[Bull]

Thinking of buying a new set of super b trailers. Dealer trying to sell me on the tire maax inflation system. Like the idea of tire pressure regulation but am afraid of potential maintenance issues. Anyone have any experience? Good, bad or REAL ugly?

[firebird_1252]

I've ran a system before nto sure if its the Hendrickson one though. I think its great.. the tires stay to the pressure in heat or cold and that's it. however, what I came to notice that if there is any water in the system and when it gets cold they tend to crack the check vavles and they start to fail... other then that they're great

[Musicman]

I've had the Meritor PSI tire inflation system both on my 2005 Utility Reefer and now on my 2012 Reitnouer Dropmiser step deck. I love the concept and have never had a bit of trouble from it on either trailer.

This past Wednesday, I ordered a 2014 Fontaine Revolution 52 step deck and spec'd it with the Tiremaxx system on it. The trailer won't be in until mid October, so I have no hands on with the system yet, but from all the literature I read, and from the images, it appears to be an even better design than the Meritor system. The Meritor system simply inflates the tires to whatever pressure you choose. What I like about the Hendrickson system is that it also bleeds air from the tires when necessary.

Example: You start your truck up in Fargo in January. It's twenty degrees below zero, so the pressure in your tires has dropped from the cold. Meritor inflates them to the 110 psi you've specified. Now you pick up a load and head to Laredo, TX. You get down South with your heavy load and where it's 85 degrees and now, due to the hot weather, the pressure in your tires has increased from the set point of 110 psi, to a whopping 135 psi. With the Hendrickson system, as the tires and / or ambient temperatures rise, causing the air in your tires to heat up and expand, the inflation system allows the excess air to bleed out of the tires and they stay at exactly the pressure you want at all times. Having exactly the right amount of air in your tires at all times is a good thing.

The other improvement I see with the Hendrickson system over the Meritor system, is that the Meritor system brings one air line through the the axles and through the end of a modified hubcap, then goes to a "T" and then the lines that go to the tires come off the "t" in the end of the hub cap. I've never had any part of this system break, but I always thought that the way Meritor brings the "T" through the end of the hub cap made it prone to fail. The Hendrickson system brings a line for each tire off the side of the wheel hub. It looks like it is a much more stable design.

I wouldn't hesitate to install the Meritor PSI system on my new Fontaine, but after looking to the Hendrickson system they are using at the factory, I feel like I'm upgrading to a better design..