Wheel clamps and tpms

mungomeg · Member

Wheel clamps and tpms

macka17 · Guru

What do you want wheel clamps for??.
With caravans you don't normally need them for normal usage.

kezngaz · Senior Member

Whats a tpms, if ya dont mind?

JackoFJR · Senior Member

kezngaz wrote:
Whats a tpms, if ya dont mind?

Tyre Pressure Monitoring System , I have Safety Tyre from Safety Dave , they work ok

I did report a problem , I had with them driving on dirt roads because of the Rubber Valve Stem flexing they were able to knock against the wheel rim , I made some bumpers with silicon but the damage was already done , 3 had small cracks in the plastic cover , when it rained water got in and they stopped working .

When we arrived home I rang Safety Dave and he sent me some replacements , no arguments , excellent service .

I have fitted shorter rubber valve stems , motorbike/go cart , that should reduce the flex and have also fitted some rubber covers , the rubbers from the bottom of chair legs , I got from Clark Rubber .

iana · Guru

With the availability of battery powered grinders, with a thin cutting blade fitted, most security gadgets can be cut off. I now think that if van security is a real issue, we now have to think of other ways to counter this.
For instance I wondered about a mercury switch that operates the brakes when forward motion is detected. Of course it would be switched off for normal operation.
But if you just want to prove to the insurance company that you had taken adequate steps for security to enable a claim, tow ball lock would probably do.

Phil C · Guru

Welcome to the forum mungomeg, I hope you get the best out of it and this fabulous lifestyle.

Wheel clamps are probably an overkill unless you are leaving the van unattended for long periods. We use a brace chock system that fits between the wheels (dual axle van) it chocks the van for us.

TPMS, well this is a can of worms for me, I had 4 point TPMS when we started vanning. Because of the way ours were manufactured (took the place of valve caps) they were rather unsuccessful. I would imagine a rapid deflation would be felt in the steering and action would be the same with or without TPMS.

Up to you what you buy, but I wouldnt listen to sales people, they only want their next order (I was a salesman a long time ago)

Cheers

Dougwe · Chief one feather

Welcome to the gang Wendy, enjoy here and out in the playground.

I don't have either so can't say much sorry.

Keep Safe on the roads and out there.

mungomeg · Member

Thanks everyone for your welcome and words of advice. We are going to be doing short trips to start with and the van will need to be parked on the roadway out the front of where we live at other times. We are in a seaside suburb within 8 km of melbourne and I am a bit concerned that someone might just hook up the van and drive off with it unless there is some sort of visible deterrent. A grinder would make short work of most of the wheel clamps I have looked at and I guess that if someone really wants the van, they will manage a way of doing it! I have heard of some problems re the valves splitting with tpms's fitted so good to hear about Safety Dave's follow up and what has been done to prevent this happening again. Thanks again for the input. I am sure there will be many further questions as we move forward.

macka17 · Guru

With the thievery and tools nowadays.
Leave van in park or with friends only.
If you want to come back to a full van again.

Not worth the hassles otherwise.

iana · Guru

mungomeg, I agree, a visible deterrent in your case, will be a must, I was thinking along the lines of free camp spots. A good quality tow ball lock would be a good investment, together with a tamper proof lock.

elliemike · Guru

There was a time when I had to have our little Avan Cruiseliner in a vulnerable position in our driveway, at the time we were travelling overseas for extended periods.

Hitch lock fitted, I still thought anyone determined wanting to pinch it could have the safety device off in a minute with a battery Angle Grinder.

I got into the habit of Removing the spare off the back and one road wheel. Storing them in my shed.

Supporting one side on Two good Axle/Stand Jacks. Taking one road wheel off the Camper. Fitting a couple of those security wheel nuts on the wheel studs.

Obviously not so easy if you are camping ? but if you are desperate and can store the wheels somewhere or take them with you !

T.P.M.S.

We have the Tyreguard type with external sensors. Only ever lost one sensor (Gibb River Road) and I think that was my fault not tightening it. I monitor Six Tyres, and have a signal booster on the Avan. They can be a pain in the proverbial sometimes but They have saved me three tyres on various bush roads. Detecting a drop in pressure before the tyre went completely flat. I was able to repair them.

I think the internal sensors are better, but I am generally happy with ours. The usual Grrrrrrrrr @#$%$^& factor, like with all electronic type gear is there as well.

I got our TPMS after totaling a Tyre on the camper going into Noosa in 2012. I didn't feel any problem or visually detect I had a flat tyre until I put my hand on the (manual) gear Stick, and felt a very slight vibration. Then noted in the wing mirror a lump of rubber fly out from the rear of the camper. I check my mirrors constantly and nothing was apparrent till the lump of rubber flew out. I had also done a tyre check 30 minutes before (with pressure gauge) at our overnight stop

The tyre was a bundle of rags and just caught in time to save the rim from damage. I had this Happen years ago as well in NZ when I totaled the Tyre and rim on a 22' foot caravan single axle without realising there was any problem. A passing motorist pointed it out to me.

Tony Bev · Guru

Hello mungomeg

As others have already said, welcome to the forum

Also as iana has already said, a visible deterrent is useful if you live in an area, where you think that there may be opportunity type thieves, driving past

I cannot comment on the brand of tow ball/wheel locks
I also cannot comment on Tyre Pressure Monitoring Systems, as I have never used them

As a sidenote over here in the west, we have Neighbourhood Watch.
As you can see from my Avatar, my vehicle is parked outside my house

Ron-D · Guru

Just a thought mungo if the van is parked outside your home ,why not take the spare and the inside wheel off and leave one axel on a stand .that could cause a few towing problems for the bad guy.! And to take it one step further some vans have a sheet of fibro in the wheel arches as sun protection for there tyres ,so from the outside the bad guy driving past would not know a wheel was missing...

Little Briney · Veteran Member

Hi Mungomeg
I have the Inawise TPMS fitted to the tug and the van. I have sensors on the four wheels and two spares of the tug and four wheels and spare of the van. The system monitors them all ok. The sensors are part of the valve stem which fits inside the tyre and therefore is not subject to damage like the external valve cap replacement types. If you Google Inawise you will get all the information you want.
For security, I just use a tow hitch lock.
Hope this helps.
Best wishes for your travels.
Regards
LB

Woody n Sue · Guru

And it's welcome from us two 2
Lots to do and think about hey
Good luck and safe travels

Woody

mungomeg · Member

Am awe struck by the good wishes and advice from everyone...so thank you to you all. It is somewhat overwhelming to start out on this new adventure and start to find out all of the things we know nothing about. Your advice has been generous, thoughtful and very much appreciated. i am delighted to have been able to get advice from people who are using products and not just relying on salespeople promoting their own products. Thank you to everyone.

kezngaz · Senior Member

We use a hitch lock. We also remove the jockey wheel and lower van onto an axle stand. Opportunists will need a jockey wheel to lift onto their towbar or be capable of lifting 250 kg.
Like others have said, its a deterrent, determined thieves are pretty unstoppable.
Welcome to the forum, camp, drive and stay safe.
Kezngaz.

macka17 · Guru

If you seriously thinking of leaving your van at different places.

Specially if just starting out.
A friend of mine had one stolen yrs ago.
"That won't happen again" he said.

Took the replacement van round to welding shop.
Had the drawbar chopped off just in front of bottles.
and had it refabricated to fit with mounting bolts. and extended cabling to suit.

When he leaves it now. It has no jockey wheel and NO drawbar.
They sit in back of Patrol or on rack.

"Let's see the Bast===s take it anywhere now" he said to me
when he came past on next trip.

That was around 15 yrs ago.
On second van since then. Never lost one since.
Extreme but efficient hey.
There's a few floating round out there with tilt up drawbars.
Modifications would be fairly easy.

patrol03 · Senior Member

A tilt tray,about 90seconds and she's gone Macka.If they want it they will take it.No drawbar would certainly slow them down but wheel clamps,chains and padlocks are chicken feed if they really want the van.