Cat's Eye or Crossfire?

[JimT]

(11-28-2022 )hookliftpete Wrote:  What tpms did you use?

TST
Truck Systems Tech

It's been decent, though not without some minor issues. Occasional false readings that cause an over pressure or over temp alarm. And once in a blue moon it won't get an update from a sensor (Sensors broadcast an update every 5 minutes or if an alarm condition exists) for a while. I didn't install the repeater as I figured that was mainly for the sensors on the trailer (which I don't have), but I might hook it up if the error frequency gets too annoying.

The false readings are not frequent and always happened while driving so it could be interference from something I drove by or someone else's system. Once you get used to the readings it's pretty easy to figure out which are false alarms. Like one tire suddenly reading 300F degrees while the air pressure remains normal or the pressure reading 20psi while the temp is normal and the other tire connected via the cat's eye is still at normal pressure. When I see these sudden changes I usually mute the alarm and wait for the next update at which point it always goes back to normal. I did stop and manually check the tires the first couple times it happened, but once I learned the normal pressure and temperature patterns for the tires I apply a little reasoning first.

If I had to buy the system again I might try one of the other ones that are cheaper first. Although I think this was the only one that offered flow through sensors. If I didn't have the cat's eye I'd use the cap style sensors (especially on the steer tires) because they are a little bulky, but in line with the cat's eye it's just fine. The display is OK, but too bright for my ultra dark cab interior when night driving. It does have a sensor to dim the display, but not enough for my tastes. Also the display is very simplistic and there's no real way to customize the layout. On the plus side the sensors take standard CR2032 batteries which my hat mounted flashlights and some remotes also use, so when they go I have plenty of spares. Only got the system in August so can't really say just how long the batteries actually last. The monitor charges via 12 volt plug and a usb plug (mirco usb i think). Supposed to last a week between charges but I average about 3-4 days before needing a recharge, which usually takes at least half a day to fully charge. They say not to keep it plugged in all the time and in fact the display will not shut off while charging so best to do it during the day if you have a free 12-volt outlet.

oh, one last thing. there's an on-off switch for the display. when the display is off i thin i will still receive and alert alarms, but the regular pressure/temp updates will not register until after the display is turned back on. Which means it could take up to 5 minutes after turning the display on before you get pressure/temp data for all tires.

All in all it's not a bad product. I think I left a 3 star review for it on amazon. For the price I feel like they could make some improvements to what's probably at least a decade old design.