TST Tire Pressure Monitor

Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS) are typically standard equipment in cars but, for whatever reason, they are not standard equipment on motorcoaches. I’m not sure why as a TPMS is an important contributor to the safe operation of a vehicle.

I check tire inflation before and after every trip. On our coach, we run 110 psi on the front, 90 on the drive and 85 on the tag. I keep a portable air compressor on board to inflate the tires. I do visual inspections of the tires every time we stop for fuel or for a rest break.

Until yesterday, I did not have a tire pressure monitoring system on board. It has been on our list of items to purchase.

I wanted to pick up the TST 507 TPMS. I thought we might get a better deal at the Florida RV Supershow and I decided to wait until we went to the show before making the purchase.

I bought the unit with the 6 flow-through sensors at one of the concession booths. TST had been showing an online price of $429 before we went to the show although the site is now showing $389. Picked it up at the show for $329. I needed 2 extra sensors for the coach and 4 for the toad. Online price was $100 a pair, show price was $89 a pair.

It was worth wrestling with the crowds in the concession area of the Florida RV Supershow for a really good deal on the TST TPMS.

TST had a representative at the concession booth and she programmed the kit for me setting the pressure and temperature parameters for our coach and toad as well as sequencing and labelling all of the sensors. That was a nice value add. All I had to do was put the sensors on the valves as per her sheet.

Very straightforward.

The kit does come with a repeater however I had no issues reading the sensors from the tires on our toad. That made the installation process very easy. The display unit came fully charged so I was able to turn it on and check the status of the tires almost immediately. The unit does take about 10 – 15 minutes to establish connection and retrieve the data from all of the tires.

With a real-time monitoring system in place, we can face the long trip to California from Florida knowing that if there is an issue with our tires, either due to tire pressure or tire temperature, we will be alerted in time to take corrective action. Certainly not a substitute for continuous and careful inspection and maintenance of the tires but a useful tool when driving.

A blow out with a tire on a motorcoach is never a good thing.