Quote:
Originally Posted by LifeIsGood
Can you explain to me what a Tire Pressure Monitoring System is? As you know, we are first-time rv'ers, so we have a great deal to learn. Do you all take along a portable air compressor w/you, too? I didn't realize you have to keep the tires out of the sun, too. Why is that?
Linda
|
Linda, the Doran TPMS that I use has a small recieving unit that you plug into a power outlet, and it either sits on, or attaches to your dash somewhere. There is a sensor that goes on each trailer wheel, and this sensor contantly monitors the tire pressure and relays that to the reciever. If the pressure in a tires goes down by 12.5% in a tire (appx. 6 lbs. for a 50 lb. baseline), it alerts you by sound and a blinking reading on the unit. If there is no problem, the sensor only updates the reciever every 5 minutes, and you have to push a button to see what the pressures are. Kinda neat to watch the pressure go up as the tire heats up underway. I got my 16 sensor reciever from:
http://www.tirepressuremonitor.com/, which has a tutoral on how this system works. The 16 sensor reciever is an overkill for my setup, but the only smaller unit has a 6 tire capacity, which would not be enough if I wanted to monitor my truck tires, and mayby a tandem axle trailer in the future. The 16 sensor reciever could monitor a tandem class A rv, a toad, and the spares!! But at $50 per sensor, I am just monitoring the TM tires for now. Another thought, is that most new vehicles now have their own TPMS, so the smaller unit might be right for more people now.
I had PMd RockMtnRay several times before purchasing my system, on how he liked the Doran TPMS, and whether it would work without the repeater, or an extra antennae. Both of our systems work well without those options. You are welcome to PM me about further questions on this, or post them here if you think others would benefit from learning about this.
I don't carry a portable compressor, just my spare......which is still a 14" wheel and tire, because I haven't gotten around to Bill's spare tire carrier modification yet.
I did pull the TM with 1 14", and 1 15" tire to see how it tracked, and I couldn't tell any difference, but I will get around to traveling with a 15" spare in the near future.
Maybe Bobby (wmtire) will chime in here to explain how the sun damages tires.......all I know is, that you should keep them covered while in storage.
Chap