was installed by Discount Tire and the service from Dill has been tremendous. Give us peace of mind while on the road - Bill

 

[PhilR]

Scuffy,

What size Michelin XPS tires did you put on your trailer?
Thanks.

Phil

 

[snydzy]

We put Michelin XPS radials on our trailer. Got tired of the Chinese may pops and gonna pops. When the tires blow the pressure sensors will tell you what you already know.

Well, the XPS radials aren't available for 15" rims, so it's not an option. I can't share your opinion on ST tires Most trailer tire blowouts aren't a result of bad or inferior tires. More the result of over or under inflated tires that leads to extreme heat build up that causes the failure. Hence, a monitoring system seems like a sound idea...

 

[Scuffy]

Phil,
T 235/85 R/16 Michelin Lt load range E

I wonder Snydzy how many miles have you trailered your boat so far since you have owned it? Lots of RV'ers and boaters forums have discussed the ST tire issues. If you think you will be better off with ST tires and an air pressure temperature monitoring setup more power to you. My feeling is that the Michelins are better tires than any ST rated tire without a 65 mph limit. Not that I tow much over 65 mph but a tire with a 65 mph speed limit has to tell you something. I know some of the people trailering longer distances towing R25's and R27's using ST tires actually carry two spares. Maybe 16" rims could work on your trailer.
Safe Travels,

 

[snydzy]

Scuffy,
I've trailered my tug about 8500 miles or so to date. 16" rims won't work. Last fall, I did have an unfortunate tire event, a blowout, and believe me, I researched this issue extensively. I purchased 4 new ST tires and I talked to a lot of tire shops before venturing down the ST tire solution. I upgraded a load range from the stock tires from D to E. As far as the ST tire debate,...I feel that brand name ST tires matched for the trailer and boat, properly inflated, properly maintained, and not overloaded are the right tire for the job. By the way, the speed designation is 85mph on the new tires.... Thanks for sharing your thoughts though.

 

[Scuffy]

Snydzy,
What brand ST tire did you select? I noticed a previous post about tires you changed one because of a blister and another blew on the same trip. I wondered if these two incidents were related to Low or high inflation?

Quote "Recently returned from trip down to Kentucky Lake. On the way down, noticed a blister appear on the rear right trailer tire, so, stopped at a gas station and had my best "NASCAR " moment with the tire being changed in about 6 or 7 min. (Wife was proud!) Put the blistered tire on the spare tire mount, muttering about how ugly that looked. All was well, the week went fast, reluctantly loaded the tug, and started the 8 hr journey home. Halfway between Evansville and Indianapolis (no man's land), I heard what sounded like a shotgun blast, and saw the front left trailer tire shredding into pieces at about 65 MPH. Scared the hell out of me! Didn't lose control, everything tracked straight, slowed down and headed for the berm. What a mess... the tire beat the hell out of my fender" end quote

 

[snydzy]

Scuffy,
Actualy, they had reached their service life. I'll replace my new ones in three years as recommended. The blister was a warning sign I failed to recognize... that was the point. The brand is irrelevant. The age wasn't. Lesson learned.

 

[harry ames]

Well, back to the actual question. I'm using the EEZRV tire pressure and temp monitoring system. I have an 8 sensor system and it cost several hundred dollars. The display is the same regardless of the number of sensors you buy. I move the sensors and display from my motor home to my truck and whatever I might be trailing behind on any given trip. T The EEZRV is commonly used on 18 wheel over the road trucks as well. There is great peace of mind to be able to see the pressure and temp status of the tires. Especially in hot summer driving. One surprise blown tire at speed due to over heating from delamination or whatever will pay for your system. Doesn't mean that a tire won't go bad, it does mean that you may get a heads up before you lose the tire altogether.

My motor home is 32 feet long and my trailer tires are 18 feet behind that and I don't need a repeater. The repeaters are sometimes required for the big over the road tractor trailer rigs.

 

[Dale777]

My brother tows a 32 foot 5th wheel RV with two axles behind a Silverado 2500HD 4x4 diesel. His RV weighs almost exactly the same as my previous R27 and Float-On trailer combined. A year ago, when his RV was only 1 year old, and had only about 4,000 miles on it, the right, rear tire blew out on a two lane road east of Carrabelle, FL.

He HAD NO IDEA that there was a blow-out until a car behind him overtook him and pointed it out. He was very lucky indeed that there was a good samaritan to notify him before the other tire on that side also blew out from being over-stressed. The moral of the story is that it is better to know when a blow occurs or tire temp gets too high or tire pressure gets too low, so that you can take proactive action. Checking pressure each morning or even at every stop is not sufficient.

Since that blow out, he has now installed the EEZRV tire monitor system referred to by Harry Ames in a previous post. He travels with much more comfort now that he can anticipate problems or know of a blow out immediately.

On my first motorhome, I also had a blow out on the right, front traveling 70 mph towing a Jeep Grand Cherokee out on a lonely stretch of I-80 in Wyoming. I had just checked all tire pressures at a rest stop only about 1 hour earlier. I had a habit of checking at every stop. Soon after that, on my 2nd motorhome, I had tire pressure and temperature indicators installed on all 6 motorhome wheels and on the 4 Jeep wheels.

As you can see, I'm a huge believer in tire pressure monitors when towing anything.

 

[stwendl]

Do you take the sensors of when launching the trailer into water?

 

[snydzy]

Thank you Harry and Dale. Excellent responses! I appreciate the input. I can see that the better systems are about twice the figure I originally stated. There are a lot of units that are designed for use on a passenger vehicle only... they wouldn't work on an rv or a boat trailer. It doesn't make sense that a system that is prevalent on today's vehicles as a safety feature,.... wouldn't be a good thing on a 10,000 lb trailer.
I experienced an "at speed" blowout, and although it wasn't catastrophic, it may have been. A tpms probably would have given me a "heads up" something was amiss. The temperature feature can alert for a brake or hub problem as well. Any practical devise that may alert us of an upcoming disaster is worth the investment, and modern technologies are making many things possible.
Thanks again!

 

[harry ames]

think about the fact that the sensors are on the outside in all the mud and rain and snow for hours on end. No, you don't take them off when launching.

 

[harry ames]

Scammers are getting more clever by cutting and pasting my post to sound like they know what they are talking about. See my post and the scammer's post. Don't click on the scammers "detail."

 

[Bruce Moore]

Scammers are getting more clever by cutting and pasting my post to sound like they know what they are talking about. See my post and the scammer's post. Don't click on the scammers "detail."

Post deleted and account deactivated.

 

[harry ames]

Good job!