Tyre safety - advice please

When I caravanned I had Tyron Bands fitted. However if I was to caravan again I would invest in a TPMS system as it would give you warning that you had a problem. One of the issues with Tyron is if you have to change a tyre and whether the tyre dealer knows what to do? I had a TyrePal system on my last motorhome and it gives you a constant readout of the pressures and temperatures. 

David

We have Tyron fitted and always will.

We had a puncture to a caravan tyre whilst in Germany one year. Fortunately it manifested itself on site. The ADAC breakdown services were arranged by Red Pennant and the man took the tyre away but with written instructions supplied by Tyron in German ( and other European languages) so that the tyre fitter could conform to the method. Mrs WN took photocopies of all necessary pages for such an eventuality. As it happens the tyre was repaired easily as only a nail puncture.

Whenever I come to have tyres replaced the service dept. of whichever dealer or facility we use never have any problems having the bands fitted.

We'll be replacing our tyres come service time this year.

Are TPMS reliable. Surely after market products will be no more reliable than manufacturer supplied items.  I've had them on previous 2014 Yeti and two false warnings in 5 years. Current Audi A3 has had two false warnings in 3 years. It has never crossed my mind to fit them to a caravan.

A working TPMS is only of value on a slow puncture, which normally is unlikely to result in a major problem. They are of no use in the event of a catastrophic blow out as they give no prior warning. This is when Tyron bands are a benefit.

Tyron bands were once a [fairly] common fitment, but reports of issues after a puncture again made me not contemplate having them fitted. 

Colin

I purchased a TyrePal and used it for my car and Caravan, then this year I changed only to find the car had TPMS fitted as standard.  TyrePal were very helpful and guided me in deleting the car tyre monitoring and now my old TyrePal monitors the caravan  tyres only.  it gives peace of mind generally its the c'van wheels that need to monitor as the driver will feel a change in the car tyre pressures.

I purchased a TyrePal when we had a car and caravan and used it for monitoring both. The same unit now just monitors the four MH tyres. Personally I  find it reassuring that I will get advance warning of a slow deflation, giving time to get to a place of safety. Particularly on these all lanes running motorways.

"A working TPMS is only of value on a slow puncture, which normally is unlikely to result in a major problem. They are of no use in the event of a catastrophic blow out as they give no prior warning"

Sorry - but I have to disagree with you EM. The fact that both pressure and temperature are constantly displayed for each tyre, allows you to see if something is going wrong before anything catastrophic happens. A tyre running under-inflated will overheat and could blow out - you can see this happening and if drastic, an alarm will sound both for pressure and temperature, if you haven't noticed it.

Some years ago - I had a blow out whilst towing a small boat trailer behind a Disco on the M5.  I wasn't aware that the tyre had shredded until an overtaking motorist waved at me frantically as I was happily going on my way at 60 mph! I was totally unaware that there was anything wrong and the results with a larger rig could have been horrendous.

I fitted TPMS to our present van as soon as we got it and wouldn't dream of towing now without it fitted.

A TPMS is well worth considering. However, it has never been proved that one is any better off with Tyron bands than without them. Not even the manufacturer has provided any such proof. That’s probably why they have gone out of fashion.

Rendering the car’s tyre pressure monitoring system inoperative on a vehicle registered after November 2014 is illegal and amounts to an MOT failure.

You've mis-read birdseye's post .... the car part of the TyrePal has been Deleted User not the car's TPMS, the TyrePal is just reading the caravan's tyres.