Peace of Mind

After 41,000 miles of towing, we added tire pressure monitoring to our proven rules for safer RV travel.

Published on September 24, 2020 – Narrated by Jim

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Road hazards, deer crossings, distracted drivers, steep grades, narrow mountain roads, blinding fog, lightening storms, ice storms, wind storms, sand storms, high winds, wild fires and tornadoes… Since we set out over four years ago, Living in Beauty (LIB) has passed through all of these driving anomalies. We signed up for it.

Peace of Mind is real currency while towing a five-ton rig on a strange highway through unfamiliar territory.

On our first official camping trip in Beauty we drove through a suburban San Diego county neighborhood where rooftops were on fire. That was five years ago and it wasn’t the first or last major fire we’ve encountered on the road.

We took that early LIB experience as a providential warning, an atavistic murmur of the trials ahead in this full-timing adventure.

So often peace of mind comes with a cost – but the good news is that most of our security techniques are entirely free.

Four Eyes Policy

Since that first weekend camping trip in Beauty, we’ve never departed from the four-eyes policy. Well … six-eyes, including Pico de Gallo, our full-time Security Specialist.

We concentrate on the road at all times. No self-imposed distractions are allowed in the cab. No loud music or radio talk shows, no snacking, dancing, smoking, flashing, groping, texting, sexting, googling or napping. All eyes and ears are on-deck. We plan all stops ahead of time and set our GPS before we pull out.

Drive under 60 MPH

Driving under 60 mph, is another form of life-insurance which we hold dear. RV accident reports tender valuable information about safety. The laws don’t lie. Maintaining a speed between 55-60 on the highway while pulling a trailer prevents accidents and accident fatalities. We’re retired, so we’re never in a hurry. But it’s better to pull off than to incite drivers on an 80 MPH highway to flip you off, or worse. So, we’re always scoping the shoulder for a safe spot to pull over and give faster commuters a break.

4-3-2 Rule

Driving five tons down the road for more than 41,000 miles through 46 states and four Canadian provinces can take a toll, so we operate on the 4-3-2 Rule. Drive only 4 hours, stop by 3 PM and stay for 2 weeks. 4-3-2 is not always achievable, but it is our ideal itinerary.

Anxiety-free travel is a myth, but it is still a worthy goal

And, it will remain a myth at least until 2030-50 when self-driving vehicles will be the norm if I live long enough to see them on the sales lot right beside the flying cars.

But, then, Carmen would find something to stress over. In her mind, we’ve already died a thousand deaths on the road. She works through challenging situations by visualizing newspaper headlines aloud, “Retired Couple Plunge To Their Deaths On The Rio Grande Gorge Bridge Due To Tire Blowout” and, “Senior Couple Flip Rig In Freak Sand Storm: Vicious Chihuahua Bites Rescuers.”

So, as we begin our 5th year of traveling full-time, we continue to research the latest in proactive safety measures and, take it from a couple of rubber tramps, road safety begins with tires.

Several years ago we published “Roadside Debacle Busters” to share our roadside emergency preparedness kit and we invite LIB followers to continue submitting equipment and ideas on that post.

Within three weeks of hitting the road – back in July 2016 – we had a tire blowout in the middle of the Mojave Desert on a busy highway in 100° heat.

16″ Upgrade

After that blowout, we upgraded to 16″ wheels that will handle Light Truck (LT) load range “E” all season tires. We currently have Michelin’s Agilis CrossClimate tires on both the truck and Airstream. We have the LT225/75R16 on the Airstream and the LT275/70R18 on the truck.

These tires are far superior to Special Trailer (ST) tires for their longevity and greater ability to handle the increasing challenge of poor road conditions.

New Axles

Another proactive maintenance was to replace our 20 year old axles.

Having new axles and shocks make us feel safer and the smoother ride decreases the jiggle inside the Airstream. We have fewer “surprises” now when we enter the trailer. Less stuff comes loose when we cross railroad tracks or hit a rough stretch of highway.

Lift Kit

When the axles were replaced, we had a “Lift Kit” installed which raised the Airstream four inches to give us more clearance to avoid road debris and facilitate more off-road camping destinations.

Tire Pressure Monitors

For more than four years we have traveled without tire monitors. But last May, while visiting the Airstream Factory, we were intrigued that so many of our peers were installing tire monitors on their rig.

So, we talked to Mike Benson, National Sales Manager of TST (Truck Systems Technology) about the value their product brings to road safety. He stated, “Tire pressure and temperature awareness leads to increased roadway safety by helping to reduce tire related accidents.”

Because of their product’s reliability, Mike Benson explained that TST is a leader in the tire pressure monitoring system industry. TST is the only tire pressure monitoring system approved for use as standard equipment on all lines with Forest River and Thor, and the Airstream Classic.

He offered to supply us with the TST 507 6-Sensor Tire Monitoring System (valued at around $400) plus 4 extra sensors (valued at around $200) at no cost in exchange for an honest review.

We are very satisfied with the TST tire monitoring system and this is our review.

When the kit arrived, it included simple installation instructions. In just a few minutes, I successfully installed the 10 tire sensors on our Ram truck and Airstream, including the spare tires.

It was quick and easy to match each sensor to the appropriate location on the color monitor.

We use the suction cup holder to place the slim, attractive, four-color monitor on an easy to see location. They also offer an additional mounting system.

The recommended signal repeater was installed on the front A-frame of the Airstream to boost the signal from the tire sensors to the color monitor. It took about thirty minutes to drill the two screw holes and splice into the hitch power jack‘s 12 volt wiring.

Our Start up process:

Now that the system is in place, we check the monitor as a pre-flight inspection, and also between stops. Good tire pressure stats are a comfort to behold. Glancing at those beauties can be an addictive pleasure.

Also, the afternoon before we leave a location, we check the monitor to determine if any tires are low. If so, we hand carry the TST monitor to the tire, remove the sensor, fill the tire with our Viair 400P-RV Air Compressor, and replace the sensor. Then we check the monitor again. If correct, we’re done. If not, we repeat until the desired tire pressure is reached for each tire.

Our Ram truck comes with built in tire monitors and we have a hand held tire pressure gauge. But now we prefer this one source system for all 10 tires. That’s the beauty of the TST system. This goes along with Seagal’s law of a “Man with two watches.”

A tire blowout can be costly. In 2016, we paid more than $1,500 to repair the damage to the inside wheel well and aluminum siding. Since then, we’ve learned that our damage was comparatively minor for a blowout.

We’ve tested the TST system by quickly unscrewing a sensor – to simulate a rapid loss of air. Immediately, the monitor inside the cab sounds an alarm. That alarm could, potentially, avert costly damage or a major accident.

Specifics of the TST Monitoring system:

• A wide screen full-color display is included.
• The display can monitor up to 4 different trailers, a towing vehicle, and spare tires giving up to 115 possible tire positions.
• Every system comes with a Repeater/Signal Booster.
• TST has 4 sensor options, the RV Cap Sensor, Flow Through Cap Sensor, Hybrid Sealer Cap Sensor, and the Banded Internal Sensor.
• All the TST sensors are compatible giving you the ability to use multiple sensor types.
• The most common Airstream after-market sensor used is the RV Cap Sensor, or the Internal Sensor.
• All TST kits come with a 3-year Warranty
• Live Tech Support (770-889-9102) is available Monday-Friday 9:00am EST – 8:00pm EST and Saturday 9:00am EST – 2:00pm EST. 

Our observations:

• At start-up, it takes 2-5 minutes for the monitor to connect to all the tires sensors.
• The monitor alternates displaying each tire, staying on one tire for about 5 seconds. You can jump to any tire as needed.
• Under normal operation conditions, the sensors send a new signal every 7 seconds to the monitor, but a rapid pressure decline will sound the alarm immediately.
• When we rotate our tires every 6,000 miles, we need to make sure the correct sensor is attached to the correct tire so the monitor displays correctly.
• It is very simple to turn off the display for the Airstream tires when we are not hitched.
• The #2032 batteries for the tire sensors should be replaced once a year. It’s a quick, clean job.
• We have rubber valve tire stems. These cap sensors are safe for rubber valve stems.
• The tire sensors are numbered so you can identify each sensor as it is displayed in the appropriate location on the color monitor.
• If your GPS is using the only 12 volt outlet in the cab, you will need a coupler to plug in the GPS and the tire monitor.
• The kit included a wrench to ‘lock’ the sensors to prevent theft, but we don’t use this feature.

One suggested improvement

TST asked us for our opinion about any future improvements to their product.

Okay. This is an elegant tire monitoring system, well designed, easy to install, and is an exciting addition to The Beast’s dashboard. The engineering is finely tuned to alert us to the slightest abnormality and we trust the technology. We feel safer, more informed and, thus, happier every time we pull out.

We can think of only one feature to improve the TST Tire Monitoring System.

It would be helpful to know if any locals set up camp on our tires over night.

Hey, it happens …

So, how about a chipmunk alert?

… Just a suggestion.

This comforting new upgrade – the TST Tire Monitoring System – is the piece of equipment we need to reach our 5th year destinations with more peace of mind.

You can see our exact route on this map.

*Photos in this post, unless otherwise noted, were taken and copyrighted by Living in Beauty.

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