Trailer Tires Hot Air and Flats
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Trailer Tires, Hot Air and Flats: Tuson Trailer Tire Monitoring System
Trailer Tires Hot Air and Flats. Tires are the #1 problem on trailers. Of course we work on trailer wiring and wheel bearings too, but nothing costs as much in money and time than trailer tire blowouts. I have 5 truck review test trailers. Just one of the trailers had 5 blowouts in a year. No matter what you hear, trailer tires aren’t made as well as truck tires and all tires need balanced. The high end horse trailer companies are using higher ply rated tires like 14 (G) and 16 (H) and some are using 17.5 in wheels. Most horse trailers use torsion axles which don’t equalize like leave springs, moving weight between axles as you drive thru dips. Torsion axles are independent front to back and left to right. This means with torsion axles, you need to pay more attention to being level, not allowing more weight on one axle than the other. Torsion axles with air bag systems can equalize between the axles, like semi-trailers do.
What I’m pointing to is knowing what’s going on with your trailer tires so you can catch the problem before is blows. You need to know what your tire air pressure is and if heat is building in a tire. I’ve been to Formula One auto races and got to tour the “tire control center” usually in a semi-trailer at the track. In that control center, were screens, one for each car that shows tire pressure and temperature. Those race cars also had nitrogen in their tires, they hold pressure longer if temperature fluctuate dramatically. Nitrogen has less water in it that just air. Over time nitrogen holds it’s pressure longer that just oxygen, the molecules are larger. I like larger molecules. Kind of how synthetic oil works. Jets use nitrogen in their tires for all the same reason.
Trailer Tires Hot Air and Flats
Time is money, so besides longer life from your trailer tires, less time on the side of the road while your horses or livestock get hotter with no trailer air circulation let alone the tore up fenders and clearance lights. My blowouts were mostly on commercial car trailers we use to test new trucks. It was no fun jacking up a trailer on the side of mountain Interstates wondering where to run if someone was outside of their lane and the only choice might be jumping off the road and rolling down the mountain.
Think about the new trucks that are rated to tow over 30,000 lbs. now. You need trailer tires that catch up to your trucks capacity. Trailers have grown also, but trailer tires haven’t seen much improvement even though they are your first line of defense on the road. If you’ve had a trailer tire blow-out, it can be scary, and expensive.
I use Tuson Trailer Tire Pressure system on all my trailers. I’ve used the kind with a big knob that screws on your valve stems. They are better than nothing. But big knobs gets chewed off or pawed off , they are not that accurate and are easy to steal. Tuson TPMS goes inside the tire like your new trucks and cars have. Inside the tire is the safest place for the transmitter. Then there is a small repeater box in your trailer tongue that amplifies the tire signal to the monitor in your truck or suv cab. Those valve stems can measure up to 203 psi and the internal heat in real time.
Now you can have the information you need to change the tire before it blows and takes out your trailer fender, clearance lights, license plate and costs you $150 for the new tire. You know what lower temperature means, but if the heat keeps going up, then you may have a bearing or locking brake problem. Tuson TMPS monitor can set limits for too high or too low alerts with flashing lights and a beep. Along with warnings for too high of tire temperature. Your newer car or truck has TPMS because of federal law. Of course trailers don’t get much attention to regulators so now you know what to do. The monitor you watch the pressure and temperature, can be moved to several vehicles. The valve stems come in a few sizes and even the big bands that go around the wheel so you don’t have to use the valve stems. Those work good for motorhomes and duals. I’ve used them on 16 ply 19.5 in trailer tires.
Trailer Tires Hot Air and Flats
But the exciting news is that Tuson has a new sensor. I call them space balls. They look like something from Star Trek. Yes just a ball the size of a ping pong ball. You just drop them inside your tire which is easier than breaking the tire down and changing out the valve stem. The balls do the same thing as the valve stem sensors or the bands with their sensor. It’s the future, I’ll get the first kit in the spring.
It’s very hard to find a tire pressure monitor system that goes above 80 psi. Tuson goes to 203 psi. Trailer tires are close together and throw nails at each other. Only a handful of trailer tires are any good. If you do much trailering, you know what I’m talking about.
So imagine going down the road with a load of Quarter horses, prize bulls or that $100,000 backhoe it’s 98 degrees out with 85 percent humidity. Your front trailer tire just throws a couple 16 penny nails off the road and into the rear tire. Now if just the tire temperature went up, it might be a trailer bearing going out. But if air pressure is dropping and heat is rising, pull over and change the tire before that blow out takes out your trailer fender and a $15 tire repair turns into a $150 new tire.
If you’re hauling animals in the heat, knowing a tire has a slow leak so you can get some air at the next town, will head off a disaster while you would have had to change a tire on the side of the road with no air going thru your trailer to cool off your animals. Now you can know what you can’t see. Real time tire pressure and temperature. Low battery alarm, high pressure alarm, low pressure alarm, high heat alarm.
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