User Tag List

Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 22
  1. #1
    Left The Driveway
    Join Date
    Jul 2019
    Posts
    13
    Mentioned
    1 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)

    Ford TPMS option for 2020 Solitude 344GK

    Hi,

    Looking at purchasing the Ford TPMS and Trailer Camera package for our 2017 F350 and Solitude 344GK. Want to confirm the tpms kit is compatible with the Solitude 344GK we are purchasing. It has the following disclaimers.
    Only install the Trailer TPMS sensors on J-type flange wheels with a width greater than 3.5 in (88.9 mm).
    The Trailer TPMS sensors are only compatible on wheels with 0.452 in (11.48 mm) diameter valve stem hole.
    The Trailer TPMS valves should not be installed for tube-type tire setups.
    The Trailer TPMS sensors should only be used with tires rated for 125 PSI (861 kPa) or less cold inflation pressure.
    The Trailer TPMS sensors cannot be used on steel carcass (belted) tires.

    Can anyone confirm if the standard tires (Westlake I think) on the trailer meet the above criteria? I can't find any information on the valve stem hole diameter. Has anyone installed the Ford TPMS on their Solitude?

    thanks!

    Kim

  2. #2
    Seasoned Camper phonemannn's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2019
    Posts
    472
    Mentioned
    3 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by kim_e83 View Post
    Hi,

    Looking at purchasing the Ford TPMS and Trailer Camera package for our 2017 F350 and Solitude 344GK. Want to confirm the tpms kit is compatible with the Solitude 344GK we are purchasing. It has the following disclaimers.
    Only install the Trailer TPMS sensors on J-type flange wheels with a width greater than 3.5 in (88.9 mm).
    The Trailer TPMS sensors are only compatible on wheels with 0.452 in (11.48 mm) diameter valve stem hole.
    The Trailer TPMS valves should not be installed for tube-type tire setups.
    The Trailer TPMS sensors should only be used with tires rated for 125 PSI (861 kPa) or less cold inflation pressure.
    The Trailer TPMS sensors cannot be used on steel carcass (belted) tires.

    Can anyone confirm if the standard tires (Westlake I think) on the trailer meet the above criteria? I can't find any information on the valve stem hole diameter. Has anyone installed the Ford TPMS on their Solitude?

    thanks!

    Kim
    The last thing, about the steel carcass tire, I have steel carcuss tires on my 2018 F350, and it has the TPMS option, and they work fine thru these tires.
    https://tirereviews.co/bridgestone-duravis-r238-13666/

    Features
    * Thick guage sidewall with dual sidewall protectors
    * All steel body ply
    * Newly enhanced tread compound
    * Reinforced steel carcass
    2017 F350 Lariat, Dual rear wheels
    2017 GD 311BHS

  3. #3
    Long Hauler bertschb's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Bend, OR and Palm Springs, CA
    Posts
    3,043
    Mentioned
    27 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by kim_e83 View Post
    Can anyone confirm if the standard tires (Westlake I think) on the trailer meet the above criteria? I can't find any information on the valve stem hole diameter. Has anyone installed the Ford TPMS on their Solitude?
    Hello Kim and welcome to the forum

    I used the Ford trailer TPMS system on my 2019 F-350 and 2019 Solitude 373FB-R. The system worked great.

    I did need to buy the larger .625" valve stems for the trailer wheels as the Ford .452" stems that come with the kit are too small. You can get the larger valve stems here:
    https://nicholsmanufacturingandweldi...625-valve-stem

    As for the steel belted tires - I had Sailun S637 all steel tires on the Solitude and the sensors worked fine. I haven't heard reports from anybody on any of the forums I belong to that had problems with the Ford TPMS sensors and steel carcass tires.
    Brian & Kellie
    2020 Solitude 310GK-R, FBP, 1,460w solar, 540ah BBGC3, MORryde IS w/disc brakes
    2020 F-350 Platinum SRW Powerstroke Tremor, 60g TF fuel tank, Hensley BD3-F air bag hitch

    Previous setups:
    2019 Solitude 373FB-R, 2019 F-350 Platinum DRW Powerstroke, Hensley BD5 air bag hitch
    2016 Reflection 318RST, 2016 GMC 3500 Denali SRW Duramax, Hensley BD3 air bag hitch

  4. #4
    Site Sponsor
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    Fort Collins, Colorado
    Posts
    1,303
    Mentioned
    25 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by kim_e83 View Post
    Hi,

    Looking at purchasing the Ford TPMS and Trailer Camera package for our 2017 F350 and Solitude 344GK. Want to confirm the tpms kit is compatible with the Solitude 344GK we are purchasing. It has the following disclaimers.
    Only install the Trailer TPMS sensors on J-type flange wheels with a width greater than 3.5 in (88.9 mm).
    The Trailer TPMS sensors are only compatible on wheels with 0.452 in (11.48 mm) diameter valve stem hole.
    The Trailer TPMS valves should not be installed for tube-type tire setups.
    The Trailer TPMS sensors should only be used with tires rated for 125 PSI (861 kPa) or less cold inflation pressure.
    The Trailer TPMS sensors cannot be used on steel carcass (belted) tires.

    Can anyone confirm if the standard tires (Westlake I think) on the trailer meet the above criteria? I can't find any information on the valve stem hole diameter. Has anyone installed the Ford TPMS on their Solitude?

    thanks!

    Kim
    Hello Kim and welcome to the forums. Lots of great people and information here.

    I have the Ford factory TPMS on my 2017 F-350 and 2018 Solitude 310GK. It works fine with the factory Wesstlake tires. As others have said, the valve stems included with the Ford system will NOT work with the larger (0.625") holes on the Solitude wheels. The TMPS sensor mounts on inside the tire on the end of the valve stem, so a standard (large diameter) valve stem will not work. I use the Nichols Manufacturing valve stems referenced above. They have been great. As far as I have found, they are the only 0.625" valve stems that will mount the FORD TPMS sensors. The other alternative is to mount the TPMS sensors directly to the inside of the wheel using bands (most tire shops can do this). This would mean you could use standard large hole, high pressure valve stems, but the TPMS sensors have a centrifugal switch to turn them on (when moving) and have to be mounted in the correct orientation to work. I would make sure the bands mount the TPMS sensors in the correct orientation.

    On other thing to note on the Ford system, it only read tire pressure AFTER you have been moving (above 10? MPH). So you can not use it to check your tire pressures before you leave. That is OK for me as I always use a hand held tire pressure gauge on the tire before traveling. Also, as soon as you turn the truck off, it clears the pressure reading. This is different than how the TPMS readings are displayed for the truck tires.

    On a 2017 Ford Super Duties, the 12 pin connector for the TPMS/Camera is only set up to mount in the bumper. If you have the "5th wheel prep package" you will have a standard 7 pin RV connector in the bed, but the additional 7/12 pin connector (included with the TPMS kit) will not fit in the bed area. Again, Nichols Manufacturing makes a nice adapter box to mount the Ford 7/12 pin connector in the bed. This does require cutting a little sheet metal out to make room. I have this and it works very well.

    My last comment (because it is often asked), the TPMS will read pressures well over 125 PSI (I have see 129 PSI when hot) but I do not know what is the upper limit. Ford just recommends not using it on tires with more than 125 PSI COLD pressure. The standard load range tires are 110 PSI cold pressure.

    Sorry for the long reply.
    Hope this helps

    Chris
    Chris & Karen
    Fort Collins, CO
    2017 F-350 SRW 6.7 Lariat Value CC LB 4x4
    2018 Solitude 310GK - Sold 7/2023

  5. #5
    Left The Driveway
    Join Date
    Jul 2019
    Posts
    13
    Mentioned
    1 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by CoChris View Post
    Hello Kim and welcome to the forums. Lots of great people and information here.

    I have the Ford factory TPMS on my 2017 F-350 and 2018 Solitude 310GK. It works fine with the factory Wesstlake tires. As others have said, the valve stems included with the Ford system will NOT work with the larger (0.625") holes on the Solitude wheels. The TMPS sensor mounts on inside the tire on the end of the valve stem, so a standard (large diameter) valve stem will not work. I use the Nichols Manufacturing valve stems referenced above. They have been great. As far as I have found, they are the only 0.625" valve stems that will mount the FORD TPMS sensors. The other alternative is to mount the TPMS sensors directly to the inside of the wheel using bands (most tire shops can do this). This would mean you could use standard large hole, high pressure valve stems, but the TPMS sensors have a centrifugal switch to turn them on (when moving) and have to be mounted in the correct orientation to work. I would make sure the bands mount the TPMS sensors in the correct orientation.

    On other thing to note on the Ford system, it only read tire pressure AFTER you have been moving (above 10? MPH). So you can not use it to check your tire pressures before you leave. That is OK for me as I always use a hand held tire pressure gauge on the tire before traveling. Also, as soon as you turn the truck off, it clears the pressure reading. This is different than how the TPMS readings are displayed for the truck tires.

    On a 2017 Ford Super Duties, the 12 pin connector for the TPMS/Camera is only set up to mount in the bumper. If you have the "5th wheel prep package" you will have a standard 7 pin RV connector in the bed, but the additional 7/12 pin connector (included with the TPMS kit) will not fit in the bed area. Again, Nichols Manufacturing makes a nice adapter box to mount the Ford 7/12 pin connector in the bed. This does require cutting a little sheet metal out to make room. I have this and it works very well.

    My last comment (because it is often asked), the TPMS will read pressures well over 125 PSI (I have see 129 PSI when hot) but I do not know what is the upper limit. Ford just recommends not using it on tires with more than 125 PSI COLD pressure. The standard load range tires are 110 PSI cold pressure.

    Sorry for the long reply.
    Hope this helps

    Chris
    Hi Chris! Thanks or the welcome and sorry for the late follow up! Looks like you are nearby! We don't have the fifth wheel prep kit yet, but are going to have it installed in a few weeks by Colorado Off Road. I'll see if they can do the modification while doing the install. Alternately, this may be a stupid question, but could we plug the camera into the bumper if necessary? In terms of the install of the prep kit, is it fairly straight forward?

    Thanks again for the feedback!!

    Kim

  6. #6
    Site Sponsor
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    Fort Collins, Colorado
    Posts
    1,303
    Mentioned
    25 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by kim_e83 View Post
    Hi Chris! Thanks or the welcome and sorry for the late follow up! Looks like you are nearby! We don't have the fifth wheel prep kit yet, but are going to have it installed in a few weeks by Colorado Off Road. I'll see if they can do the modification while doing the install. Alternately, this may be a stupid question, but could we plug the camera into the bumper if necessary? In terms of the install of the prep kit, is it fairly straight forward?

    Thanks again for the feedback!!

    Kim
    Hi Kim,

    Yes, you could just plug the trailer side connector into the bumper connector. The only issue is you will need to run the cable from the trailer king pin (the pivot point) over the tailgate and down to the bumper. This uses a lot of cable length (the in bed connector is much closer to the king pin and uses less cable and does not drape over the tailgate). This is less of an issue if you you remove the tailgate or run a louvered type of tailgate. Alternately, you could run the cable from the rear of the overhang straight down to the bump, but you will have to leave a lot of slack to allow for turns AND have some way to keep the cable from dragging on the ground when driving straight. The cable is roughly 19' from the connector to the TPMS receiver.

    You MIGHT be able to just mount the TPMS receiver on the rear bumper of the truck and see if it will read the TPMS sensors in the trailer tires. Then you would not have to mess with connecting/disconnecting or even routing the cable at all.

    The "stock configuration" installation (replace bumper 7/4 pin connector with 7/12 pin) in the truck is super easy. Takes 10 mins if you have never done it. Simply unplug the cable from the bumper 7/4 connector, depress tabs and remove bumper connector, snap in the new 7/12 pin connector, lower the spare tire (makes finding the trailer TPMS/camera cable easier), unfasten the TPMS/camera cable and connect it to the back of the new bumper 7/12 pin connector. Secure cable. Installing the 7/12 pin connector in the bed is the same with two exceptions; You need a Y (or spllitter cable) to extend up to the bed (stock cable is not long enough) and you need to mount the larger 7/12 pin connector in place of the 7 pin connector in the bed (may involve cutting some sheet metal out of the bed). The mounting work took me an hour (cutting, painting, routing, etc.). I used the mounting box and splitter cable from Nichole Manufacturing. I have the stock 7/4 pin connector in the bumper and the new 7/12 pin connector in the bed.

    The mounting on the trailer side is another matter. I took the 2(?) center retaining screws out of the fiberglass cover under the overhang and fished the receiver cable from the king pin (near the stock electrical box) back to the front compartment. I ran the cable down (zip tied to the) standard RV cable to the truck. I would recommend mounting the TPMS receiver in the front compartment. If you have the camera too (I do) you will need to run wires to the rear of the trailer. I have not done this yet, but am planning to drop the corplas (belly cover) and rout them inside the frame. I am still working on a clean way to get them up to the camera mount on top.

    One last thing I found (frustrated me for the longest time), the rear camera would only work sometimes when I selected it in the camera display (in the truck). I finally found the key was to select the "in bed" (center of cab looking down into the bed) camera first, them select the trailer camera and all worked fine. When I would go directly to the "trailer camera", most of the time I would not get a picture. I would be very interested if your works the same way.

    Chris
    Chris & Karen
    Fort Collins, CO
    2017 F-350 SRW 6.7 Lariat Value CC LB 4x4
    2018 Solitude 310GK - Sold 7/2023

  7. #7
    Site Sponsor
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    Fort Collins, Colorado
    Posts
    1,303
    Mentioned
    25 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    @kim_e83 One other thing I found is to "train" the trailer TPMS system (so it knows which tire is in which position on the trailer) you have to put the truck into "learn mode" for the trailer and then let air out of the trailer tires. A lot of air! So much that I had the truck time out before I could complete the training and had to start over many times, pumping up the trailer tires each time. Took me about 2 hours the first time. I purchased a Ford TPMS-19 test/trigger device that causes the TPMS sensor to start transmitting (the same thing letting air out of the tire does). I think they are about $35 on Amazon. Takes me less than 5 mins to retrain my tires whenever I rotate them.

    Chris
    Chris & Karen
    Fort Collins, CO
    2017 F-350 SRW 6.7 Lariat Value CC LB 4x4
    2018 Solitude 310GK - Sold 7/2023

  8. #8
    Long Hauler bertschb's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Bend, OR and Palm Springs, CA
    Posts
    3,043
    Mentioned
    27 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by CoChris View Post
    ...you have to put the truck into "learn mode" for the trailer and then let air out of the trailer tires. A lot of air! So much that I had the truck time out before I could complete the training and had to start over many times.
    What I did was let some air out, then paused, then let some air out, then paused. Rinse and repeat. The pauses were longer than letting air out. Worked for me the first time and only took a few minutes. I don't know if this will work for others but it worked for me. That tool on Amazon does sound cool though!
    Brian & Kellie
    2020 Solitude 310GK-R, FBP, 1,460w solar, 540ah BBGC3, MORryde IS w/disc brakes
    2020 F-350 Platinum SRW Powerstroke Tremor, 60g TF fuel tank, Hensley BD3-F air bag hitch

    Previous setups:
    2019 Solitude 373FB-R, 2019 F-350 Platinum DRW Powerstroke, Hensley BD5 air bag hitch
    2016 Reflection 318RST, 2016 GMC 3500 Denali SRW Duramax, Hensley BD3 air bag hitch

  9. #9
    Big Traveler Txfivver's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2018
    Location
    San Antonio Tx
    Posts
    1,648
    Mentioned
    19 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    I plan to install the Ford TPMS/camera on my '20 F450 when it arrives. Just an FYI for those of you contemplating a 2020 model. If the truck has the fifth wheel prep package it will have the 7 pin connector in the bed like always. What is new is that that in bed connection now also includes the other connector ( 12 pin I think) for the factory camera kit for the trailer and it's already hooked up. No more buying a replacement receptacle for the bed and extension harness for the camera wires. Nice job Ford!
    2019 Solitude 375RES Onan 5500 Splendide W/D Samsung res. fridge
    2020 Ford F450 Platinum dually 6.7L 4:30 gears
    B&W Companion for Ford puck system 20K lbs
    Jeff

  10. #10
    Site Sponsor
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    Fort Collins, Colorado
    Posts
    1,303
    Mentioned
    25 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by bertschb View Post
    What I did was let some air out, then paused, then let some air out, then paused. Rinse and repeat. The pauses were longer than letting air out. Worked for me the first time and only took a few minutes. I don't know if this will work for others but it worked for me. That tool on Amazon does sound cool though!
    On my truck, which is a 2017 Job 2 build, there is a time component to setting up the trailer tire positions. If the truck does not "see" the TPMS sensor within a certain time, it aborts the learning process. The truck signals success or failure to learn each tire position by horn honks (one honk success. Go to next tire. two honks is training aborted). The OP also has a 2017. Other years/builds may well be different. Sounds like they have improved the training procedure on newer trucks.

    Chris
    Chris & Karen
    Fort Collins, CO
    2017 F-350 SRW 6.7 Lariat Value CC LB 4x4
    2018 Solitude 310GK - Sold 7/2023

Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

DISCLAIMER:This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Grand Design RV, LLC or any of its affiliates. This is an independent site.