TST Saved Me

bsmith0404 · 06-28-2016, 06:37 AM

Just got back from a great camping trip to the St
Louis area. The trip was pretty much uneventful until we were about 300 miles from home on the nearly 3,000 mile round trip. Suddenly the alarm on my TST 507 started beeping! I looked at the screen and saw the left rear tire was already down to 65 psi and dropping fast. I hit the flashers and pulled to the shoulder. I'll guess that it took me less than 15 seconds from first warning to go from 67 mph to a complete stop along the shoulder. At that point the tire was down to 31 psi and in the mirror was only showing a small amount of sidewall squat.

I would never have noticed the sidewall at highway speeds because it was the back tire so more difficult to see.

By the time I got out of the truck and back to the tire, it was completely flat. Upon inspection, I found a nail that only showed a small amount of scuffing on the head. My guess is that I just picked it up and it caused an immediate fast leak. If it had been in the tire longer, it would have showed more road scuffing. The tire tread had just started to separate, about a 2" tear with a few cords starting to show.

If it hadn't been for the TST, I'm confident that I would not have noticed the tire as quickly and would not have gotten stopped before the tire separated and started ripping the camper apart. The system really does work and it saved me our Alpine. I have been considering getting the repeater for the TST system, I didn't need it in this case, but I think I will invest some more into this system and get it. I also realized that I never added steal valve stems to my spare to be able to support the weight of the sensors. Going to make that switch now as well.

Desert185 · 06-28-2016, 08:07 AM

You might have just pushed me over the edge on getting one of these systems. Flow through sensors?

Campntwins · 06-28-2016, 09:08 AM

We just returned from our first long distance trip with our newly installed TST 507 internals. Kicking ourselves for not having them before now. Another tool to help us travel safely.

gearhead · 06-28-2016, 06:52 PM

I've got the Tire Tracker. Probably should get the repeater, sometimes can't get a signal on one tire. I Velcro'ed the back of the receiver and have a Velcro strap around my sun visor. Sometimes helps reception being up higher, sometimes not. It does give a peace of mind. But I still check temps with a infra red temp gun at most stops.
Good save for you.
We just drove around the north side of St. Louis a couple weeks ago. Leaving Indy and headed to Arrow Rock State Park, Missouri.

bsmith0404 · 06-29-2016, 05:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Desert185

You might have just pushed me over the edge on getting one of these systems. Flow through sensors?

I don't have flow through sensors. I didn't get them when I bought the system a couple years back because the regular sensors said they would work with rubber valve stems. I learned the hard way and had to replace the stems anyway. If I were to buy the system again, I'd get the flow through sensors and change to steel stems immediately.

Desert185 · 06-29-2016, 05:44 AM

Well, I ordered the TST507RV with flow through sensors from www.vulcantire.com. Great price, if anyone is interested.

Timely mod, as I have a six hour one way, five day boondocking trip coming up next week and the weather is hot. The kit will be here Friday.

Ken / Claudia · 06-29-2016, 08:26 PM

This is the best outcome of any flat RV tire I have ever read. The cost of the TST just paid for itself in real dollars and just not piece of mind.

buzzcop63 · 06-29-2016, 09:44 PM

Bought Tire Minder from Camping World on line for $246.65 total, including shipping. Model TMG400C will cover up to 22 tires, 0-145PSI on 6/23/2012. Unit comes with four sender units that screw onto valve stems, receiving unit comes with stand to mount like GPS, is battery operated with a power cord that can be plugged into Tundra DC outlet. The Tire Minder does not distract from driving as it does not cycle through the readings, had my wife push the buttons for the readings from time to time. It will let you know if your loosing any air and in which tire as well as over heating. Great thing about using the Tire Minder is knowing that all tires are being watched as well as being able to check pressure when unit is in storage or when your ready to leave park and not have to do by hand. Unscrew the 3 oz sending unit and the base unit goes nuts, red lights and sound so if you get a blowout you will know as well as any drop in pressure or dangers heat, so far no problems, still working on OEM tires.

Outback 325BH · 06-30-2016, 08:21 AM

Do tires have to be rebalanced after senders are installed on valve stem?

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audio1der · 06-30-2016, 09:36 AM

Great to hear! We also have the TST507, and have a lot of confidence in the system. I also wish I have bought the flow-through sensors.

No- you don't have to re-balance tires if you use the valve stem style sensore. I'm not sure if they recommend balancing after installing internal (OEM) style sensors; that makes sense to me.

Desert185 · 06-30-2016, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Outback 325BH

Do tires have to be rebalanced after senders are installed on valve stem?

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According to TST, no. They only weigh something like 12 grams.

Lic0rice · 06-30-2016, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Outback 325BH

Do tires have to be rebalanced after senders are installed on valve stem?

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x2 Same question I have. Seems as if it would make it difficult to balance the tires.

Outback 325BH · 06-30-2016, 02:02 PM

I always wondered about the stress they put on the stems too. I know they are light, but the force of spinning can be quite great.

I see they are 1/2 ounce. The weights on my wheels, used to balance them, are in 1/4 ounce increments... ant the are close to the same distance from the center.

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Outback 325BH · 06-30-2016, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lic0rice

x2 Same question I have. Seems as if it would make it difficult to balance the tires.

I won't take the word of the manufacturer of the TPMS. It is in their best interest to say "no balancing required".

It should be easy to balance, you just have to do it with them on.

After paying to have my wheels and tires balanced, I'm not going to just slap these on and go.

I do like the idea of TPMS, although I probably won't worry about it after my "bullet proof" Duravis R250 upgrade. I'll just take my chances.

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**sourdough** · 06-30-2016, 03:43 PM

I can put an exclamation point behind the OPs comments.

We had been in FL for almost 2 months and had to leave because DWs mom became ill. Had everything ready to go and decided to check air pressures. I had just had all the tires replaced prior to the trip and had them all set to 80 psi upon leaving. When I checked to leave they were all at 77psi so I was good with that.

Drove for about 8 hrs. just keeping a visual on the tires as we went along and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Started to set up for the night and my wife said she thought the driver rear tire on the RV was low. I said "it looks OK" - didn't pull out a gauge. Woke the next am and went out to get ready and.......now the tire WAS low. Went to check the pressure and as soon as I pulled the cap off I could hear the air coming out of the valve stem. Well snot!! Somehow the inside of the valve stem had gotten beach sand inside it while it sat at the RV site OR, as I suspect, when I checked the pressure to leave and left it slightly open. Had to unhitch, get the compressor and air it up (and remove the sand). All was well all the way home.

The kicker? I have a brand new TST system in the box sitting on the shelf at home that I've had for 6-8 months...still not installed. When I had the new tires put on I told the service manager at CW I wanted steel stems to add the TPMS. He said "don't do it, they cause much more trouble (steel stems)". He used to be a manager at Pirelli so I went with that. I had only two days to leave so didn't get the TST system put on either. If I had installed it, I would have known the tire was losing pressure. It didn't lose a lot by the time we parked, but when we were ready to leave 17 hrs later it was at 25psi.

The TSTs will be installed asap. I'm thinking I'll just go ahead and put them on the new rubber valve stems. I saw one post that said they had learned the hard way that the rubber stems weren't the way to go. Why? Why would steel stems cause and issue? I've not heard that before.

slow · 06-30-2016, 05:35 PM

There are many types of metal stems, some of which I would not use since they are dependent on the installer's attention to details. The best are those that have a physical stop to control the amount of rubber seal compression.

I use N-1600 Ford metal valve stems.

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bsmith0404 · 06-30-2016, 11:14 PM

Even though they say the sensors are only a few grams and can be used with rubber stems, the centrifugal force while driving at 60+ mph will actually bend the rubber stems over and the sensor will rub on the wheel. My wheels now have a nice scar on each one where the sensor rubbed on them. I had heard this could/would happen so I tested them out on a couple short trips without any issues. That gave me the confidence to leave the rubber stems on and go. The first longer trip I took (250 miles) and the damage was done. That also worried me that the stems flexing that much could also cause a problem with the stem. Installed the steel stems and haven't had a problem since.

Not sure why anyone would say not to use the steel stems. I've had them on my truck for over 100k miles without a problem. I have used steel stems on many different vehicles in the past and have never had a problem. You do need to change the washer/gaskets each time you change tires, but that's just like changing the rubber stems each time you change tires as well.

I had the sensors in place when I balanced the tires, but I really doubt they would make much difference. Think about how many times you have tires balanced and they were out by half an ounce or less, that doesn't cause the wheel to shake all over the place. The only time I can say I've actually felt an out of balance situation, the wheel had thrown a weight and was out of balance by over an ounce. I do get my wheels balanced every 5k miles, so typically they just need small adjustments.

jsmith948 · 07-01-2016, 04:12 AM

Don't use the rubber stems! Installed our Tire Traker sensors (.46 oz) on rubber stems and approx. 1600 miles later (Quartzsite to home and home to DS's house near Bremerton) we were going to discount tire to replace the rubber stems. They were all either chafed/cracked.
As far as steel stems being a problem, once in a great while you may have to snug them up. Been used on 18 wheelers for years.

Desert185 · 07-01-2016, 06:35 AM

My TV and all my trailers have metal stems (even the car hauler and 16' enclosed utility trailer with LRD tires). I have never had a problem with a metal stem. Discount Tire charges minimally for metal stems and they have good ones.

With 80psi tires and added TPMS sensors, having metal stems just makes sense.

**sourdough** · 07-01-2016, 08:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Desert185

My TV and all my trailers have metal stems (even the car hauler and 16' enclosed utility trailer with LRD tires). I have never had a problem with a metal stem. Discount Tire charges minimally for metal stems and they have good ones.

With 80psi tires and added TPMS sensors, having metal stems just makes sense.

Thanks for all the feedback.

Using steel stems made sense to me as well, particularly when putting the sensors on the ends. I've never used steel stems on anything I've owned so didn't know what kind of issues they could have. I had never heard anyone say anything negative about them. I let my common sense get overruled I guess. I'll have the tires pulled and new stems installed because I don't want to let the TST system sit on the shelf any longer - especially after this last little episode.

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