Tire-SafeGuard

[gypsyken]

I greatly appreciate the information that "heat is the main killer of tires."  Much of I-10 in Texas has a speed limit of 75 or even 80 mph, and keeping up with the flow of traffic, it's easy to do that in my diesel pusher, though I don't exceed 75.  My load range H Michelins are 120 psi for maximum weights, which far exceed the weights of my motorhome.  Using the table from Michelin, 90 psi is the minimum for my weights, so I add 10% to that and want to keep the tires above 100 psi.  Driving on I-10 in the current hot temps, my new Tire-SafeGuard shows PSIs to go as high as 123, which I assume is OK.  I haven't been monitoring temps, only PSIs, but apparently the temps are OK, as the Tire-SafeGuard is supposed to warn if temps become too high.

I like my new Tire-SafeGuard so far.  It's more convenient to check PSIs on it before I start out than it was to check the individual gauges I had on the tires, which I've been told may not be accurate.  The only problem I've experienced so far is that the tires on my Honda CR-V toad are to have 26 PSI, and after I've been traveling a while, the PSI of the left front tire goes from 26 to 31, the red light comes on, and the overinflated symbol shows, though no warning sounds.  I don't know why that is or what, if anything, I should do about it.  I don't, of course, want to deflate the tire to an initial PSI of less than 26.    

[Tireman9]

On 3/14/2017 at 11:50 AM, gypsyken said:

Thanks very much.  I have read again the User's Manual on the Tire-SafeGuard website, and your suspicion is correct.  It says this: "The sensors can detect whether the vehicle is in motion and will send out heartbeat signals every 3 to 5 minutes when moving; for a stationary vehicle the signal transmission slows down to once every couple hour (sic) for conserving battery power.   Nevertheless, when abnormal tire situation (sic) occurs the sensors will send out warning signals as soon as it was (sic) detected."

Having been a full-timer since 1993, and having traveled in every state & territory in the U.S., Canada (except Nunavut, which has no roads), and Mexico, I am now parked most of the time (all summer in one place, all winter in another), so waiting for a "couple hour" to get a current reading before moving wouldn't be a handicap--especially as an "abnormal tire situation" is said to be signaled as soon as it is detected--and the extended battery life would be an advantage.  The language errors in the manual do concern me, however, from the perspective of quality control, although the system is said to be manufactured in the U.S.

If only once per hour then you can't use that system to check air before you move in the morning. My Tiretraker updates about 15 min, so when I turn on in morning I have current readings by the time I am bout done with coffee. I also like lifetime warranty.

[Tireman9]

Every RV owner needs to know that tires in RV application have max speed ratings no matter what the sidewall says.

If you run 17.5, 19.5 or 22.5 that max is 75 per Michelin, Goodyear and Bridgestone who know a bit about tires.

 

If you run trailer with ST type tires their max speed rating is 65. While some new St tires may show higher speed symbol I bet the tire store didn't tell you that the tire inflation in the Load tables needs to be increased by 10 psi if operating 66 > 75 mph

and if operating 78 > 85 in addition to increasing the inflation by 10 psi you must also decrease the load by 10% from what is shown in the tables.

 

Also there are a few special tires with a max speed rating of 62.  You need to remember that more load or lower inflation or more speed generates more heat. Heat weakens the belt rubber. It also artificially ages a tire faster which means it can "age-out" even faster .

[gypsyken]

Thanks again, Tireman, for the information about speed limits on tires, which I had never seen, but  I never intend to drive faster than 75 mph anyhow.

Waiting an hour or more for readings after I plug in my Tire-SafeGuard monitor is no problem at all for me, as it takes me much longer than that to get going in the morning, so I can and do use it to check my tires before I move.  If I wanted to move before the Tire-SafeGuard monitor showed readings after being plugged in, I could simply plug it in the night before.  I guess I could just leave it plugged in, but I don't.

Having driven, for what will be 24 years next month, in every state of the U.S. on the North American continent, every province and territory of Canada (except Nunavut, which has no roads), and every state of Mexico--driving as far north, south, west, and east as one can on a public road in North America--without the knowledge about tires that you have, I must consider myself very fortunate to have had only two flat tires on the road in my motorhome, once in Alaska and once in Newfoundland. Either fortunate, or I was doing what was right with my tires.