Hi all, I just wondered what your opinions were regarding TPMS for individual trucks or for full fleets. TPMS is required by law to be fitted to all new cars as of 2012 but there are (as far as I’m aware) no plans to enforce this legislation to the HGV market - strange considering the legislation is being enforced to reduce the carbon footprint of cars, which as I’m sure you’re aware are substantially more efficient than trucks regardless of their age and condition/pressure of their tyres.
Basically though I’m just wanting to know if anyone thinks fitting a TPM system to a truck or fleet is actually worth it. The main benefits are obviously increased fuel and tyre wear efficiency, greater performance and, perhaps most importantly the avoidance of blow outs, but on the flip side the systems require an initial investment and the man-power required to actually install the system. From a financial point of view, tyres under inflated by just 10 psi would cost about an extra £3,000 in fuel per year and tyre wear would be increased by up to 20% so potential savings could easily outweigh the overhead costs, but do you think it is worth it?
Having seen some scarily dangerous footage and being caught up in the aftermath of HGV blow outs I’d have thought the safety aspect alone would have made it a requirement, but apparently not!
I wonder how this will be implemented in cheap cars. I had a motorbike with two dust caps that were preset to the correct pressure, if they were ok, they were green, if the pressures rose or fell to predetermined levels they turned red.
It wont be rocket science to use wireless technology and fit a warning to the dash.
I know many top range cars already have these fitted within the rims
Tyresure already has a really good ‘retro fit’ system that can be fitted to older cars but the legislation does not cover cars that are already on the road, just newly produced cars.
jp85:
Tyresure already has a really good ‘retro fit’ system that can be fitted to older cars but the legislation does not cover cars that are already on the road, just newly produced cars.
and you know that because you sell them on your website
Sorry, I wasn’t trying to sell anything, just seeing if it’s something drivers are interested in, a lot of the people I’ve spoken to mention what Ross mentioned - they don’t want even more stuff on the dashboard
If it’s anything like the system on the top of the range BMW cars I wouldn’t have one if you paid me. I had one on my BMW and it was very unreliable, and reading the BMW owner forums I was not alone either. It only needed some chump in a tyre shop to knock the sensor and/or valve and damage it (very easily done with the sensor) and the whole system went crazy and packed up.
I’ve got a better solution : use a £2 manual tyre pressure gauge off Ebay or Amazon and go round your tyres every week. Even with a trailer hooked up it won’t take more than 5 mins tops and if any are low then bang some air in them. Job done.
Rob K:
If it’s anything like the system on the top of the range BMW cars I wouldn’t have one if you paid me. I had one on my BMW and it was very unreliable, and reading the BMW owner forums I was not alone either. It only needed some chump in a tyre shop to knock the sensor and/or valve and damage it (very easily done with the sensor) and the whole system went crazy and packed up.
I’ve got a better solution : use a £2 manual tyre pressure gauge off Ebay or Amazon and go round your tyres every week. Even with a trailer hooked up it won’t take more than 5 mins tops and if any are low then bang some air in them. Job done.
To be honest a lot of the manufacturer systems dont use pressure sensors, they look at the rolling radius of the tyre using the ABS sensors, It is usually only top end stuff that gives actual pressure readings.
This is the only realistic/affordable way to put the system on lower end vehicles. The DAF Range are now using this system with other truck manufacturers going the same way, though the XF is available with pressure monitoring, if you dont mind truck tyre fitters with sledgehammers and crowbars giving the sensors a good clout?
Rob K:
If it’s anything like the system on the top of the range BMW cars I wouldn’t have one if you paid me. I had one on my BMW and it was very unreliable, and reading the BMW owner forums I was not alone either. It only needed some chump in a tyre shop to knock the sensor and/or valve and damage it (very easily done with the sensor) and the whole system went crazy and packed up.
I’ve got a better solution : use a £2 manual tyre pressure gauge off Ebay or Amazon and go round your tyres every week. Even with a trailer hooked up it won’t take more than 5 mins tops and if any are low then bang some air in them. Job done.
What The_Daf_Man says, the unreliable sensors types have been ditched, all ABS monitored now, and while I agree with what you say about regular pressure checking, pressure monitoring warns of a puncture before a repairable tyre gets trashed, that must be a real bonus
apparently (on cars at least) tyre preassure monitoring (for those fitted with it) will be part of the MoT test. If it isn’t working correctly it will fail!
on both counts Rob. 
