A few weeks ago I was prepping the bus for another weekend trip up to the family camp and checked the usual stuff: oil, coolant and fuel levels then checked pressure in all six tires. Everything was good to go. Fast forward to the next morning we’re loading up and for some reason I looked under the bus and was shocked to see that one of the inner duallys was low. Checked it with the tire gauge and it’s not just low, it’s flat! So I pulled out the compressor and aired it up again but I can hear a hiss. Turned out one of my valve stem extenders had rusted a bit and was stuck open. Driving 200 miles on that flat dually would almost certainly have caused the outer to blow too so I just plain lucked out catching it when I did. That led me to look at tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) and I finally settled on the EEZ Tire Minder.
Paid $340 for the monitor and six wheel sensors. Two flow-thru sensors that allow you to air up with the sensor in place and 4 theft-resistant sensors that need to be removed before adding air to the tire. The flow-thru sensors go on the inner duallys.
Installation was pretty simple but I did have to upgrade my tire valves to the bolt-in style. The extra weight of the sensors tends to break down the rubber pull-through valve stems and cause leaks.
Since I can't get my hand through those little holes in the rim I also made a tool to remove the flow-thru sensor on the inner duallys. Just some PVC pipe cut to fit.
Now I don’t have to use the tire gauge to check tire pressure. Just turn on the monitor and each tire reports in turn at 5 minute intervals. It also lets me set alarms for high and low pressures and tire temperature so no need to constantly look at the monitor.
Getting instant notification of a tire problem (particularly the one of the duallys) is great for peace of mind on the road. I like it.
Linear Mode
