Pajero Owners Club of South Africa

Hi everybody,
"This is not America" and I have no claim against Tiregaurd or Abram Kruger. I have lost all faith in this system and will no longer use it on my Pajero or caravan.

Below is a summary of events.
The first two pictures was taken just after (13:45) I had the incident regarding the tire on my caravan, when it basically disintegrated without any warning from Tire Guard! The sensor was still intact.
I did remove and refit the two sensors on the caravan wheels, but not the spare wheel in the caravan under the bed, before our trip to Dullstroom.

The third, fourth and fifth pictures was taken ± 45 minutes later, after I replaced the blown tire with the spare, and the Tire Guard still indicates a pressure of 2.88 and ± two hours later gave me a no sensor warning as I left the caravan at the camping site and was going to the town Dullstroom to enquire about a tire shop for the next day as it was Sunday. I had no luck acquiring a suitable tire in Dullstroom and was referred to Lydenburg. On Monday the 16th December I continued my trip with the caravan with no spare tire, in Lydenburg being a public holiday all shops were closed and I had to pay R350.00 call-out fee, but was unable to acquire a matching replacement tire, however I did obtain a second hand tire for R50.00 to be used as a spare (very suspect looking Dunlop).

On the 2nd January after my holiday at ATKV Eiland Spa on my way home I stopped at Tren-Tire Tzaneen for a pre-arranged appointment to have both tires replaced on the caravan at a cost of R1500.00 as a matching replacement tire (Firestone CV2000) could not be found. With all sensors fitted and registering on the monitor we left for Polokwane.

On the 3rd January on my way home from Polokwane I received a Tire Guard warning that the same wheel (left wheel) on the caravan was losing pressure, upon a visual inspection there was seemingly nothing wrong. I drove to the Kranskop 1-Stop to double check the tire pressures.

The sixth and seventh pictures was taken at the 1-Stop where there was clearly nothing wrong with the tire pressure (false alarm).

The eighth picture was taken while I was replacing both tires in Tzaneen and no alarm condition was monitored.

I worked in the tyre industry for a few years and even in the mining industry with those massive tyres no proper reliable tyre monitoring system could be found. Even Michelin in France (HQ) have not released a system yet after years of testing because of unreliability. Complete waste of time and money IMHO.

I have to say that I feel differently about (functioning) TPMS (Tyre Pressure Monitoring Systems). I believe that they save lives and I believe that blow outs, caused by de-inflated / under-inflated tyres overheating and de-laminating, cost lives.

They also keep you very aware of what your tyre pressures are, which should ultimately result in the best tyre life.

I have had a Valor TPMS for many years now and have sensors in all four road tyres and for my two spares. And when this system finally gives up the ghost I will buy another. The cost of a TPMS is about the cost of one replacement tyre, so to me its a no-brainer.

In many cases the design of the wheel-mounted transmitters is such that they require movement to work - I guess so that they do not consume their battery life when the vehicle is standing.

Andrew, I agree 100% and that was my reasoning also.

Unfortunately I have no use for a system that clearly does not work.

Willemdj wrote:Andrew, I agree 100% and that was my reasoning also.

Unfortunately I have no use for a system that clearly does not work.

+1

I sourced my Valor unit from:
Adrian Green [adrian@tyrecheckers.com]

Adrian was involved in getting Valor to add a 4x4 mode to their transmitters.

The advantages of the Valor system over external systems:
Transmitters are internal (that replace the valve holder) so can't easily be damaged or stolen.
You can inflate without removing the TPMS.
The model I have has a pre-programmed 4x4 mode which lowers the low pressure warning point.

The disadvantages:
transmitter batteries are non-replaceable (estimated life 10 years).
You need to keep an eye out when the unit is installed on the rim that the installer puts the right washers in the right places.
You need to keep an eye out when the tyres are being changed on rims that they put the de-beaders away from the valve stem.
On the model I have the pressure presets are set - you cant say change / program the 4x4 mode or road mode to trip at some different pressures.

There are probably more pros and cons, but these are what come to mind.

I can say that in all the time I have had mine I have had about 4 punctures and they were always picked up. The only tyre I ever shredded was my 2nd spare, which I had not fitted with a transmitter - and given how and where it happened it could easily have proved fatal. Needless to say now all 4 road tyres AND 2 spares have transmitters!

Andrew,

I agree 100% with your sentiments. I once "lost" a tyre on the road between Van Zylsrust and Twee Rivieren. My system warned my that one tyre was loosing pressure allowed me to stop and effect repairs. It paid for itself.

Cloyd