Advice on (budget) tyre pressure monitoring sytems

Forums › Transport (cars, bikes and boats) › Advice on (budget) tyre pressure monitoring sytems - any of them any good?

jonathan18

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#286108 6-Jun-2021 20:41

I'm developing a bit of a bad habit of driving around on a leaking tyre to the point I've killed the sidewall on a couple, so thought it could be well worth investing in a set of tyre pressure monitors.

But I don't want to spend heaps on them - does anyone have any experience and advice they can offer on these? For example, what's the battery life on the sensor units? How are phone app-based systems vs a set using a dedicated receiver unit? Does using such an app have much impact on battery life?

Also, any specific recommendations for affordable sets?

I see Mighty Ape is selling an app-based TPMS for $110 (Certa, so clearly a Kogan product - they currently have them for $200).

They also have one of the ones with a solar-powered receiver unit for $49.

Any advice or thoughts appreciated.

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#2720018 6-Jun-2021 21:32

I think TPMS is a thing driven by things like the Ford "Exploder" lawsuits. Most of my 55+ driving have been on steel rims and I've had very few problems with slow leaks. Alloy rims can be a bit more fragile but 12 years on factory rims and there's been no problem with slow leaks. Our previous vehicle had TPMS in the US market and there were far more people complaining on user forums that they had a false low pressure alarm than praising the system. It might be better here because there aren't the same temperature extremes but I would work on checking your tyres every 3 or 4 petrol fills or before you go out of town.

Technofreak

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#2720026 6-Jun-2021 22:16

TPMS seems to be a thing in the US. My 2019 car doesn't have TPMS the only market that has it from the factory is the US models.

I have an idea TPMS might be a requirement over there even only to gain the highest safety ratings. Nowhere else in the world seems to deem it worthwhile.

Get used to how your tyres look when they're correctly inflated. Look at how much the sidewall bulges. It's not hard to pick a tyre that is low on pressure. If you're unsure compare the tyres with each other.

Make a practice of walking around your car every week or so looking at things like the tyres (inflation and tread depth) and looking for anything out of the ordinary like broken light lenses, fluid leaks etc.

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#2720055 6-Jun-2021 23:02

Technofreak: TPMS seems to be a thing in the US. My 2019 car doesn't have TPMS the only market that has it from the factory is the US models.

I have an idea TPMS might be a requirement over there even only to gain the highest safety ratings. Nowhere else in the world seems to deem it worthwhile.

Get used to how your tyres look when they're correctly inflated. Look at how much the sidewall bulges. It's not hard to pick a tyre that is low on pressure. If you're unsure compare the tyres with each other.

Make a practice of walking around your car every week or so looking at things like the tyres (inflation and tread depth) and looking for anything out of the ordinary like broken light lenses, fluid leaks etc.

The phase in of compulsory TPMS was completed in the USA in September 2007, in Europe in November 2014, and in South Korea in June 2014.

As somebody else said, the Firestone / Ford tire controversy was a big factor into TPMS being compulsory in the USA. - In short 271 people died as the result of tread separation that happens on a particular tire when it gets too hot. Hot ambient air, high vehicle loads, high speeds , and low tire pressures all add more heat to tire sidewalls.

Beyond the above, Slightly underinflated tires lead to worse fuel economy, handling, hydroplaning resistance, and increased wear rates. Ultimately any tire that is badly underinflated (combined with high load and speed) can overheat to the point where it blow's out, a quite dangerous situation - apparently fairly hard notice if it is not on a steering axle.

The idea of TPMS was to prevent partially the latter. Obviously has more general safety & convenience advantages beyond that. Knowing a tire is leaking allows the driver to stop somewhere safe, access the situation, and make a call to change the tire (if spare available), call a tow trick, or potentially just keep topping it off at petrol stations for the rest of the trip etc. Either way the risk of a potentially dangerous blowout is diverted, and the tire is likely saved from un-repairable damage.

TPMS are basically essential on all cars with run flat tires (How else do you know that your 80km or so of run flat life has started if the car dosn't tell you.

I have only had TPMS in one of my cars, and a few rentals in the USA. Never tested it with a flat, but it seemed to work fine when I clicked through the menus with properly inflated tires. Did notice a lot of TPMS lights on in taxi's etc in the USA though...

Haven't used an aftermarket one, but can't see why it wouldn't work. Would avoid phone based systems myself. Only concerns would be potential short battery life in transmitters (if battery powered), and the risk the tires would need re-balancing due to the transmitters weight.

Sidestep

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#2720077 7-Jun-2021 08:57

I'm a big fan of TPMS. I'd say go for it.

They're certainly not foolproof, but they've saved us - the wife and kids - from trouble several times.
It's not mandatory here in Canada, but since it became a US FMVSS requirement in 2007 it's been rare to find a vehicle without them fitted.

Our oldest vehicle is the kid's 2012 Jeep, it still has the factory original tyre pressure monitors in 4 road wheels (not the spare), still functional after 10 years.
A month ago my 16 year old daughter came out from her job at a supermarket and called me because of the chime and flashing light. Sure enough one front tyre was nearly flat, and wouldn't have lasted the drive home.
We kept the sensor but next time we change the tyres we'll replace them all - the batteries must be close to done. It's a basic idiot light system (can't read individual pressures) which might be why they've lasted so long.

My ute has factory TPMS for it's 6 wheels, and the trailer an aftermarket unit to monitor it's 4 wheels, with a repeater and in-cab monitor.
The aftermarket senders, externally mounted on the valve stems - appear to have a much shorter battery life - of a couple of years - but the batteries are replaceable.

I've had three occasions where the TPMS has worked as intended and a few false alarms.
The three genuine alarms were on the dually wheels, two inside tyres and one outer, none actually looked flat but the inside ones had slow leak punctures, the outer a leaking valve. Caught before there was a problem.

Before pressure monitors were a thing sometimes the first you'd know of a flat tire while driving on freeway would be a thwacking noise and vibration or passing car honking and pointing.. then the joy of finding a delaminating tyre had damaged a fender, twisted the exhaust out of shape and bent a brake line before spitting lumps of tread out at cars behind you.

The false alarms have all been on the ute's 'factory' system, so back to manually checking the tyre pressures and driving around with a chime and light on the dash until fixed.
Also the inner rear's (duallys) run on a different frequency, so can't be included in front/rear tyre rotation which is annoying. Not a problem you'll have.

OTOH in 2017 one of our imported utes in NZ failed it's WOF because the TPMS light was on.
The rule they explained was 'if it's factory fitted - it must be working'..

It then took 4 weeks to import the correct TPMS units, fit and learn them before we could get the WOF completed...

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#2720079 7-Jun-2021 09:17

Our 2016 Mazda CX-5 AWD has factory fitted TPMS - apparently it uses ABS sensors to monitor not actually pressure sensors?

Jon

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#2720147 7-Jun-2021 12:37

jonherries: Our 2016 Mazda CX-5 AWD has factory fitted TPMS - apparently it uses ABS sensors to monitor not actually pressure sensors?

Jon

I was curious about how this works..... A Google find which makes some sense...

Indirect Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS) are the systems that do not have air pressure sensors inside the tires. Rather, they detect a low tire by comparing relative wheel speeds via the Anti-lock Brake System (ABS) wheel speed sensors. When a tire loses air, its diameter decreases slightly.

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#2720158 7-Jun-2021 13:11

Gordy7:

jonherries: Our 2016 Mazda CX-5 AWD has factory fitted TPMS - apparently it uses ABS sensors to monitor not actually pressure sensors?

Jon

I was curious about how this works..... A Google find which makes some sense...

Indirect Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS) are the systems that do not have air pressure sensors inside the tires. Rather, they detect a low tire by comparing relative wheel speeds via the Anti-lock Brake System (ABS) wheel speed sensors. When a tire loses air, its diameter decreases slightly.

Clever use of technology without adding extra equipment or complexity.

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frankv

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#2720645 8-Jun-2021 11:20

They're about $25 on Ali Express. External sensors screw onto your tyre valve, internal ones go through the wheel rim, I guess assuming that you have tubeless tyres. Possibly you need to calibrate the sensors? Or just learn that e.g. 28psi on your front left is actually 30?

The sensors transmit on 433MHz with no encryption or authenticity check other than an ID. There are YouTube videos showing how to receive and decode the messages. So in theory they could be "hacked"... i.e. someone could read your tyre pressure sensor messages as you go past (given enough reading stations, you can then track cars by its tyre pressure sensor IDs) or transmit spurious tyre pressure values to your display. Presumably if you had a 433MHz dongle on your phone, you could use an app and do away with the display unit.

jonathan18

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#2733276 23-Jun-2021 15:47

Thanks for all the replies; I’ve finally got back to looking at this, and based on the feedback received have purchase a set - have gone with a basic set from Ali Express that plugs into the cigarette lighter, so it’s compact and will sit tucked away out of line of sight rather than needing to sit on the dash or attached to the windscreen. All up, just under $40 by the time shipping and GST is added:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000532928926.html

I get that in an ideal world I’d be good about checking my tyres regularly, but I’m a realist - I’ll forget to do so, and then end up ruining another tyre as a result - $40 is a totally acceptable investment to solve this problem.

sJBs

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#2733342 23-Jun-2021 20:08

I have been using these inexpensive under $20 Aliexepress TPMS systems, the solar-powered stick-it-on-the-dash and screw on "fat valve covers" for more than a year already. They are very good. Surprisingly good. You get 4 pressures and 4 temps below $20, when on promo.

The one downside was that I had to progressively replace the 2032 batteries, but otherwise flawless. I think these batteries might have been more than $20.

These systems don't require any external power or wiring. They are making use of the solar to top up the built-in battery in the display and the 2032 batteries in the sensors.

Definitely the best gadget I've ever purchased on Aliexpress.

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#2733380 23-Jun-2021 23:00

jonathan18: Thanks for all the replies; I’ve finally got back to looking at this, and based on the feedback received have purchase a set - have gone with a basic set from Ali Express that plugs into the cigarette lighter, so it’s compact and will sit tucked away out of line of sight rather than needing to sit on the dash or attached to the windscreen. All up, just under $40 by the time shipping and GST is added:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000532928926.html

I get that in an ideal world I’d be good about checking my tyres regularly, but I’m a realist - I’ll forget to do so, and then end up ruining another tyre as a result - $40 is a totally acceptable investment to solve this problem.

Did you get the external or internal sensors? Let us know how it goes when they arrive!

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jonathan18

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#2747646 21-Jul-2021 14:19

phrozenpenguin:

jonathan18: Thanks for all the replies; I’ve finally got back to looking at this, and based on the feedback received have purchase a set - have gone with a basic set from Ali Express that plugs into the cigarette lighter, so it’s compact and will sit tucked away out of line of sight rather than needing to sit on the dash or attached to the windscreen. All up, just under $40 by the time shipping and GST is added:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000532928926.html

I get that in an ideal world I’d be good about checking my tyres regularly, but I’m a realist - I’ll forget to do so, and then end up ruining another tyre as a result - $40 is a totally acceptable investment to solve this problem.

Did you get the external or internal sensors? Let us know how it goes when they arrive!

I went with the external sensors - I've not got the skill or inclination to be taking tyres off rims to fit the internal type!

Anyway, they arrived on Monday (3.5 weeks for delivery) and have now had them fitted for a couple of days. Easy to fit, though I would note that they do sit out slightly further than the edge of the tyre YMMV depending on the specific tyre/stem/wheel).

They initially took a bit of time to connect, but now do so instantly when turning the car on. The receiver is ideal for my situation - it's a small screen, but shows all the key information - and the size means it's just tucked away at the base of the dashboard, visible but doesn't take up much space; plus it has an audible alarm, so visibility isn't a big concern for me anyway. (Most models have larger screens, but I chose this one deliberately for the small one.)

The main negative is they appear to under-report pressure - the tyre company has noted 38 psi on the sticker it stuck on the windscreen, and the sensors were reading 34; I checked at a garage and the tyres read 38, so I'm assuming they're under by 4 - but given my concern is just to know of a relative drop in pressure it's not a biggie, and I've set the low pressure alarm taking this into account.

All up, totally happy with the purchase; will give it another couple of weeks and if they're still running well may get a set for my wife's car - she drives a Leaf, so with no spare tyre some forewarning is particularly useful!

phrozenpenguin

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#2748436 22-Jul-2021 23:22

Thanks for the update, glad they are working for you.

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#2752056 29-Jul-2021 22:50

frankv:

They're about $25 on Ali Express. External sensors screw onto your tyre valve, internal ones go through the wheel rim, I guess assuming that you have tubeless tyres. Possibly you need to calibrate the sensors? Or just learn that e.g. 28psi on your front left is actually 30?

The sensors transmit on 433MHz with no encryption or authenticity check other than an ID. There are YouTube videos showing how to receive and decode the messages. So in theory they could be "hacked"... i.e. someone could read your tyre pressure sensor messages as you go past (given enough reading stations, you can then track cars by its tyre pressure sensor IDs) or transmit spurious tyre pressure values to your display. Presumably if you had a 433MHz dongle on your phone, you could use an app and do away with the display unit.

Don't those external tpms have very short battery life of about 3 months i recall? That's the only thing stopping me from getting one of those.

sJBs

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#2752064 29-Jul-2021 23:13

plo009:

frankv:

They're about $25 on Ali Express. External sensors screw onto your tyre valve, internal ones go through the wheel rim, I guess assuming that you have tubeless tyres. Possibly you need to calibrate the sensors? Or just learn that e.g. 28psi on your front left is actually 30?

The sensors transmit on 433MHz with no encryption or authenticity check other than an ID. There are YouTube videos showing how to receive and decode the messages. So in theory they could be "hacked"... i.e. someone could read your tyre pressure sensor messages as you go past (given enough reading stations, you can then track cars by its tyre pressure sensor IDs) or transmit spurious tyre pressure values to your display. Presumably if you had a 433MHz dongle on your phone, you could use an app and do away with the display unit.

Don't those external tpms have very short battery life of about 3 months i recall? That's the only thing stopping me from getting one of those.

Both my vehicles are equipped with these sub $20 Aliex TPMS installed over the last 2 years and working well. Only had to replace batteries once on each of them so far at around month 9 to 16. Just keep a spare battery in the car and you're ready to go. These batteries are freely available at Mitre10 or PaknSave and also relatively inexpensive.

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