Tyre Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS).

[PHOENIXFLIER]

Having recently purchased a tow car with TPMS already fitted, I thought it might be a good idea to fit a similar system to our caravan. Hopefully, it would give a warning that something was wrong prior to a tyre shredding itself, and at the very least damaging the caravan. After much research I settled for the TYREPAL system @ £135.00. I found a lot of other cheaper versions, but the reviews were excellent for the TYREPAL system. Has anybody else got a TPMS fitted?. On the face of it, they seem a "must have" item!.

 

[PaulT]

Yes, I've got it on my Cartegena. Certainly saved me a lot of grief when it alerted me to a burst tyre as I left a service area (I'd run over something in the road after I'd driven off)

 

[Jaydug]

TPMS were discussed a few days ago on the Tyron Band topic.

 

[Gagakev]

Having recently purchased a tow car with TPMS already fitted, I thought it might be a good idea to fit a similar system to our caravan. Hopefully, it would give a warning that something was wrong prior to a tyre shredding itself, and at the very least damaging the caravan. After much research I settled for the TYREPAL system @ £135.00. I found a lot of other cheaper versions, but the reviews were excellent for the TYREPAL system. Has anybody else got a TPMS fitted?. On the face of it, they seem a "must have" item!.

I have it, well I did have it!!!!!!!!!!!!
Purchased mine 11 months ago and the monitor is currently back with Tyrepal..........Yep it packed up.
The last few times I used it it packed up after about 20 mins and the last time it wouldn't come on at all, so happy I was able to send back with it just in warranty.
Having said that I would not be happy driving/towing without ti now, when it works it is great.
Will keep you posted.

 

[PHOENIXFLIER]

Good luck. Hope you get it sorted. Thats why I went for UK !,

 

[chrisn7]

Its a peace of mind thing this. Its good to check the little screen and see all 4 tyres with the same pressures, whereas previously I had no idea what they were other than at the start of the journey.

 

[PHOENIXFLIER]

Agreed.
Good to get some warning before the tyre possibly destroys itself and parts of the caravan.

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

If the caravan tyres are checked regularly for cracks, splits, etc and are kept at the correct recommended pressures then the probability of them blowing out is no greater than that of the tyres on the car. Do you have equal concerns on the car tyres, including Tyron bands?

 

[Jaydug]

Do you have equal concerns on the car tyres, including Tyron bands?

Yes - that's why I use a six sensor system. But also if a tyre goes soft on the car, especially at the front, it can be felt in the handling. Not so on the caravan. I remember towing along the Route Napoléon when a couple of blokes drove alongside me and pointed to the ground. Being suspicious, I let them get ahead before stopping to check.. I found the van tyre almost flat in spite of it towing ok.

 

[ProfJohnL]

If the caravan tyres are checked regularly for cracks, splits, etc and are kept at the correct recommended pressures then the probability of them blowing out is no greater than that of the tyres on the car. Do you have equal concerns on the car tyres, including Tyron bands?

Hello Woodlands,
I agree with the sentiment of your post, and whilst I am very critical of the tyre band concept I can see a case for trailer tyre pressure monitoring as part of a vehicle management strategy.

Most drivers will spend considerably less time towing than driving solo. One would hope that drivers are sufficiently familiar with the driving characteristics of their vehicle to notice when a tyre is going soft (though I'm not convinced that is the case judging by the number I follow on the roads) the changes in the vehicle handing may be quite subtle and that is with a tyre fitted to the relatively rigid car. The caravan is quite an onslaught of new sensations when it's coupled and driven, but it's coupled through a highly articulated single point. It won't convey the same detailed sensations through the coupling to the car, so especially with a TA trailer the driver may not well enough tuned to the feel of the outfit to notice one tyre going soft especially with the onslaught of the other less familiar sensations of the caravan.

TPMS Provided they are set up and work properly have the potential to bring a developing fault to the drivers attention, before it becomes a problem.

I'm all for useful safety enhancements.

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

I am also pro useful safety enhancements.
My tow car is about 18 months old and, as such, came with a TPMS. The first thing I did was to ask Vauxhall if the TMPS could be enhanced to include a trailer. Unfortunately the answer was no. I think they have missed a good selling point.

 

[Jaydug]

I am very critical of the tyre band concept .

So must many people be now. I see there are two sets for sale on ebay neither of which have received bids more than 11 quid.

 

[Martin24]

WC, a voice of reason. in a lifetime of caravanning we haven't used bands, TPMS, nor until they came as standard a stabiliser either. Yes you are correct both Mrs B. and I would very quickly notice any change in towing characteristics. It seems to me that all these systems are just another way of spending money unnecessarily. I'd be as likely to have a TPMS fitted to the van as a reversing camera to it or front parking sensors on a car. I'm sure plenty will jump on me but this gentleman's not for turning.

 

[Dodger524]

WC, a voice of reason. in a lifetime of caravanning we haven't used bands, TPMS, nor until they came as standard a stabiliser either. Yes you are correct both Mrs B. and I would very quickly notice any change in towing characteristics. It seems to me that all these systems are just another way of spending money unnecessarily. I'd be as likely to have a TPMS fitted to the van as a reversing camera to it or front parking sensors on a car. I'm sure plenty will jump on me but this gentleman's not for turning.

I assume that you use a horse to pull your caravan so have little need for these modern driving aids.

 

[Gagakev]

WC, a voice of reason. in a lifetime of caravanning we haven't used bands, TPMS, nor until they came as standard a stabiliser either. Yes you are correct both Mrs B. and I would very quickly notice any change in towing characteristics. It seems to me that all these systems are just another way of spending money unnecessarily. I'd be as likely to have a TPMS fitted to the van as a reversing camera to it or front parking sensors on a car. I'm sure plenty will jump on me but this gentleman's not for turning.

As said I have the TPMS
I also have the rear veiw camera

But I dont need the front sensors as I have an extra cushion to sit on to look over the dashboard :lol: :lol:

 

[DrZhivago]

..... I am very critical of the tyre band concept ...

Could you give your objections to tyre bands? What are the downsides? The only downside I am aware of is that they make the tyres very difficult to fit (I've watched a fitter doing it).

One would hope that drivers are sufficiently familiar with the driving characteristics of their [solo car] to notice when a tyre is going soft ......
TPMS ... have the potential to bring a developing fault to the drivers attention, before it becomes a problem. I'm all for useful safety enhancements.

I agree TPMS for the caravan. However it is hard to understand why a driver would not notice a deflating car tyre before it shreds. OK, I'm under-estmating some drivers' stupidity.

Unfortunately, as is common these days, the rest of us have to suffer and pay because of an insensible or lazy minority. TPMS originated as a convenience, a marketing point, to save drivers from rolling their sleeves up and actually stooping down to measure their tyre pressures. Now however it has become an MoT functioning requirement.

I had to replace my four tyre sensors and it cost me about £160 by shopping around for them (£350 at the main dealers). That was just the sensors; I fitted them myself - tyre removal and replacement too, hand pumping, over a day's work. To have had them supplied and fitted at a main agent would have been about £800 according to other guys on my car forum.

£800 just to save some stooping Again, it suits people who only buy new cars and trade in after two years before anything needs replacing.

 

[Martin24]

Use a horse? Good grief no, it was far to expensive to run so we popped it onto the bbq. We go at just under 4mph using the wheelchair to tow. We keep the battery topped up using a solar panel.

 

[otherclive]

..... I am very critical of the tyre band concept ...

Could you give your objections to tyre bands? What are the downsides? The only downside I am aware of is that they make the tyres very difficult to fit (I've watched a fitter doing it).

One would hope that drivers are sufficiently familiar with the driving characteristics of their [solo car] to notice when a tyre is going soft ......
TPMS ... have the potential to bring a developing fault to the drivers attention, before it becomes a problem. I'm all for useful safety enhancements.

I agree TPMS for the caravan. However it is hard to understand why a driver would not notice a deflating car tyre before it shreds. OK, I'm under-estmating some drivers' stupidity.

Unfortunately, as is common these days, the rest of us have to suffer and pay because of an insensible or lazy minority. TPMS originated as a convenience, a marketing point, to save drivers from rolling their sleeves up and actually stooping down to measure their tyre pressures. Now however it has become an MoT functioning requirement.

I had to replace my four tyre sensors and it cost me about £160 by shopping around for them (£350 at the main dealers). That was just the sensors; I fitted them myself - tyre removal and replacement too, hand pumping, over a day's work. To have had them supplied and fitted at a main agent would have been about £800 according to other guys on my car forum.

£800 just to save some stooping Again, it suits people who only buy new cars and trade in after two years before anything needs replacing.

My last car came with TPMS and after a drive to north Wales we went out the following morning. After just 200m going down a farm track the TPMS warning light came on. I got out and checked the tyres and sure enough the rear off side had gone down but wasn't completely flat it still had 25ps (normal 32psi) i. So I pulled over to a wider spot and changed the tyre. Perhaps by your definition i am "stupid" because I hadn't felt the car's characteristics change on the farm track. Or that I am lazy because I hadn't bent down to check all of my car tyres, despite doing so the previous day before we set off for Wales. TPMS is an aid it isn't a substitute for normal routine checks but as far as I am concerned it saved me the hassle of having to change a tyre on a fast flowing main road.

 

[PHOENIXFLIER]

..... I am very critical of the tyre band concept ...

Could you give your objections to tyre bands? What are the downsides? The only downside I am aware of is that they make the tyres very difficult to fit (I've watched a fitter doing it).

One would hope that drivers are sufficiently familiar with the driving characteristics of their [solo car] to notice when a tyre is going soft ......
TPMS ... have the potential to bring a developing fault to the drivers attention, before it becomes a problem. I'm all for useful safety enhancements.

I agree TPMS for the caravan. However it is hard to understand why a driver would not notice a deflating car tyre before it shreds. OK, I'm under-estmating some drivers' stupidity.

Unfortunately, as is common these days, the rest of us have to suffer and pay because of an insensible or lazy minority. TPMS originated as a convenience, a marketing point, to save drivers from rolling their sleeves up and actually stooping down to measure their tyre pressures. Now however it has become an MoT functioning requirement.

I had to replace my four tyre sensors and it cost me about £160 by shopping around for them (£350 at the main dealers). That was just the sensors; I fitted them myself - tyre removal and replacement too, hand pumping, over a day's work. To have had them supplied and fitted at a main agent would have been about £800 according to other guys on my car forum.

£800 just to save some stooping Again, it suits people who only buy new cars and trade in after two years before anything needs replacing.

My last car came with TPMS and after a drive to north Wales we went out the following morning. After just 200m going down a farm track the TPMS warning light came on. I got out and checked the tyres and sure enough the rear off side had gone down but wasn't completely flat it still had 25ps (normal 32psi) i. So I pulled over to a wider spot and changed the tyre. Perhaps by your definition i am "stupid" because I hadn't felt the car's characteristics change on the farm track. Or that I am lazy because I hadn't bent down to check all of my car tyres, despite doing so the previous day before we set off for Wales. TPMS is an aid it isn't a substitute for normal routine checks but as far as I am concerned it saved me the hassle of having to change a tyre on a fast flowing main road.

Well said.
Prior to depature, we check the wheel nut torque, check the tyre pressures, complete a visual check of both sides of he tyres and make sure the yellow indicators (as per bus wheel nuts) are in place. Not difficult, and I don't categorize myself as lazy or overly stupid!. The only reason I want to fit TPMS is for "belt & braces". I would rather know that something is about to go wrong, than after the event. I know I am lucky enough to be able to afford a TPMS, but in the big scheme pf things, think it is worth it.

 

[chrisn7]

Yes I do too! Jumped in the car Sat am to go over to the van in storage, and red tyre pressure warning comes on immediately -- but the tyre looks ok. So down to my local centre and with the tyre still sowing 25psi, then can't find a leak, so pressure is upped to 35 psi, its normal level, and bingo there it is. A 1" pin not even visibly through the tyre on the inside, but must have been a pin hole.

This was on a BMW X5 rear tyre which is a bit hefty - just looking at it revealed nothing at all - and the tyre pressures had been checked the previous weekend.

 

[DrZhivago]

Perhaps by your definition i am "stupid" because I hadn't felt the car's characteristics change on the farm track. Or that I am lazy because I hadn't bent down to check all of my car tyres, despite doing so the previous day before we set off for Wales.

Of course I'm not saying either. No-one is likely to notice the change of handling from 32 to 25 psi on a farm track; I certainly would not. But a driver should be able to notice a change in car handling in normal driving of a slow deflation some time before it actually becomes dangerous. If not, then "insensible" is the word I used for that, as in definition 2c or 3b here.

As for laziness, you may not be and I may not be (I also use a manual gauge), but my point was that the idea of not having to stoop to measure tyre pressures was an original selling point of TPMS. In other words the hype was at least partly an appeal to people's laziness. The fact that you and I now have tyre pressures displayed on the dashboard, whether we asked for it or not, and would of course act on any warning the display gave, does not make either of us lazy.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Good Dr Zivargo,

The downsides of tyre bands, is they are redundant becasue in most car and caravan rims there is are two ridges formed in the rim that does the same job. This makes the down sides of bands as a costly to buy and install, and can cause problems when changing tyres.

It also begs the question if you think you need them on your caravan, then you surly need them on all the wheels including the spare of your car after all cars generally do more miles and so the tyres will be more susceptible to such !

Your further comment has also twisted the detail of my point, which is a fault with a tyre on a caravan may not be as obvious to a driver as a similar fault with a tyre on the car.

However I do think inferring drivers who do not notice a partial deflation of a tyre on a car as "stupid" is uncalled for. I do not have any evidence but I would guess that even the most sensitive driver of a car at normal road speeds would be hard pressed to detect a 5% deflation just through handling characteristics. Are you claiming you can?

However as the deflation advances the effect on handling will become increasingly apparent. When such issues become noticeable will depend on which tyre is affected, how the car is driven and and the sensitivity of the driver.

With TPMS it might alert a driver to 5% or less deflation, adn if that prompts the driver to the issue investigated and prevents a more serious event then that is only a good thing.

 

[DrZhivago]

Wow, this is interesting

It also begs the question if you think you need [bands] on your caravan, then you surly need them on all the wheels including the spare of your car

No because the bands start doing their work (if they do anything) when the tyre is entirely deflated, the bead has parted from the rim, and the rim is down on the sidewall. At that point the lateral resistance of the tyre becomes practically zero, the rolling resistance shoots up, and the ride is like on a boneshaker. I would notice that if it were on the car itself as would any driver who was fit to drive. You might not notice it so quickly on the caravan however.

Your further comment has also twisted the detail of my point, which is a fault with a tyre on a caravan may not be as obvious to a driver as a similar fault with a tyre on the car.

?? I was neither quoting nor misquoting your earlier post. In fact I did not have your post in mind at all. I do completely agree with your point here after your comma, as I have just said above.

However I do think inferring drivers who do not notice a partial deflation of a tyre on a car as "stupid" is uncalled for. ... I would guess that even the most sensitive driver of a car at normal road speeds would be hard pressed to detect a 5% deflation just through handling characteristics. Are you claiming you can?

No I am not claiming that. But if a partial deflation does not cause a noticable change in handling, then by that very fact the partial deflation is not greatly significant except with regard to long term heating effects, and arguably in emergency braking or swerving situations. The longer timescale issue was, before TPMS, covered by routine manual checking (my previous handbook said once a week and before long journeys), and the emergency scenario is covered, safety-case wise, by the small time at risk (ie before detecting by the routine gauge and correcting).

My reference to "stupidity" has been misunderstood. I was not saying that anyone who so much as looks at their TPMS display, or does not notice a modest partial deflation is stupid. I am saying that there is lots of stupidity demonstrated every day out there on the roads. I should not need to give a link (try YouTube), but a car driving forum I use has a continuous thread of stupidity stories and dashcam videos, some of it almost incredible. Among such stupidity, inevitably, are cases of people driving along with tyres so seriously or totally deflated that any competent driver should have realised that something was badly wrong. It is cases like that which have helped to make TPMS compulsory on new cars; whether TPMS will do anything to help in these cases is another matter.

There is no doubt that TPMS helps the competent driver spot a slow deflation early. I keep an eye on mine. Nevertheless, paying £800 to replace sensors would IMHO, and without doing the maths, fail a safety cost-benefit analysis in my case and probably most cases.

 

[Gabsgrandad]

This wheel had a Tyron band fitted. Towing a Lunar Clubman with a Freelander, which was a very stable secure combination, with the 'tug' well in charge of the outfit. (Van 2 years old) Set off on holiday about 20 miles from home car felt as thought it had lost power, no alarms up, van looked ok in mirrors, engine revved freely with clutch in. Single carriageway clearway road (A15) approaching Lincoln, so stopping was not easy, however found a wide gate entrance pulled in and then walked round the outfit to see if I/we could find anything untoward. The pictured tyre was then spotted, we couldn't believe it! We had felt nothing, wife however did mention hearing a 'muffled bang' - 1/2 a mile back. Must have been that tyre. Changed wheel, not prepared to continue on holidy without spare wheel, went across Lincoln to the van supplying dealer who fixed us up with a spare so holiday back on. (After 'Gaffa taping a wrecked wheel arch up!) So I suspect that the Tyron band had done it's job. Kept us towing in a stable straight line in traffic, perhaps too good a job as we were totally unaware we had lost a tyre. Had punctures before on van but had always known when it happened..
Ps dont use Tyron bands now. But do use Tyrepal monitoring now.

Sorry picture wont upload, something gone wrong with my photobucket account, -- will have to sort!
Sorted!

 

[otherclive]

My neighbour had his TPMS sensors taken out from his 54 Reg Peugeot and no MoT has spotted it yet. It's not an approach that I would follow but I guess he feels its worth the balance of cost and risk. But as there have been occasions when I have had to tell him his tyres are illegal I don't trust his judgment that much.