Staying debt free on the road forces us to think carefully about how we spend our money, especially when it comes to big ticket items. For the first decade of our full-time RVing life we considered getting a RV TPMS (tire pressure monitoring system), but never had the guts to fork out the cash. A TPMS wouldn’t actually prevent flat tires, we thought, so why bother?
We Didn’t See Any Before RV TPMS / After RV TPMS Photos Like These
Frugal people that we are, what we didn’t understand was, a TPMS can prevent a flat tire from becoming a catastrophic, potentially life-threatening blowout.
RV Trailer Tire Blowout Without a TPMS
This is what happened to our right rear trailer tire on Interstate 25 just outside of Austin, Texas. It was our second catastrophic tire failure at highway speeds.
As you can see, it’s the kind of RV blowout that causes massive destruction to the rig. The kind that kills people. We were extremely lucky to survive without a scratch, both times.
RV Trailer Tire Blowout With a TPMS
When we started planning our Alaska trip, we knew we couldn’t hit the Alcan without a TPMS, so that’s what we got each other for Christmas last year. The device has already paid for itself.
Here is the ultimate example of how one RV TPMS is worth the cost. This photo was taken of our right rear tire on one of our two Alcan flat tire experiences:
Notice how the tire is just . . . flat? The reason is because the TPMS went off immediately after losing pressure. We knew exactly what was going on, and were able to pull over in seconds. The tire never had a chance to shred.
Without the TPMS, we had no idea that our tire was going bad. We simply drove until someone either alerted us, or when Jim felt the terrifying sway of a fifth wheel with one less tire.
Don’t Be Like Us, Get a TPMS
I cannot believe we drove for ten years without this life and property-saving device. That makes me feel like a fool. I’m just glad we finally made the plunge, and lived to tell about it.
Read Jim’s Tire-SafeGuard TPMS Review and Installation Tips and see for yourself how this little device changes everything when your RV tire goes flat.
And yes, this post has Amazon affiliate links to help pay for our fuel. But we mean every word, don’t play Russian roulette with your RV and your life. Get any TPMS on Amazon for all we care, just don’t wait ten years to do it like we did.
I totally agree with Jim, we were also foolish and drove 15 years without a TPMS. However we were very lucky and never had a flat with our Motorhome or toad. A year after getting the TPMS we crossed a railroad track in TX and the alarm went off, I pulled over before the pressure dropped to zero, called roadside assistance. After putting on the spare we drove to a tire shop, the inspected the tire, patched it and that tire was good for another 20,000 miles when we replaced all four tires. We’ve had two flats since installing the TPMS both times we were able to patch and reinstall the tire on the toad because we pulled over before the tire went completely flat. Saving the cost of two tires on our toad almost pays for the TPMS. I run LT tires on our ford ranger toad.
Wow Larry that IS lucky! And your track record on flats is pretty amazing too. As far as your comment “Saving the cost of two tires on our toad almost pays for the TPMS” I wish I had looked at it that way when we first heard about them, we would have owned one years ago.