Well, might be time for additional TPMS for the Jip!

[FIRE_UP]

Cruising down I-8 eastbound, just west of Gila Bend AZ, a car pulled up alongside me and motioned to the toad, waving his hands in a circular motion. Hmmmm, not good. So, I pulled AMTRAK over as soon as possible, with almost no shoulder on that highway, and got out to see what the commotion was all about. What you see below, is what I found. NOT GOOD!!!!!!!!!! I have a TPMS for the coach. It's the TST 507 system and so far, seems to work pretty good.

The tire, or what's left of it, was on the right rear of our toad, a '15 Jeep JKUR. We've been towing this "JIP" for about 18 months now with oh, maybe 10 thousand miles on those tires in both driving and towing. All the tires on that Jeep were at the correct pressure. I know 'cause I just aired them up prior to taking off on this trip, from an off roading run the previous evening.

I had absolutely ZERO notification that this tire had decided to quit being a tire and become a pile of rubber shreds. I had had numerous cars pass us on that section of the highway with no real showing of concern 'till the one that pulled up along side. So, did other folks not care, didn't see the badly damaged tire or, did it just happen and self destruct in a matter of maybe a mile or two? I have no idea how long it took to get into that condition, at 65 mph.

There was no odd feeling in the coach. NO ill handling effects, no pulling, no noise, no drag on my CAT C-7, NOTHING. We've been towing Jeeps now for over 35 years and not one tire has ever given up the ghost on us, 'till now. So, I might be thinking about adding four sensors to the TST system. Good thing I purchased the "Certificate" packages with all the tires for that Jip.

Once we got settled in our campground in Benson AZ, I scuttled back to Tucson to one of the Discount Tire locations there that had ONE of the tires I have on our Jip. They took great care of me. I was in and out in about 25 minutes, even with a crowd (as usual for Discount tire anywhere). A mere $47.00 for a brand new $222.00, 315-70-17 Hancook Dynapro All Terrain.

Even though this is the first time for such an event, in over 35 years of towing, I'll look into some additional sensors.
Scott

[FIRE_UP]

Posted By: Gundog on 11/10/18 09:50am
Did you check the valve stem to make sure it was not leaking?

Gundog,
I aired them up to 32 the night before after goofing around off road. The next morning we hooked up to tow, the TPMS in the Jip told me they were all at 30 which means only that they were lower due to cold morning temps but, they were all up. So, that primarily eliminates a bad valve core but, thanks for the suggestion.

Posted By: Executive on 11/10/18 08:53pm
Scott, I have an extra antenna if needed, to extend the distance on the TPMS. Let me know. We've been running 12 sensors for 9 years. Nice to know if one of the toad tires fails. Yes, you would not have felt it.....Dennis

Hey Dennis,
I most certainly appreciate the offer. I'll definitely keep that in mind. I won't know if I'll need the booster or not 'till I get some and install them and see the reaction of the monitor. Thanks again.
Scott

[Executive45]

Scott, I have an extra antenna if needed, to extend the distance on the TPMS. Let me know. We've been running 12 sensors for 9 years. Nice to know if one of the toad tires fails. Yes, you would not have felt it.....Dennis

[Tom_Barb]

I have a 10 transmitter set, 6 on the coach,, 4 on the jeep,, and I run them faithfully. I've had one over temp warning. Never found out why. temp of the tire was OK, Pressure was right. It re-set and never came back.

[Gundog]

Did you check the valve stem to make sure it was not leaking? I have had a tire loose air after airing down for the sand and then airing up. I have learned to put some spit on the valve stem to check for leaks. In my case it must have been some sand that got in there in filling it the second time and messing with it letting air out to clear the valve that I got the sand cleared out and it no longer leaked.

[Scottiemom]

Thank goodness someone got your attention when they did.

We have a DP and have been running TPMS's on it for at least 10 years. It has saved us twice. Once on the DP, once on the toad. We run them on the toads as well. Always have. When you're driving the toad, you know immediately when something is wrong with a tire, but driving up front in the big rig, you can't see the tires and, as you found out, have no idea if a tire is going down.

May very easily have picked up something in the roadway that caused the tire to go down. One time as I was headed for the off ramp on an interstate, laying in the path was a mud flap hanger off a semi. Because I had already moved right into the deacceleration lane, I had cars that had moved up beside me and I could not move far enough to avoid it, so I straddled it with the motorhome. Thought I was home free, but in a few seconds, the TPMS went off indicating a catastrophic failure. Yep, I had run over the edge of that hanger with the toad and I had an instant flat. As it was, there was a truck stop right there at the exit ramp so we drove slowly into the lot and called our road service.

I believe it's just as important to have them on the toad as well as the motorhome.

Glad you were alerted!

Dale