What is a TPMS?

Hello from Red Bay, Alabama! We are now at the Tiffin Motorhomes Service Center for warranty work on our 2018 Tiffin Allegro Red. We are staying at the Allegro Campground which is free if your motorhome is in the 1st year warranty. It has been interesting to see all the quality work that goes into building and servicing a Tiffin Motorhome!

Travel Days – Apache Junction to Red Bay Alabama

It took us exactly eleven days to get here. We left Apache Junction, Arizona, on April 5 and we arrived here on April 16. Our overnight stops included:

• St. Clair Winery in Deming, New Mexico. This was a free overnight for us because we are Harvest Host members. We enjoyed a wine taste testing and a live band playing popular 70’s tunes.
• Desert Willow RV Park in Van Horn, Texas. It was an overnight stay with not too many amenities.
• Abilene State Park in Tuscola, Texas. We stayed four nights and had an electric/water site. The highlight was spending time with Pat and Tricia and their two preschool aged kids (Tricia is our son-in-law’s sister). It was fun to see how their son Josh connected with Mark! We also explored the Adamson-Spalding Storybook Garden and Dr. Seuss Park sculptures.
• Loyd Park in Grand Prairie, Texas. We stayed four nights and had full hookups in this beautiful city park on Joe Pool Lake. Our highlight was visiting and catching up with Randy and Nancy (Randy is Mark’s brother). The blue bonnets were at their peak and we took a drive to Ennis to see lots of fields of the Texas state flower!
• Cracker Barrel in North Little Rock, Arkansas. They are always very welcoming and breakfast is great the next morning too!
• Allegro Campground in Red Bay, Alabama. This on-site campground is at the Tiffin Motorhome Service Center where owners bring their Tiffin Motorhomes in for warranty/out-of-warranty work.

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Gear Review – EEZTire-TPMS

Now that we have been on the road for more than three months, we thought it was time to share some thoughts on a piece of gear we depend on every time we travel. That gear is our tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS). These systems can help prevent catastrophic damage from a blowout to your RV, trailer or other vehicle that could amount to thousands of dollars in damage and possible injury or loss of life.

TPMS is an electronic system designed to monitor the air pressure inside of tires on vehicles. The TPMS reports real-time tire-pressure information to the driver via a gauge, a display or a simple low-pressure warning light. So, why is a TPMS system important to us? We have a total of 10 tires to keep track of: six RV tires and 4 auto tires! If we learned that just one tire was at a dangerous low pressure, it would save us from a potential blowout on the road. Also, if there was a flat tire on the tow car, we wouldn’t even know it without a TPMS and the rim would be destroyed if we kept driving.

Our requirements for an effective RV TPMS:

• Needs to monitor the current tire pressure and temperature of each tire (including inside dually tires)
• Must have a setting for upper and lower warning limits
• Needs to have the capability to monitor tow vehicle tires
• Should have an easy-to-read display
• Must be able to be powered by USB versus 12-volt power

There are several TPMS options out there. Mark researched on the internet and watched several YouTube videos to determine the highest-rated TPMS that would meet the needs for our Class A motorhome and toad (tow vehicle). As a result, the consensus within the RV industry brought it down to TST 507 (Truck Systems Technologies), EEZTire-TPMS, and TireMinder TPMS. All of these will work for RVs, trailers or other vehicles.

We purchased the EEZTire EEZ-RV-TPMS10 with 10 anti-theft sensors ($459). It had more favorable reviews by YouTubers we follow. When we are on a travel day, is tool helps us have peace of mind.

Things to consider when using a TPMS:

• Be careful to not watch the TPMS display too much while you are driving. Glance at it occasionally. Your main responsibility is to drive your vehicle. A warning sound will let you know if there is something that needs your attention.
• The best time to add air into your tires is first thing in the morning (cold tires) before the sun hits the tires.
• Did you know that several things can increase tire pressures while driving down the road? These include the actual driving which increases tire temperature, outside air temperature, and direct sunlight.
• If your RV is overweight or greatly out-of-balance from side to side and/or front to back, this can also put undue stress on tires. We recommend getting your tires “four-corner weighed”. One option is SmartWeigh by the Escapees RV Club which starts at $45. With the information provided, your tires can be correctly inflated based on your current RV’s weight.

The EEZTire-TPMS paid for itself in our recent trip to Alabama! Just a few miles outside of Abilene, Texas (our destination for the day), the driver side back dually tire alarm went off. The pressure had gone down 10 pounds below it’s cold tire pressure setting. We pulled over at a safe spot, looked the tire over and didn’t see anything wrong from the outside. We decided to continue to our destination, while monitoring the tire pressure with the TPMS. We determined the dually valve core stem extender was defective and needed to be replaced. Interesting fact, no auto/tire dealers carry this length of extension. Therefore, we removed the bad extension and put the sensor on the dually tire so we could continue to monitor it until we got to the Tiffin Service Center. Luckily, they had the replacement part we needed!

Can you do this without purchasing a TPMS?

Yes, but on travel days you would need to check all your tires every time you stop and check the tire pressure on each tire to be sure you are not having any problems with your tires.

In conclusion, we hope you enjoyed our first gear review and why we find value in using a TPMS. In the comments below, let us know what gear you recommend to others because it helps you in your travels.

Next blog: Our Tiffin Service Center Experience

Finding Joy in the Journey – Heidi & Mark – Loving the RV Life