Affordable tire pressure monitor (TPMS) - can it save your life?
Today’s RV gadget is the Tymate tire pressure monitor system. There are a lot of these devices out there at various price points and the people from Tymate sent us this unit to try out. I also have to share that I didn’t try this unit myself, but rather gave it to my nephew to try as our truck and our trailer already have tire pressure monitoring systems built in.
In fact the best type of tire pressure monitoring system is the one that’s inside the tire just because it’s not as likely to get stolen and it’s just in the tire. The weight of that type of system can be accommodated when the tire is balanced.
The Tylink tire pressure monitor system sensor installed on a tire.
Tymate tire pressure monitor
The Tymate tire pressure monitor system is comprised of two systems. There are the sensors themselves which screw onto the Schrader valves on the tires (where you put the air in). These transmit to a receiver which sits inside your vehicle, theoretically on the instrument panel or dash board.
The advantage of this type of system is that it’s simply very affordable and can be installed by anyone. The receiver can be charged either through the power port/cigarette lighter or via a convenient solar panel on the top of the interior unit.
There’s also a cord provided so that you can plug the interior unit into a power port (cigarette lighter) inside the vehicle as well.
The components had a decent feel to them and worked well. That’s pretty much what you want in a device like this.
Each of the four sending units is marked with the position it is intended to be placed on the vehicle so it jives with what’s on the display inside the vehicle.
What is a tire pressure monitor
A tire pressure monitor system, or TPMS, continuously monitors the air pressure inside the tires. It then relays the information it gleans to a readout of some sort. This can alert you to low tire pressure or a rapid change in tire pressure which would indicate a leak or other tire damage.
Some of these can also relay information such as the temperature of the tire and many will alert you to sudden changes in air pressure which would indicate a leak or tire damage. The Tymate does just this.
The affordable Tylink tire pressure monitor system display can be charged via the power port or solar panels on the top of the device.
Why get a tire pressure monitor
The Rubber Manufacturer’s Association estimates that 70 percent of all vehicle tires are under inflated, according to a study they conducted. Underinflated tires do not perform optimally and can actually fail due to underinflation.
If you have a new car or light truck sold after September 1, 2007, you have a tire pressure monitor system installed. It’s a federal mandate.
A travel trailer tire that popped due to being underinflated causing significant damage to the trailer itself.
But towable RVs don’t have the same requirement and these are often are shod with lousy tires. A tire pressure monitor system can notify you if the pressure is low or if there’s imminent failure due to a rapid change of tire pressure.
It might surprise you that you can easily tow a trailer with a tire that has very low pressure and never know until someone in the next lane is pointing, honking and waving. That’s never good.
Underinflating a tire means that it flexes more which can heat the tire up. The hotter it gets the more likely it can be to fail.
Tires are designed to heat while driving but there is also a range in which they are designed to perform optimally. A good tire pressure monitor system can not only tell you about inflation pressure, but also tire temperature.
This type of information can literally save your life. If you experience a blowout on a trailer it’s possible to lose control of the trailer which can put you and your family in serious danger. Even if you are able to maintain control, a blowout can mean the shredding tire can cause significant (spelled expensive) damage to the trailer itself.
I’ve found that most RV owners do not regularly check the inflation pressure of their towable RVs. Having something like this can at least keep you in the know that something’s amiss back there.
Conclusions
I was actually surprised at what you can get for your money with this. As mentioned since every vehicle I have already has a tire pressure monitor built in, I had to have my nephew put it on his vehicle to test it.
We found the readings to be accurate and the system performed well. Further, getting it up and running was as simple as replacing the valve covers with the sending units for this and turning on the in-vehicle monitor. Done.
I have read that metal valve stems are preferable so that the tire pressure sending units don’t wiggle excessively, but these seemed to be stable.
I had written that our vehicles have built-in tire pressure monitor systems which I use my own TPMS systems before I ever hit the road to get a reading on what’s happening with the tires. Then I monitor those as we motor along.
There are much more expensive systems on the market but, quite frankly, unless you’re planning to put a system inside the tire I think this system is certainly good enough. Without a doubt, it’s much better than not having any system at all.
