Tire Pressure Monitoring System

B

Boatdreamer

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 15, 2012
Messages
266
Fluid Motion Model
C-28
Non-Fluid Motion Model
17 Keywest
Vessel Name
Gratitude
Food for thought. A friend of mine had a catastrophic hub failure on his boat trailer this week and that started me thinking about using a TPMS on my trailer. We have a TST system on our Airstream that I use every time I move it no matter how short the drive is. On an Airstream a tire failure can result in thousands of dollars in damage due to a tire coming apart and hitting the very fragile aluminum skin and under pan. Most systems monitor tire pressure and wheel temperatures. I think if a hub or brake caliper was starting to fail the temperature would climb dramatically and give you enough warning to pull over and check it. I have valve stem sensors on the RV but they won’t work on a boat trailer because they’re not waterproof. I have found some sensors that attach inside the wheel and are totally waterproof but you have to break down the tire to install them. I’m wondering how many Ranger Tug/Cutwater owners have had their butts saved by using a TPMS on your trailer.

Tim
Gratitude
 
I have been looking at the "TireMinder" TPMS as we will be doing more and more towing of our boat. Their FAQ says their valve stem sensors can be submerged for short periods of time, less than 30 minutes.
https://www.tireminder.com/
 
ixlr8":mjbpa104 said:
I have been looking at the "TireMinder" TPMS as we will be doing more and more towing of our boat. Their FAQ says their valve stem sensors can be submerged for short periods of time, less than 30 minutes.
https://www.tireminder.com/
Click to expand...

I have the TireMinder system and have had good luck with it. It did save me once when I stopped at a rest area and I got an alarm upon leaving because I had a puncture in a tire from running over a drill bit. I use it every trip. HOWEVER, at first (3 years ago) I did not remove them prior to launch and had problems with them afterward. The manufacturer replaced one at no charge, but I always remove them prior to launch because it is so easy to do so. Initially I did not install the repeater on my Chevy diesel, but later decided to even though I really did not see any issues without it.
 
I used a tire minder on a 20,000 mile trip from Florida to Alaska down through the western National Parks and back to Florida. First time the in cab alarm sounded I had no idea what the sound was. Finally located the source, the tireminder index display showed the location of the tire and decrease in tire pressure. It was a bad valve stem, replaced it. About 500 miles later another alarm, different valve stem. Because I use H rated tires @105psi the installer should have used metal stem valves, not rubber because of the high pressure. The next time the alarm went off was in Texas, pulling out of a rest area it sounded, visual inspection revealed nothing, found a nearby (30 miles, this is Texas) tire center who found that I had a cracked rim, replaced it and was on my way. I also carry IR Thermometer and at every stop I shoot the tires, and hubs for relative temperatures .
 
Tim based on the way you maintain your boat and trailer I don't think you are going to have an issue. Maintaining proper air pressure, brake inspections, wheel bearing inspections and trailer tire replacement at suggested intervals is the key to preventing catastrophic failure. If you yearly inspect wheel bearings and seals and brakes you should be in good shape. This is not to say that there is not going to be a failure but it reduces the chances. I as most do, check bearing temperatures kick the tires each time I pull over for fuel or just to take a break from driving, I give everything a good visual inspection.If I feel that I need to check tire pressure I do. This is probably as good as having a monitor.Even if I had a monitor I would still do the same thing anyway. A monitor isn't going to fix an issue it is going to let you know you have an issue when it is happening.

Most trailer tire failures are not because of low air pressure. Although they can fail because of to low or to high of pressure. The failures are usually do to a belt separation and a blow out. This is common on trailer tires with age. And it can do some damage. I have had this happen once in 40 plus years of towing a boat. A 3 year old trailer with less than a 1000 miles on it. Custom made TrailMaster with a 26' SeaRay on it. Tires looked perfect, air pressure checked before leaving on a 350 mile trip to Lake of the Ozarks. All was good and a tire just blew out.It took out part of my fender and put black marks on the hull. Monitoring the tires would not have prevented this. I mounted the spare checked all tires (pressure and lug nuts) and proceeded. 100 miles later I had the same thing happen again. I did't have a spare.I was able to strap the axel and get to an exit to purchase 5 new tires. The date code on the tires 5 year old tires, Carlisle was the manufacture. This was 2004. I think trailer tires are better today than they were then but I still go by the 3 to 4 year date code replacement.

The best monitor is good preventative maintenance and visual inspections every couple hundred miles. The maintenance of keeping the monitor working with a boat trailer could be more than it is worth. I guess it is another layer of insurance. Nothing wrong with that! If I had a monitor I may have a different opinion. I know I would still not change what I do and rely on it exclusively.
 
I’m the poor miserable bastard that had the catastrophic hub failure. The hubs on my trailer are oil bath and the best expert opinion is that the seal failed completely all at once and the oil evacuated followed by bearing seizure. I had been on the road less than an hour and traveling I-95 at my usual 65mph near Vero Beach when I heard a bang and felt a jolt. When I looked in the driver’s side mirror, I saw the wheel assembly wobbling and smoking. After I got pulled to the side and stopped is when I saw that the wheel and hub assembly had departed. I found the wheel and hub about 25 yards off to the side of the road on the same side, thankfully.

Before I left on this 1,000 mile tow, I aired all tires on truck and trailer to specs and leveled the trailer. There was no oil leaking at all. Not even a hint. There has never been on any of the hubs.

To get the boat off I-95, It took two large crane tow trucks to lift the boat on to a flatbed trailer for transport. Some have questioned why I didn’t just continue the tow on one the one remaining tire and wheel to the next exit. The answer: I did not want to make a bad situation worse. I had no idea if the other tire or wheel had been damaged. I was safely off the road and had no desire to go farther. If I had continued and the other wheel or tire failed, I would have been in a really, really bad situation.

Thank goodness for BoatUS Unlimited Gold Towing!
 
Sorry to hear about your bad experience. Thankfully, nobody was hurt!

I am now towing my 31CB with my new Ram 3500. In addition to spare tire and all of my regular tools, I carry two 20 ton bottle jacks, some various sized pieces of wood AND a spare hub with bearing and race, already greased and packed. This might ensure that I will never blow a bearing!

If you trailer, I would strongly suggest these items.

Bobby
 
In this case, a replacement hub more than likely would have been useless. The castle nut and bottom tip of the spindle were ground off leaving little to no way to secure the hub. Axel replacement is the only fix because the spindle can’t be replaced.

Your list of towing parts is a good one. I heard from one Tugnutter who carries a spare axel, two hubs ready-to-go, and THREE spare tires.
 
I have never had oil bath hubs. I have always had grease packed bearing hubs. All the hydraulic boat trailers that I hauled boats on when I was working has a technician had them. The trailers would get a lot of miles per year and be in and out of the water 4 or 5 times day for 3 to 4 months a year during spring launch and fall haul. We continually had seal failures but easily knew we had an issue by the color change of the lube. I believe the grease packed bearing to be more forgiving during a seal failure. I'm sure there are pro's and con's to both types. I replace wheel seals and repack my trailer hubs every 5000 miles or 3 years of use. I will replace a seal if I see a build up of grease on the inside of a trailer tire rim if needed do to seal failure . I use National seals a bit pricy but the quality seems to be better than the cheaper priced seals. I keep a set of bearings and 2 extra seals in the truck along with a grease gun with wheel bearing grease, a jack, wood 4x4's, bearing race and seal install mandrels and the hand tools necessary to repair a wheel bearing in the event of a failure. I don't have an axel or rotor hub as a spare. Knock on wood I have never had a wheel bearing fail yet. As Bill has stated it can happen. Sorry to hear about your experience. I know you are conscientious about maintaining your boat and equipment associated with it. I guess it can happen to the best of us and it always sucks when it does!
 
Back to the original question, tire minder system. I do not have one, but have a friend who uses it on his airstream as well. He loves it. I have had my share of flats and blowouts in my travels. I found that 3 to 4 years on the tires, regardless of tread looking great, is time to change them. Perhaps the Goodyear tires may last longer. I stop every 2-1/5 hours, get fuel, check the hitch and check tire temperature and hubs with and IR thermometer. I also check tire pressures even when hot just to see if there is significant difference among them. I also check pressure every morning before hitting the road. I carry a small 12V high pressure compressor to top them off if necessary. For the most part I have caught issues before the blowout. The tire minder would probably catch the low pressure before an excessive heat build up and may prevent full tread delamination. As Brian mentioned, I carry three spares, two hubs ready to go, spare bearings and races and an extra axle. I also have a bottle jack a tire changing ramp https://www.bigdweb.com/product/cod...0Rwdzd2urUm2FmeWWQFTiS5RnFN4InDxoCELUQAvD_BwE and an electric impact wrench. I can change a tire and be on my way in 15 minutes!
 
I’ve followed Knotflying for many miles and I think I’m ahead of him on the flat score sheet. I also carry all the spares previously mentioned. After having to change a flat on RT 95 in the pouring rain I invested in the impact gun. Knotflying and I are like NASCAR tire changers now.
https://www.harborfreight.com/20v-max-l ... 64195.html
 
I want to thank everyone for their input on this topic, this is how we learn from one another. I also carry three extra hubs and bearing sets along with a rotor and a spare caliper, but I didn’t have an extra castle nut and washer, I do now! I have ordered four extra valve stem sensors for the boat trailer because I already have the TPMS monitor and I don’t want to keep moving them from the RV to the boat trailer every time we use it.
Thank you Brian for the nice comments on our boat and trailer, I try to be proactive with maintenance and how we take care of her.
Bill I didn’t want to name names when I started this topic but since you posted about it I’ll make a few comments on it. First I want to say Donna and I think you hit the lottery because it could have been soooooo much worse than it was. What could have been a really bad outcome in so many different ways, turned out to be a minor (but somewhat expensive) inconvenience. I have never seen a hub failure that ripped the caliper mounting bracket off the axle until I saw your wheel and brake assembly lying behind your boat. I think you are one super lucky guy or you just have incredible driving skills! One more thought, Mike do you really carry a spare axle? WOW I thought I was prepared for anything. Amazon and I thank everyone for all the great information.

Tim and Donna
Gratitude
 
knotflying":3cpetzo6 said:
Yes, I do carry a spare axle. And I guarantee the one part I will need I won't have. :lol:
Click to expand...
And its cost will be 79 cents.
 
I've towed two different boats/trailers for the past 20 years (including one trip up the AlCan) without even a flat tire. Now I've had a flat on each of the past two launches(120 mi. round trip). The law of averages seems to be catching up with me 🙁
 
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