TPMS Security

Thanks Brett for taking the time to respond. Appreciated!

Hi Andy, we did have a nice set of TPMS on the ute and caravan,. However, whilst shopping at a centre in the northern suburbs out of Adelaide, somebody decided they needed them. 10000k plus around the country and no problems. Someone just forced them off, leaving the lock rings behind. Now I would remove them in between trips. I really got to rely on them, piece of mind and confidence. Now the mob selling the brand I had are shut down so need to consider another make.
What makes people do these things? Didn't they hang horse thieves in the wild west? we rely on our tyres as much as they did horses, mmm, I wonder!!!

Cheers, Col

Yeah mine is the allen key type too. Seems not to be an issue! Thanks. I won't leave the display around between trips. Bad luck about the mindless thievery! Cheers!

Just reading down to Reply #6 - When my Tyredog display was stolen the distributors, Zylux, replaced the unit and re-programmed my 6 sensors into it for only $120. I thought that was a pretty fair deal.

Also had three sensors fail in corrugations. The whole system, 6 sensors and display was replace with a completely new package under warranty, no questions asked. That replacement set has been working fine for 3 years now, including many corrugated roads.

I have recently installed foam blocks aroound the rubber valve stems to limit/cushion movement of the sensors - there was evidence of them hitting the rims.

Cheers

Bill, I can understand your dismay at the inaccuracy and discrepancies of the indications of your TPMS system. Don't be too concerned, they were never intended to replace your tyre pressure gauge as an indication of the true tyre pressures. Their value lies in the ability to alert you to unexpected tyre deflation and a few psi error does not compromise that function to any significance.

I too started with TPMS external valve stem-mounted devices, but two sensors failed in a short time. They were replaced under warranty but by then I had changed to an internal sensor system which, as it happens, does provide a close accuracy to tyre pressure. Nevertheless, I still use a hand-held gauge to set the tyre pressures and only rely upon the system to monitor for changes, particularly progressive pressure loss.

My system provides an alarm in the event of a rapid loss of pressure even before the actual pressure has reached the low-pressure alarm setting. A very useful feature in alerting at the earliest possible time.

Incidentally, the external type cannot read tyre temperature with any sort of accuracy whereas the internal type are much more able to do so. Tyre temperature can be of some interest when you are running at lowered pressures on sand as significant heat can be generated without much observation of pressure increase. Not too sure what you may do about it but at least you will be informed.

Loss of tyre pressure may well not be noticed in handling when driving on a rough track before incurring major tyre damage. My pressure monitor system has twice alerted me in time to avoid major damage so it has been well worth the investment.