A better TPMS for 4Runner

[rocklighting]

Hello everyone,

I seemed to have developed an acute OCD about tire pressure in my cars. I don't know if it is just me, but with the stock tires, I can feel a +/- 2 psi change in the 4Runner's tires. With my OCD, and the fluctuating temps here in NY, it has been annoying to check the pressure every few days.

In looking for a better way than checking my tire pressure every few days, I noticed a start up in Malaysia that makes a bluetooth TPMS. There are a few others like it, but this seems the best. Check it out here.

Each kit comes with 4 sensors that get put on the valve stem. The 4 units then pair to a small unit placed in the car. The unit then gets paired to the phone via bluetooth, and you can see each tire's pressure (up to 50psi) and each tire's temp. System runs on batteries so you can even see the pressure and get alerts as long as you are close enough to pick up the bluetooth.

Just got mine in the mail a few days ago and the system is awesome. The apps are for Android and the I-phone; each app has a few bugs, but as they just started mailing the first sets only a week or so ago, it isn't bad at all. They are also great to add another set if you have airbags on the rear springs like i do and keep tabs on the spare tire pressure.

Figured I would share the info with everyone here in case others are PSI OCD like me, want to know about flats or low tires before they are late for work, or for the off-roaders who want to keep a tab on pressures.

 

[Intruder]

Are you sure you can feel a difference or do you think you can feel a difference? I air down and back up so often there's no way my tires are ever at the exact same psi but I can't feel any difference. My old TSX had TPMS that would show the psi of each tire and those were always different as well but you'd never know. For airing up after a trail run, this is all I ever use...

 

[bimrunner]

For airing up after a trail run, this is all I ever use...

:yield: You never cease to amaze! I use a compressor to air up...:focus:

 

[Intruder]

:yield: You never cease to amaze! I use a compressor to air up...:focus:

This could explain why it takes so long...

 

[Jeremy556]

It's going to suck when one of those sensors leaks and lets the air out of your tire over night.

 

[mdogg]

Seems like an interesting product... Would be good for multiple wheel setups (winter, off-road, etc.) to show actual pressures. Cost is a bit too high for now. It costs $180 on their site (Indiegogo was $90).

 

[AirspeedX]

I'm with Intruder. Keeping it simple.

 

[1engineer]

You do know, in the winter especially, your tire on the sun side will be a few psi higher than the tires on the shade side right?

 

[03_4x4Runner]

I would not want that thing on my tires. As stated it could leak and cause a flat, someone will steal it and if you off road it could get damaged. If the op wants to know the pressure in each tire buy a GM product that reads each individual tire pressure on the display. If you live out in the boonies like me there is no cell service in most areas so the phone ap would be useless. Also my phone is seldom on and I like it that way. I do not have tpms sensors on my off road tires. When the light is on it resets after I pull into the garage by my stock tires and wheels. I can drive sometimes for 15 minutes or more before the system even realizes there is no signal and the light comes on again. I do not know if this system would be better or not.

 

[Bilbo]

I would not want that thing on my tires. As stated it could leak and cause a flat, someone will steal it and if you off road it could get damaged. If the op wants to know the pressure in each tire buy a GM product that reads each individual tire pressure on the display. ...

Just buy a Land Cruiser. Or ... a Camry.

 

[mdogg]

If you live out in the boonies like me there is no cell service in most areas so the phone ap would be useless.

I'm assuming the phone app doesn't actually require a phone/data signal to function properly - it probably only requires the bluetooth connection between the sensors and the phone to work properly.

 

[Jernik]

I will say if a vehicle is going to have tpms, it should show what the pressure is in each tire (like my Ram does - one thing fiat got right! lol) Takes all the guesswork out of why the light came on. You can immediately see if it's just a minor drop in all tires due to weather, or if you have a real safety issue that needs to be dealt with.

 

[Dario]

I will say if a vehicle is going to have tpms, it should show what the pressure is in each tire (like my Ram does - one thing fiat got right! lol) Takes all the guesswork out of why the light came on. You can immediately see if it's just a minor drop in all tires due to weather, or if you have a real safety issue that needs to be dealt with.

Have to agree. Frustrating to me that Toyota didn't include this in 4Runners. Once the software is developed for other cars it has to be fairly trivial to add to others.

Somewhere at Toyota there is a group of people who are deciding what feature goes into which car. "Total cost to put that into 4Runner is $10K + $10 per car. We don't sell enough of them to justify the 10K investment. Next."

 

[Intruder]

I will say if a vehicle is going to have tpms, it should show what the pressure is in each tire (like my Ram does - one thing fiat got right! lol) Takes all the guesswork out of why the light came on. You can immediately see if it's just a minor drop in all tires due to weather, or if you have a real safety issue that needs to be dealt with.

When your low pressure light comes on in the 4Runner it's because the pressure has dropped to an unsafe level and you should deal with it right away. It doesn't come on just because the pressure has dropped a couple psi from cold temps. I've had it come on once (other than off roading) and it was obvious which tire was the problem. Turned out to be a loose valve stem core that I tightened then refilled the tire.

 

[JeremyB]

I'm assuming the phone app doesn't actually require a phone/data signal to function properly - it probably only requires the bluetooth connection between the sensors and the phone to work properly.

Yes. What makes this product unique is that is the first one that uses bluetooth for the actual TPMS broadcast. Other smartphone systems like Tirehawk Bright + and GoSafe 500BT use the std 433 Mhz signal from the TPMS sensors and use another box to convert it to Wifi or Bluetooth for your phone to read.

I emailed the Fobo tire developer to see if he was going to get a higher pressure sensor for use on trailers. (I don't give two flips about installing TPMS on a vehicle that already has it!) Current units only read up to 50psi, which is too low for Load Range C,D,E,... tires. Tirehawk goes up to 60psi, and GoSafe goes up to 65psi. Fobo developer said a 90 psi sensor is a possibility, but the motorcycle system is current #1 priority.

All the current standalone systems are geared towards truck/trailer combos and most don't read tire temperature (which can be used to detect a hub on the way out). Oh well, shoulda done a kickstarter when I had the idea a while ago.

 

[rocklighting]

I would not want that thing on my tires. As stated it could leak and cause a flat, someone will steal it and if you off road it could get damaged. If the op wants to know the pressure in each tire buy a GM product that reads each individual tire pressure on the display. If you live out in the boonies like me there is no cell service in most areas so the phone ap would be useless. Also my phone is seldom on and I like it that way. I do not have tpms sensors on my off road tires. When the light is on it resets after I pull into the garage by my stock tires and wheels. I can drive sometimes for 15 minutes or more before the system even realizes there is no signal and the light comes on again. I do not know if this system would be better or not.

A very vaild point with the leak. But as with anything in the realm of modding a car there is always some point of failure rate. Given the length most of our 4Runners will last, statitically speaking there is a high probability any one of the things we add to the truck will fail in time. Like anything its benifit vs consequence. The airbags in my rear springs could fail at any point and cause headaches. But, for my uses, Id rather have the air bags and deal with the one or two problems ill have with them, than not have them at all.

In reality, the system will alert you via the phone or the stand alone in car unit if there is a leak. As long as you are near the truck, you'll know if there is a leak. For me, Id rather have the exact psi on demand vs the few times I'll have a problem with these. As someone said before me, the phone doesnt need service, just bluetooth. The in car unit also duals as an alarm in case you dont have a phone. If they leak, they screw right off and the old caps get put back on, almost all of us carry atleast a handheld air compressor. The company has also done impact tests on the sensors, it has a rating but I am not sure what that translates to in terms of an impact off road. In terms of theft, included is a locking washer and each sensor is tied to your account so even if it was stolen, it would be useless for anyone else. Each also has an IP57 rating for dust and water.

I got the sets when they were on Indigogo so i got the cheap. Yes, it may be stupid, and pointless to some, but that's part of the fun of modding.

 

[JeremyB]

Each also has an IP57 rating for dust and water.

IP57 means it is water resistant up to 1m. However, the minimum depth is 15cm (6") to the top of the device. On my Limited, a 13" water crossing could kill the sensor and still be IP57 compliant.

 

[rocklighting]

IP57 means it is water resistant up to 1m. However, the minimum depth is 15cm (6") to the top of the device. On my Limited, a 13" water crossing could kill the sensor and still be IP57 compliant.

I'm not following you on that. IP57 is water resistant up to 1 meter of water depth. The sensor is 6 inches from the bottom of the tire at it's lowest point. Which means it is still safe to submerge it for roughtly 3 feet, 8 inches. 3 feet is over what our 4Runners can ford without serious water tight mods.

 

[JeremyB]

I'm not following you on that. IP57 is water resistant up to 1 meter of water depth. The sensor is 6 inches from the bottom of the tire at it's lowest point. Which means it is still safe to submerge it for roughtly 3 feet, 8 inches. 3 feet is over what our 4Runners can ford without serious water tight mods.

The wikipedia page states "Immersion at depth of at most 1m measured at bottom of device, and at least 15 cm measured at top of device". Which is a tricky way of saying 15cm = passes IP57. The sources on the page are all ambiguous. I'll have to see if I can access IEC 60529 tomorrow and see if that's a typo and "at most 1m" should be "at least 1m"

edit:

Read the IEC 60529 -Wikipedia was wrong /the horror!

Actual wording.

The test is made by completely immersing the enclosure in water in its service position as
specified by the manufacturer so that the following conditions are satisfied:
a) the lowest point of enclosures with a height less than 850 mm is located 1 000 mm below
the surface of the water;
b) the highest point of enclosures with a height equal to or greater than 850 mm is located
150 mm below the surface of the water;

 

[BlackWorksInc]

If you're concerned about 1-2 psi difference at all times when driving you will most likely need the following:

-Accurate, Fast Cycling TPMS units (most don't actually cycle actively, but rather get "pinged" anywhere from a few minutes to longer depending on what the TPMS wants to see as this prolongs battery life.)

-Onboard 100% Duty Cycle Compressor With Storage Tank filled with Nitrogen

-Integrated Central Tire Inflation Management complete with stand alone Module to interpret fast cycling TPMS readings and correctly pressurize/depressurize tires in real time to correct Nitrogen levels.

-Lots of money


This should correct your tire inflation issues.