Understanding the Importance of Tire Presssure Monitoring Systems By Dan Rosales Tires like most things in life are not invincible. They are made of individual layers of fabric and steel encased in rubber. If a tire is allowed to run on low air pressure, the rubber is forced to stretch beyond the elastic limits of the fabric and steel reinforcing cords. When this happens, the bond between the various materials can weaken. If this is allowed to continue, it will eventually break the bonds between the various materials and cause the tire to fail. And even if the tire doesn't fail immediately, once a tire is weakened it won't heal after being re-inflated to the proper pressure. So if a tire has been allowed to run nearly flat for a period of time, the tire is going to need to be replaced. Costing you in some cases hundreds of dollars.
TPMS or Tire Pressure Monitoring systems, continuously monitor the air pressure inside the tire. Some systems indicate which tire is low and may even monitor your spare, while others only alert you that one of your tire is low. Each wheel has a small sensor that is part of the wheels valve stem. The sensor is affixed to the inside of the wheel attached by the valve stem, inside the tire and wheel assembly. |