LOUISVILLE, KY - Bendix announced its SmarTire Tire Pressure Monitoring System for trailers will be available in the third quarter. Previously it only was available for tractors.

Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC expects to release SmarTire TPMS for trailers in the third quarter of 2012 as an aftermarket retrofit kit. A typical kit would consist of eight wheel sensors, harnessing, and a wireless receiver. The company also intends to make SmarTire TPMS available to OE trailer manufacturers.

SmarTire technology continuously monitors the pressure and temperature of each tire on a commercial vehicle to provide real-time tire status information to the driver or maintenance technician. When paired with the latest version of SmarTire for tractors, the SmarTire trailer system will wirelessly link with the trailer, displaying both the truck and the trailer tire information. Through this automatic link, the system will display the data provided by sensors monitoring the trailer tires on the existing TPMS display.

The SmarTire technology warns the driver of tire-related problems before they pose a safety hazard. The exclusive temperature compensation feature allows the system to provide earlier warnings of a tire problem. Particularly relevant for trailers, the high-temperature warning is an invaluable feature that provides the driver with warning of a potential thermal issue, such as an overheated wheel-end due to a bearing or brake issue.

SmarTire's in-vehicle dash display provides information including actual tire pressure and temperature for each wheel location, along with a deviation value that shows the amount of over- or underinflation from each tire's cold inflation pressure (CIP). This deviation value provides the user a deviation from target pressure, regardless of tire temperature, an important gauge because tire pressure rises when a tire's temperature increases from use or outside conditions.

The unit can wirelessly transmit the tire information from the trailer to the tractor. It also uses the same sensors as the tractor system for easy inventory.