Towing a camper can be a stressful endeavor. Safety for you and your family should be the highest priority. Prior to camp trips (especially longer trips), I have a to-do checklist including checking lug nuts, adding or reducing air pressure in tires, and a taking a look underneath and around the camper for any visible problems .Maintaining appropriate tire pressure is essential to both your safety and the longevity of your tires. Tires that are underinflated can cause heat buildup, which will lead to tire damage or even worse, a tire blowout. Likewise with overinflated tires. Checking your tire pressure before you embark on your camping adventure is not enough. It is essential that you monitor both the tire pressure and the temperature during the towing .I wanted a decent system at a budget price. I found the Tymate TM2 on Amazon. The list price for this monitoring system is $79.99. However, there are times that Amazon has a “limited time deal” at the price of $59.99. CLICK HERE for a link to this product on Amazon. There is a newer version available on the Tymate website HERE. At first, I bought this for my Toyota Tundra. It is an older model truck that does not have a built-in tire pressure monitor system. I liked the product, so I ended up buying one for the camper as well. The installation process is easy. You simply screw the sensors onto the valve stem of each tire.
Each sensor sends a signal to a monitor you place on the dashboard. It will give real time updates on both tire pressure and temperature. An alarm will go off if you have a fast leak or your tire pressure gets to 25% above or below the tire pressure threshold you set. There are a wide range of recommended tire pressure settings depending on make, model and size of the tires, so be sure to know the appropriate settings. Additionally, outdoor air temperature and travel time increases pressure inside the tires. You will want to set the parameters appropriately to account for normal fluctuations.
The system includes a USB cord for charging. In addition, it can be solar charged. I hardly ever have it plugged into the USB port. The solar power is enough. My only problem I have with this particular model is the accuracy. During one tow, I noticed the tire pressure number had not changed in a while. As you move, the tires heat up which increases tire pressure. What I determined is that the sensors were not correctly connecting to the monitor on my dashboard. The product description states that those towing campers longer than 36 feet should buy an optional repeater to boost the signal. My camper is 28 feet. So, I am not sure why the tire pressure value did not update, but that was discouraging. On another trip, the number disappeared for one of the tire numbers. It only lasted for 10 minutes or so, but I have no idea why this occurred. In the end, you get what you pay for. This is a low-cost system. You can buy more expensive models that may be more reliable. But for the most part, this system works for my needs.
