How a TST 507 can cost you a tire.

[DQDick]

Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of tire monitors and thought they only saved tires. I was wrong. My street side 614 blew out on I-10 north of Tucson (no warning at all) and part of that tire took out the valve stem on the TST on the tire behind letting all the air out immediately. Pulled to the side almost immediately but the second tire was toast by that time also. All in all we were still lucky. The one that blew totally shedded and tore the loom that carries the gas and electic to the kitchen, but did not damage the gas or electric or tear a hole in the floor.

[richfaa]

Yep no warning in the event of a blowout. You were however very lucky.

[DQDick]

That's what both the tire folks and the RV dealer said and they were right.

[MARK A]

It broke off a metal valve stem? Wow!

Mark

[DQDick]

No, the TST flow thru sensor has metal on both sides and plastic in the middle. It tore the metal out of the plastic.

[timandsusan]

My experience with my tire monitor system with 2 blowouts in 10 years is--NO WARNING. Because the tire just exploded. Tire monitors cannot report a sudden explosion in time to do anything. But--they do report low pressure so I have been able to avoid any further damage. I will keep using the tire monitor and perform visual and temperature inspections when I stop about every 2 hours. One other hint that works for me--at 5 years the tires are replaced.

[MARK A]

quote:Originally posted by DQDick

No, the TST flow thru sensor has metal on both sides and plastic in the middle. It tore the metal out of the plastic.

Hmm.. I wonder if the regular non flo-through ones would do the same?

Mark

[mlh]

Our neighbor just last week got a new set of tires for the family minivan. The first night one went flat. He pumped it up to 40 pounds and boom. Blowed the side out of it. He said it sounded like 2 shotguns went off. Tires that looks good can fail. Keep your tire monitor in good condition you never know.
Lynwood

[PSFORD99]

quote:Originally posted by DQDick

Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of tire monitors and thought they only saved tires. I was wrong. My street side 614 blew out on I-10 north of Tucson (no warning at all) and part of that tire took out the valve stem on the TST on the tire behind letting all the air out immediately. Pulled to the side almost immediately but the second tire was toast by that time also. All in all we were still lucky. The one that blew totally shedded and tore the loom that carries the gas and electic to the kitchen, but did not damage the gas or electric or tear a hole in the floor.

I too run older G614's, they are due to be changed out. They are over 6 years old now, not the mileage yours had ,but getting old.

Is this just another endorsement for the Sailun S637's. Yet another G614 failure.

At the time I bought my G614's they were pretty much the only game in town,and a pretty fair price at the time. That now has changed. We now we have the Sailuns at a decent price, and from all indications a better tire then the Goodyear.

[DQDick]

Actually it's not a bad mark on G14's. Sailuns should also present issues as they age, all tires do. Sailuns are not the only options out there anymore, Samson's and others are 14ply steel belted and available in some areas.

[DQDick]

quote:Originally posted by MARK A

Hmm.. I wonder if the regular non flo-through ones would do the same?

Mark

Probably not.

[Art-n-Marge]

Tire monitors DO NOT stop blowouts from happening. They only help to monitor as a tire slowly loses pressure. His is all.

If there is a sudden tire failure nothing will help unless you examined your tires and were lucky enough to spot a potential problem and then you must know what to recognize on the outside because you can't see the inside potential failures unless you unmount your tires from the rim and no one does that.

I would still use a tire monitor system, just be aware of its limitations.

[PSFORD99]

quote:Originally posted by DQDick

Actually it's not a bad mark on G14's. Sailuns should also present issues as they age, all tires do. Sailuns are not the only options out there anymore, Samson's and others are 14ply steel belted and available in some areas.

I agree, although the G614's have had their share of failures. My point was I think the Sailuns have been around long enough now that there should be reports of aging out, and issues, but sure not seeing them like we have with the G614's .

[richfaa]

We have had monitors on both our Montana's since 2006 first the pressure pro and now the TST. We never had a blow out that is a " sudden and catastrophic failure" but 4 or 5 loss of pressure over 100K miles plus of travel none on the G614's on the 13 3402. If a loss of pressure is not detected the result will feel and look like a blowout. We saw that happen on a vehicle right in front of us as smoke started to come off a tire then about a mile later tire and vehicle parts flew everywhere a large chunk of tire hitting our Truck but doing no damage.

[Preston & Terri]

Originally Posted by DQDick

...... My street side 614 blew out on I-10 north of Tucson (no warning at all)....

So, just out of curiosity, can you share some details on the tire that blew?

Age?
Pressure?
Speed?
Temp?
Weight?

Sure, G614's can have issues as someone else stated so probably will the Sailuns eventually as they become more popular and more of them on the road, law of averages. But they are both still better than Mara-bombs and China-bombs on our size trailers.
Preston

[BDLMAL3400RL]

While replacing a pair of shear springs last year, I noticed a problem with one of our marabombs. One tire rolled in a slight arc when rolling it around. Obviously not right. Belt failure; blowout waiting to happen!!! At that time I put a set Sailuns and internal TST 507's on our 3400rl and same sensors on the truck. Be careful the TST site has obsolete graphics. The sensors are supplied with big wire clamp bands to mount them to the internal circumference of the rim. My tire guy and I agreed we did like that approach and used steel stems and mounted them similiar to normal car systems to the inside of the valve stems.

This eliminates the risk of the flow thru stem breakage. One concern I had was sensor battery life which is forcasted to be well beyond the life we would run the tires. Time will tell. The sensors are essentially an 18 wheeler sensor. The external electronics are the same as the flows except mine was supplied with a repeater set up as well . So far working well
Brad

[twindman]

I think maybe the reason the G14s are starting to have problems is really just the fact that there probably many, many more on the road than when they first came out. So a higher probability of trouble. My guess is the Sailuns will have problems too in a couple of years. Tho none will be as bad as the Marabombs!!

[mhs4771]

Plus many G614s are beginning to "Age Out", and while the tread may still look new they're reaching the age where they should be replaced.