Tyre pressure monitoring system

Gday Mary
Not actually a pressure monitor but this does provide an alert if the tyre is going down or the bearing is getting hot -
http://www.aussietowmate.com/
I bought it for the ease of fitting and its semi mechanical nature.
Cheers .......... Alan

G,Day Mary ,
I use the Smart - tire model made by Autron in Melbourne - saved many tyres and works on the camper as well - also no interference when using HF .
Cheers John

Mary,
After a B-Double passed us going more than 100k in Northern WA our single axle pop top continued to sway I pulled over and found that a new tyre on the passenger side of the van had blown out and disintegrated. This tyre had only done 5000k. Back in Adelaide I returned to the dealer with the tyre and wheel and informed him it could have cost us our life and I wanted the tyre replaced free of charge. Eventually the tyre manufacturer with some arm twisting did just that but accepted no responsibility.

I bought the Aussie Tow Mate system along with the Bearing sensors for our new Tandem and have had them on the van for four years. I don't know If I would get the bearing sensors again because their installation is not as foolproof as the puncture Flat tyre sensors.The Flat tyre sensor also need some maintenance now and then, because if any of the spring contacts are dirty the system will not work.

I have found the Aussie Tow Mate Company to be very helpful, if you have any problems.

In closing I would seriously look at an Radio Frequency System if I was going thru this again ie some sort of transmitter wrapped around each wheel hub with a receiver on the dash with each wheel on the van, 4 x 4 and spares all fitted with the appropriate equipment. I appreciate this could be a costly exercise and also appreciated that you could get RF interference which could cause problems.

A friend came back from WA via the Nullarbor 6 weeks or so ago and the remains of two vans could be seen from the road, perhaps if they had the Aussie Tow Mate Or.... fitted.........

Probably a sensor system is more important on a single axle van than a Tandem.

I bought my set at the Adelaide Caravan show over four years ago and cannot recall the price.

There was a wireless system on display at the Perth Truck Show about 4 weeks ago but sorry I cannot recall the brand. Someone else might or the organisers should have a list of participants. It consists of special valve caps that monitor the pressure and send a signal to the dash mounted digital display unit which looked pretty neat. From memory a unit to monitor 4 tyres was $395.00 and can be supplied for any combination required including say a road train with 100 tyres.
An alarm can be set at a pressure predetermined by the driver so when that pressure is reached a warning is given before the tyre is dead flat so you can pull over and rectify the problem hopefully before the tyre is stuffed or worse, on fire. Obviously not a lot of warning in terms of time would be given if the tyre were to blow out.

I've recently fitted a system being trialled by Derek from ABR Sidewinder (advertiser on this site).

It is called the Jett 400B and in my mind it has the advantages of

(a) not needing to have more sensors than the number of tyres you would have on the ground at any one time and

(b) The sensors are screw-on type, meaning you don't have to remove the tyre from the rim to fit them.

In practical terms, this means (in my case), I only need to have 6 sensors......4 for the truck and 2 for the camper or box trailer. With the other types, where the sensor is mounted inside the rim, you really need to have enough sensors to cover the number of wheels and tyres you have (in my case 11).

The Jett 400B can monitor up to 22 tyres at once. It measures/monitors tyre pressures and temperatures, sounding a beeping alarm and flashing a red LED if there is an anomoly detected.

I had a tyrealert system, which was very good, but could only monitor 5 tyres and had to fitted in the rims. I now have the same as Roachie and have had extra valve stems put in each rim so the sender units can stay in place when needing to air up or down.

The tyrealert system was instant, as soon as you turned on the ign it showed pressure and temps. The new Jett 400 system does take 2 or 3 k's to get a signal from the sender units, this may change if I use metal valve stems as they use the stems as antenna's. The main advantage of the new system is trailer/van or boat can be monitored just by screwing the senders onto whatever tyres you happen to be towing.

Mary W we have the Sensa tyre system from TJM Adelaide. The individual tyre pressure and temperature sender units are attached internally to the tyre valve. (Can also attach internally to the rim). The receiver unit (info screen) sits on the dash. It all worked well until I changed tyres to Goodyear silent armour ( I assume the tyre construction materials in this particular tyre are interfering with the signal) and could not get a response. Needed to purchase a separate add on aerial for the receiver unit which seems to have fixed the problem (well 90% any way).
A mate of mine recently shredded his rear tyre on the road from Arkaroola to Yunta. He drove on for some time thinking something was maybe a miss but not sure. When he realized the tyre may have gone it was too late to save it. If he had a tyre sensor system he would have saved the tyre and averted any possible danger in vehicle damage.

Hi Mary

For Father's Day my kids got me the Tyredog system. It is very easy to install as you just screw the small transmitters to the tyre valves. The in-car monitor is about the size of an iPod and shows the pressures continuously. A button press gives you temperatures which reverts to pressure after about 5 seconds. It has a high and low audible alarm which can be preset to any level above 16 psi. The alarm can be muted if you need lower pressures. The inside monitor runs off AAA or 12 volts.
I have not taken it off-road yet but around town it seems to be working well. A potential down-side for some is that it has only 4 transmitters and so a single unit will not cover a trailer.

They retail in Adelaide at $499 (expensive) but my smart kids got it on a show special for $299. With that discount I couldn't be happier.

Cheers
Dave

Hi Barry ,
Well , after looking at the rest , which were not available end of 05 , my Smart tire system is surely the most expensive - supplied & fitted inc. wheel balancing with 8 sensors & remote antena for accurate trailer monitoring , all up just under $2000 .

Even so , the readings are spot on and I am in front compared to total tyre loss . In remote desert exploring trips (read no tracks) when running low pressures it is important to detect flats early as 35" tyre stores are non existent .

The valve type are simple to install if you do'nt dang them on obstacles - mine are on a ss clamp inside the tyre .

Any large 4wd outlet will be able to s& f

Cheers John

Many thanks all for the informative replies.I tow a single axle pop top behind the Defender and it doesnt give any indication when tyres are going down.Sits as straight as a die even with a flat hence the question.As I run tubes in my tyres a system with internal sensors is out.Like the sound of Derek's new system.Will check out the others too,
Cheers,
Mary