Tire Pressure Monitoring System

[Wavery]

I just came across these on eBay. I have NO idea if they are any good or not, so take it for what it's worth. For $20, I figured that I couldn't go too far wrong.

These do not read out a constant tire pressure. They only warn you when the pressure gets low. I have no real desire to "Monitor" my tire pressure anyway. I just want to know if I have a sudden pressure loss on the trailer. You could drive quite a long distance without even knowing that you had a blow-out. This should warn me if I have low pressure or a blow-out and that's all I want.

I'll let you know how they work when I get them.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/SECUTIRE-WIRELESS-TIRE-PRESSURE-MONITORING-SYSTEM-TPMS_W0QQitemZ370352960634QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotor s_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories?hash=item563ac1b47a

[gocntry]

Works on cars that have a normal tire pressure of 35-50psi. Sounds alarm at 28 psi.


Wonder If It Will Work On Tires Where A Higher Max Pressure Is Used??

[Wavery]

Wonder If It Will Work On Tires Where A Higher Max Pressure Is Used??
If I get an alarm @ 28#, I'm very happy with that.

All I care about is if I get a nail in the tire and the air leaks out while on the road or if I have a blow-out. I don't mind checking the pressure before I leave.

The thing that I want to avoid is having some guy pull along side of me honking his horn....then pulling over to find the tire shredded and the plumbing (and other stuff) damaged on the TM.



You really can't feel when the tire goes on the trailer, in most cases.

[gocntry]

The Part About The 50# Is I'm Running The 15" Marathons With 60# In Them

I Wonder If That Will Set An Alarm Also??

[Wavery]

The Part About The 50# Is I'm Running The 15" Marathons With 60# In Them

I Wonder If That Will Set An Alarm Also??
I couldn't find much more info on these things. When I receive them, I'll post all the specs.

I have the same concern...... that the things may blow apart (or something) @ higher pressure. My TM tires are 50# cold but I'm sure that they are much higher when they are hot. I just figured.....for $20.......I'll put it on the car if it is risky on the trailer.

[ShrimpBurrito]

Having had a blowout on the TM, I can tell you that it would difficult to not notice it. The TM handles pretty well for a single axle trailer with a flat tire, but I think you'd have to be asleep to not notice. Or at least that was my experience that one time.

Dave

[Bill]

In my experience, this is not always the case, largely because, as you say, the TM handles so well. On our first blowout, I heard the loud "POP!", and recognized the sound. On another occasion, I happened to look back in the mirror and see smoke from the tire. Another motorist flagged me on a third occasion. On another, I felt the trailer pull to the side, as we were rounding a sharp curve when it happened - this was quite noticable. I've forgotten what the fifth one felt like. But depending, I guess, on the type of failure - instant blowout, slow leak, tread toss - there seem to be varying degrees of action reflected up to the driver.

Just my experience.

Bill

[Wavery]

Having had a blowout on the TM, I can tell you that it would difficult to not notice it. The TM handles pretty well for a single axle trailer with a flat tire, but I think you'd have to be asleep to not notice. Or at least that was my experience that one time.

Dave

Dave,

What you don't know (I assume) is how long the tire was below 25PSI or how far you drove (below 25PSI) before the tire blew.......

If you would have had some warning that the tire was low. there is a pretty good chance that a blow out may have been avoided........assuming that it was not an instantaneous, catastrophic failure.......which would be rare, IMHO....

[gocntry]

On our first blowout, I heard the loud "POP!"....On another occasion.... Another motorist flagged me on a third occasion...... On another, I felt the trailer pull to the side.... I've forgotten what the fifth one felt like. Bill

5 Blowouts?? :eek: Were All These On Your TM? Any With The 15" Tires Or All On The 14"?

[mtnguy]

Dave,

What you don't know (I assume) is how long the tire was below 25PSI or how far you drove (below 25PSI) before the tire blew.......

If you would have had some warning that the tire was low. there is a pretty good chance that a blow out may have been avoided........assuming that it was not an instantaneous, catastrophic failure.......which would be rare, IMHO....

That is exactly the reason that I run a TPMS. If the tire blows out from 50 lbs., then you don't have a warning until the tire blows.....but the TPMS should immediately warn you to pull over. But, I wonder how many of those "blowouts" are actually a low tire over many miles finally giving up the ghost ?? Or if just before a actual blowout, the tire pressure goes down 10 pounds or so as a pre-warning? A TPMS should definitely help with the last 2 scenarios, and get you off the road quicker in the 1st if you don't hear or see the problem.

[rumbleweed]

Although there is not 100% solution, I am very confident running the Temp and pressure monitor I have. What I like most is that I can see the tire temp and pressure real time and an occasional glance lets me know if something is heading in the wrong direction before the "POP" If the pressure and temp is going to a point I am uncomfortable, I can slow down or stop and check things. I know that Camping world is now selling the one I have, and not sure if the truck dealer I got mine from is still carrying them, but they offered two sensors and the receiver for $159,00. Certainly less than a body/ plumbing repair.
Link to TST web page : http://shop.tsttruck.com/product.sc;jsessionid=D26489A07D262C14E906656AC4AB 92E5.qscstrfrnt03?productId=27&categoryId=1

[Bill]

5 Blowouts?? Were All These On Your TM? Any With The 15" Tires Or All On The 14"?We have always travelled a lot with our TM, piling up tons of heavily-loaded hot-day miles at 65 mph on Interstates, and a lot of slower miles on poorer roads. We've done so since we bought our first TM in 2001. Back around 2006, after years of successful travelling, we had a sudden string of tire failures with the 14-inch Marathons. I blamed the tires - some say that Goodyear had switched production to China. But later it turned out that it might have been a problem with the valve stems - again, Chinese, and eventually recalled. We never figured out which was at fault.

Anyway, because I experienced so many failures, and because I wrote them up on this board, this is where the whole "let's change over to 15-inch tires" thing began. Bobby at West Monroe Tire (wmtire) in Louisiana pitched in to help with lots of real tire knowledge and some tires for us to experiment with, and the move to higher load-rated tires began. This was the beginning of the so-called Great Tire Experiment. A number of people changed tires, and the results are still slowly coming in.

To come to the end of the story, my string of failures ended abruptly when I switched to the 15-inch Marathons. I don't know if it was the move to higher load-rated tires or better valves, but I am perfectly pleased with the way things turned out. Once again I say "Thanks, Bobby!" By the way, I note that TM has switched to all 15-inch Marathons.

The long sad story is split among several threads in the Tires forum. Anyone who wants to review the situation will find a lot of it in these threads. It all started in Iowa City, Iowa, in 2004 ...

http://www.trailmanorowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1722
http://www.trailmanorowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4308
http://www.trailmanorowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5586
http://www.trailmanorowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6245

Bill

[Wavery]

I received the monitors yesterday and installed them today. They work as advertised. I put 2 of them on the TM w/50# of air. The monitor in the truck stayed green. I put the other 2 on my trailer dolly w/25# of air and the monitor turned red and the alarm sounded.

There is a separate LED for each tire on the receiver (the part in the TV) and the sending unit (the part that's on the valve stem) are each marked separately.

The down side of these is that they are a PITA to take off and put back on each time that I want to check the tire pressure (before each trip). Even at that, they are well worth the $. I may drill another hole in each wheel and install a second (steel) valve stem for checking the tire pressure.

[ragmopp]

The down side of these is that they are a PITA to take off and put back on each time that I want to check the tire pressure (before each trip).

Wayne, why are they so hard to take off? I imagine they just screw on/off, don't they?

Mike Anderson

[Wavery]

The down side of these is that they are a PITA to take off and put back on each time that I want to check the tire pressure (before each trip).

Wayne, why are they so hard to take off? I imagine they just screw on/off, don't they?

Mike Anderson

Not exactly. They have a security feature. If someone tries to remove them by hand, they just free wheel. You have to remove the top cap (that contains the battery) with a special, 3 prong tool. Then you have to remove the sensor from the valve stem (same tool). It really isn't that big of a deal, it's just another tool and another "step" to mess with and it will take 6 minutes to check the tire pressure instead of 2 minutes.

It wouldn't be such a big deal on a car that carries 35# of air (Hot) because the alarm will sound at 28# and that's about where you would want to add air anyway. On the TM, we want to keep it at 50# cold and anything less is just not acceptable. IMHO, it's critical to check the tire pressure before each trip, even if it hasn't been low on prior trips.

If the alarm goes off on this thing, it's a sign of a bad leak (because you have suddenly dropped below 28PSI) or blow-out. This is more of a "catastrophic failure warning system" than it is a "Monitoring system" for a trailer that requires a specific air pressure to be safe. The main objective here is to keep an air leak from becoming a blow-out because @ less than 28PSI, a blow-out is very close.

You definitely get what you pay for. These are a lot better than nothing but if one is willing to part with $150-$200, a true monitoring system that gives you the actual tire pressure might be a better way to go for some. I'm just concerned that this devise might give a TM owner a false sense of security and keep him from checking the tire pressure as often as he might if he did not have this device. As I said before, I will either figure out a way to keep these from "Free wheeling" (I'm not concerned about theft) or just drill my wheels and install a 2nd steel valve stem.

I just didn't want to put my full endorsement on this product without the proper "Disclaimer".....;)

I will say again........"You get what you pay for......and it's a heck of a lot better than having no warning system at all".

[Wavery]

The Part About The 50# Is I'm Running The 15" Marathons With 60# In Them

I Wonder If That Will Set An Alarm Also??

I just ran my tire pressure up to 65# (just for you). The alarm did not sound and the sensor held. I can't imagine that 65# of pressure will damage the unit. They make the same unit for vehicles with up to 135# of pressure.

***I just thought....my bike tires hold 65#, I just put the other 2 on my bike and I'll leave them on there for a couple weeks to see how it goes.

[gocntry]

I just ran my tire pressure up to 65# (just for you). The alarm did not sound and the sensor held. I can't imagine that 65# of pressure will damage the unit. They make the same unit for vehicles with up to 135# of pressure.

***I just thought....my bike tires hold 65#, I just put the other 2 on my bike and I'll leave them on there for a couple weeks to see how it goes.

:cool: Thanks.... They Sound Like Their Worth $20.00 I Just Might Have To Grab A Set.

[Tuscany Bandit]

Wayne,
I went ahead and got the Secutire Wireless Tire Pressure Monitoring System from the ad on Ebay. For $26.40 and free shipping I thought it would be worth a try.
Just a couple of questions:
Did you install them on the orginal rubber tire stems?
Did you rebalance the wheels after the install?
Since you have had them now for about 5 weeks,are they performing as you thought they would?

[Wavery]

Wayne,
I went ahead and got the Secutire Wireless Tire Pressure Monitoring System from the ad on Ebay. For $26.40 and free shipping I thought it would be worth a try.
Just a couple of questions:
Did you install them on the orginal rubber tire stems?
Did you rebalance the wheels after the install?
Since you have had them now for about 5 weeks,are they performing as you thought they would?

I put them on steel valve stems with the original wheels. I didn't re-balance the wheels. Seems to be OK... Rubber stems on the TM is not a good idea.

We just got back from a trip to the High Sierras. I guess they performed OK......The alarm never went off......that's a good thing :D.

We've made 3 camp-outs with them (1300 miles). The only thing that I don't like is that they are a pain to check the air pressure.

I plan on putting pins on the inside, to by-pass the freewheeling security system. That way, I can just crew them off like a valve stem cap.