Tyre safety - advice please

Tyron bands just have a very good PR dept ... they are a product for a wheel rim that was phased out many years ago ie without a safety lip

That’s certainly how I read it. Similarly I have Deleted User the caravan from my TyrePal, now it is only required to read the four MH tyres.

Thanks for all of your replies. Looks like Tyrepal might be the way to go then. Are external or internal sensors a better option?

The version of Tyrepal I used had external sensors which screwed onto the tyre valve and held in place with a little grub screw. I just wonder if the transmission of the information might be better with external sensors?

David

It's swings and roundabouts, netcam.  I've had both and I think, on balance, I would go for external ones.

The internal ones have a battery life of 5 years according to Tyrepal, but in practice, I got about 3 and half years out of my first set - but we do/did use the van extensively, all year round.  Replacing them means taking the tyres off - so there's an additional expense there on top of the cost of the new sensors (you can't replace the batteries).

With the external ones, the batteries are replaceable - I think they're CR1632 and I change mine every year although they probably would last longer. The slight inconvenience is that you have to remove the sensors every time you check your tyre pressures. I tend to cheat a bit and only check the pressures if I'm going on a long high-speed journey.  Shorter trips - I rely on what the sensors are telling me and if a tyre is a bit down, I'll adjust it when we get to our destination. Just me being lazy!

In terms of transmission of the signal - I'm working at the extreme end with a van that's 8.1m long and a VW Touareg with the monitor mounted on the windscreen. I have external sensors fitted and although Tyrepal advised that I might need the repeater, in practice, it hasn't been necessary.

The external sensors are more exposed to the elements and I have had to replace the 'O' rings on a couple of mine (after three years) because there were the initial signs of corrosion. I also put some silicone grease inside the dust cap just to make sure any moisture stays out.

Hope this helps you decide.

Thanks, that us really helpful information. I got the impression the external ones just replace the little screw caps on the wheels, or am I mistaken? If so, is there more work involved in putting them back on than there would be putting the caps on after checking tyre pressures? My partner usually checks tyre pressures in our house and does not like too much faffing!

The early versions had a little grub screw to prevent them from being easily stolen, which was fiddly. Where as the later ones have a locking nut that is much easier. I suppose you could use them without the locking device, which would make them as quick as an ordinary cap to put on. However, I suppose there is a risk they might vibrate loose and start letting air out of the valve, as they depress the valve when fully tightened in order to get a pressure reading.

As SteveL says above, the new ones have a locking nut and they provide a stupid angled spanner for undoing them.  But it's useless and keeps slipping off so I only do the locking nuts up hand tight. It's not much more involved than taking the valve caps off - but with my tyre pump, I have to remove the nut and rubber cap so it's a little more involved but not much. With a different type of pump / connector, you might not have to.

 I just find it much more reassuring to be able to easily change the batteries once a year, knowing that it would then be unlikely to lose a signal due to low battery level when you're actually using it.  I buy the batteries in bulk rather than from Tyrepal and they're as cheap as chips (well as cheap as chips used to be!)

And before anyone raises the question - no you don't have to get your wheels re-balanced once having fitted the external sensors - they're so light, it's not necessary.

I have TPMS on my VW Passat, When I first got it I had false warnings when towing the caravan. When I left home one day I felt the steering pulling to one side, I stopped and found I had a flat tyre, no warning from TPMS On replacing the tyre the tyre fitter told me some systems monitor ABS/Stability system rather than actual tyre pressure.

Taken from VW website

“Tyre Monitoring Indicator

Helps you keep a check on tyre pressure. It works via the ABS wheel-speed sensors. They sense when tyre pressure drops, because the wheel roll is reduced and it turns more quickly at the same car speed. The system checks your tyres constantly, keeping you safer.”

I’d had false warnings from the car system when I first got it. When I increased pressure for towing, after about 40 miles I got a warning and on checking tyre pressures they were OK. After what the tyre fitter told me I realised it was because I didn’t have matching tyres on the rear, and obviously had a different rolling radius which was detected by the ABS. I now use Tyrepal on car and caravan, including spares, saves crawling under caravan or emtying boot to check spares. Surprising how much caravan pressures increase when warm, from 65psi when cold to approx 76psi when warmed up.

cars have either TPMS which is a direct tyre monitoring system that use pressure, temperature sensors that relay the actual pressure to the inside of the car

OR tyre deflation monitoring systems which is an IN-direct system & use the ABS system to detect a wheel that is going faster that the others and just sends a warning that there is a flat/soft tyre. It's then up to you to find it.