How many spare tires and TPMS?

[jkmcbride54]

My wife and I are newbies to taking long trips but we are planning a trip from Georgia to Arizona this summer in our 35' 2009 Cougar. I'm hoping NOT to have any flat tires as my tires are less than a year old and I've been very accurate with my air pressure making sure that the total weight matches the air pressure in each tire. However I'm concerned about running over something in the road and blowing a tire or tires. Should I carry two spare tires along with two rims or am I being overly cautious?
Also, I currently do not have a TPMS and wondered which one is the better units to monitor my tire pressure?:)

[Fishsizzle]

My wife and I are newbies to taking long trips but we are planning a trip from Georgia to Arizona this summer in our 35' 2009 Cougar. I'm hoping NOT to have any flat tires as my tires are less than a year old and I've been very accurate with my air pressure making sure that the total weight matches the air pressure in each tire. However I'm concerned about running over something in the road and blowing a tire or tires. Should I carry two spare tires along with two rims or am I being overly cautious?
Also, I currently do not have a TPMS and wondered which one is the better units to monitor my tire pressure?:)


I’m no expert by any means, but I carry 1 spare tire on rim for truck. 1 spare on rim for trailer and 1 loose (no rim) for trailer for long trips and ditch the loose trailer tire on in state trips.

Every time I stop, I check pressure in all tires and then use the laser thermometer to check tires and brake temps.

Several awesome people here told me about the thermometer. Tire could have plenty of pressure, but building heat and could blow. Or brake sticking and overheating.

[jkmcbride54]

I never knew of or thought of a laser thermometer. Thanks!

[Fishsizzle]

I never knew of or thought of a laser thermometer. Thanks!

Thank the forum, there can be intense debate about weights and such, but stick around and you will pick up good info and insight. And you will make a couple of good friends. I think everyone here has great intentions.

Happy travels! And post pics. I don’t think we post enough pics of our trips.

[bobbecky]

On our first trip with our current rig, when it had the Chinese Goodyear Marathons, we had one tire that had ply separation and I replaced it with the same new tire. The following year on our next longer run, we lost four tires, the last one was the one we replaced the previous year, one blew, not sure whether it was road debris or just failed, the rest were all ply separations. Since we replaced all the tires with the all steel Goodyear G614's, we don't have failures, though we did have a metal valve stem come loose and our TPMS alerted us so we could safely get off the road without damaging the tire. You likely will not need such a heavy tire, but the point is, better tires will provide you much better reliability and safety, and the TPMS systems will just add to your comfort and safety, no matter which system you decide to go with. Even if your tires are new, but are a low quality tire, it would be money well spent to upgrade them, so you don't get stranded or stuck somewhere having to change a tire on the side of the road in a dangerous location. Air your tires to the maximum cold inflation pressure printed on the side of the tire. You will gain the full weight capacity of the tire and get the least rolling resistance.

[Ken / Claudia]

You asked and here's my opinion. The ST tires on RV are to be inflated at max cold psi. The manual even says so, why? that is the way to get to best load carrying capacity and longest tire life. When under inflated you lose both. If they say 80 psi it should be near 80 psi not 65, 50 etc. These are not passenger vehicle tires that can be lower.
I have always said that when we travel (someday) for weeks and thousands of miles I will have 2 TT spares mounted and ready. If you have the room and can afford around 300 bucks do it. When or if a tire blows on a RV, the one next to it is now double max rate capacity until you stop and change tires. So, is that tire going to last you or are you on borrowed time with it. The years I patrolled the freeways it was normal to hear, at a TV/RV combo changing a flat. These tires are junk, the one next to it blew up xxx miles back down the road. Bottom line is I do not want to wait for hours on a highway waiting for road service or leave it to get another tire.
Get a TPMS system, cheap insurance at 400 bucks or so. To prevent the thousands of dollars of RV damage when a tire blows up at freeway speed.
I have a tire minder, unsure of the number. I am not sure what is better/ best for you. This co gives free batteries, but they are cheap Os and I found their life is short. I buy better batteries myself and so far they last 2x as long.

[jkmcbride54]

We always check the tire pressure when they are cold BEFORE moving the RV. We currently have one spare mounted but I'm now definitely considering buying another rim with the new tires mounted and ready to go. I will also look at the purchasing the Tire Minder TPMS. Thanks!

[MarkEHansen]

Here's a link to reviews of 10 TPMS systems: https://www.rvweb.net/best-rv-tire-pressure-monitoring-systems-reviewed/

I went with the EezTire TPMS system with 10 anti-theft cap sensors:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009BF9S4E/?tag=rvwebnetwork-20&th=1

I'm pretty happy with it. It was easy to program (there are videos which show how) and it has worked well so far - no events to alarm on (knock on wood) but it's job is to let me know if something happens. Definitely worth the cost/time to get and set up IMO.

I would consider the second spare only if I didn't have ready access to road side assistance. Like if I was driving through Alaska. I'm not sure it would be worth the weight and space it would take - but this is a decision each has to make. You can't account for every potential issue. For some, you just have to depend on the credit card.

[gearhead]

Sorta depends on the brand of tire as to how much trust I would have. If they are the OEM supplied tire, I wouldn't trust them much. That's the first thing I have done on our 5th wheels....buy good tires. If you don't want to buy 5 new tires right now, maybe get one unmounted tire of high quality just in case.
I think my tire monitoring thing is a Tire Trakker brand. Be aware the tires on the sunny side will be considerably hotter and higher pressure.
Try to be consistent with the laser thermometer. Middle of the sidewall, etc. I also run the thermometer from the outer edge of the brake drum to as far to the inner part as possible, trying to catch a hot wheel bearing. Don't worry about a few degrees difference.
I use a digital tire pressure gauge from Joes Racing.

[Phil Saran]

It would not hurt to have a extra unmounted spare along for the ride.

I hope you do know that the temps in AZ in the summer can run 110 - 120
degrees. Just saying.

[OMW2SKI]

I upgraded to Carlisle Radial HD tires before our first trip on the new TT. I replaced the spare as well. Only carry one spare. I bought a TPMS system from Amazon. Recently did a test tow about 100 miles with the new setup. Tires and TPMS we're great. The TPMS was super cheap and it exceeded my expectations. Here's a link to the one I bought: Favoto TPMS Tire Pressure... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078RD479X?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share