Tire Pressure Monitoring System - Need vs. Want

[AmeriStar]

Our coach has a Smart Tire monitor installed when we purchased it last year. The prior owner sweared by it. As a test, I lowered the pressure in the right rear tag tire by 20 pounds, checked the monitor - NOTHING. Drove it down the road a couple of miles - still nothing. Headed back to the barn after lowering the pressure another 10 pounds (now tire pressure is below 70 lbs) STILL NO INDICATION of LOW PRESSURE. Pulled into the barn and removed the valve core. When the tire was almost empty the dash monitor alerted that there was a "low pressure problem". I know this particular monitor system is 5 years old, and may have been subject to not being serviced properly, but needless to say, it has been removed and tossed in the trash.

Thump your tires at every stop is still a good rule. Learn the "tone" of a properly inflated tire. Check your tire pressures with a good quality gauge prior to any extended journey.
This has been my experiance. Yours may vary.

[jack14r]

The pressure pro manual states that at 12% under the set pressure the alarm will go off,I know that it works because on real cold nights I have had an alarm on my truck when the tires were a couple of pounds low and combined with the cold temperature the alarm is activated at the wrong time of the night.

[gmcbuffalo]

Once the batteries in them get low they don't send a signal. If you got one that is not working I bet it over 3 years old and been on the tire all that time. The units don't stop working just because you stop.

[dmatz]

I had pressure pro on my last bus, mostly so I would know if the toad had a issue. It certinally gives you piece of mind knowing all is ok. It does not replace the necessary walk around, thump and visual. The sensitivity of the pressure pro was very good, and was a good way to check pressure on all or any tire at any given time. I did purchase an use a repeater, I am sure Tom can guide you on that. I took the system with me to my current coach for my toad.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

I don't think there is a silver bullet when it comes to tires and monitoring their condition.

No tire pressure monitoring device is going to warn of an impending blowout from a tire that is properly inflated. It won't warn of tread separation. It will warn of loss of air pressure but it could also fail to warn as Kevin points out.

Doing a pre-trip and periodic tire pressure check and inspection may also fail to detect issues.

I think the bottom line is that we should not place all our trust in any one method of checking tires and no matter what steps we take, or what devices we employ we still can have problems. Where I see red flags is when I hear owners place 100% faith in their method of checking tires. I have heard owners tell me they do not check their tires the old fashioned way because they can see the pressures on their tire monitoring system. Maybe they are comfortable relying on a mechanical device, but stuff fails. If I had such a device I would still feel the need to verify at least once the readings were accurate, and I would never stop my practice of visually looking at my tires on a walk around combined with running my hands over the portion of the tread I can easily reach to feel for nails or other defects such as cuts. Nothing is perfect, but we can approach perfection by stacking the deck in our favor by using multiple methods to verify tire condition, including using a temperature reading gun right after stopping to make sure all tire temps are the same.

If I were to stress any single issue that I see with tires it would be to never ever allow tire pressures to drop 20% below the required pressure for the weight the tire carries. As soon as a tire has been run at low pressure it is scrap, and while it may look perfect, and have good tread depth it may be damaged so bad it will fail catastrophically and without warning.

[phorner]

I guess over my RV driving career I've been a bit obsessive about checking my tires. Nothing gives me more concern than a catastrophic tire failure at highway speed.

And, to be realistic, there are some failures that I simply cannot protect myself against. As Jon says, the best I can do is try to stack the odds in my favor as best I can.

To that end, I recently installed a Pressure Pro TPMS on the bus and Hummer (thanks, Tom!) and yet I still cannot bring myself to rely solely on this system. To me, it is another tool, another source of information, that I can use to help keep the odds in my favor.

It offers some peace of mind knowing that while I am driving, I can still monitor tire pressures. This of course is not possible without a TPMS of some kind.

But, the Pressure Pro will not replace my visual inspections before starting out each day and routinely at rest stops.

And I'll keep that rabbits foot right next to my 4 leaf clover and always step out of the bed with my left foot first in the morning and wear my lucky socks while driving the bus....just for luck

Can't hurt...

[rahangman]

John & All....I agree with most all that has been discussed, but wonder about the IR Gun ( I use it for enroute stops & visual) anyway, is there any particular Temp? Mine all check pretty even, through one side (sunny) might be a bit warmer. They also seem to cool real quick. I have the "Tattle Trail" system but am considering a TPMS also on in lieu of.