Help with TPMS...

[Dario]

New to 4Runners and Toyota TPMS. Am also getting a set of winter wheels for the truck. Did a bunch of reading, but still a little confused.

It looks like there are a few options for TPMS and 2nd set of wheels:

• Option 1: Don't use TPMS on the 2nd set of wheels and deal with the nag light
• Option 2: Get a 2nd set of of sensors and reprogram the car 2x per year
• Option 2b: Get a 2nd set with programmable sensors and set them to the same values as the original sensors
• Option 3: Move the original sensors between the wheels

Does that sound right? Option 1 is out - the wife would hate it. And the last thing I want to do is encourage her to ignore warning lights. Option 3 is viable, but seems like I'm asking for sensors to get broken moving them 2x per year.

Option 2 or 2b seems like the most reasonable to me, assuming I or the shop know how to program the sensors. Has anybody done this? If so, what happens when you pull into the garage and the car reads signals from 2 sets of tires. 2b means I don't have to do any programming changes other than the sensors, which should be a one-time thing. Has anybody done this?

Lastly, anybody know of a device to read the actual pressure values? Easy enough to check manually, but if there sensors are there I'd like to read them. Disappointed that Toyota doesn't show the actual values.

 

[Sheabutter]

I am a fan of option 1. For the simple fact that it's easy enough to check tire pressure. You'd be shocked as to how many customers cars I get into that the light is on and they don't even care or even know. I ran my wrx every spring summer and fall with the time light on. Didn't feel the need to put new toms in a set of wheels. Gotta worry about rotational mass. Wink.

Option 3 would not be worth the money. As it will get above the cost of a new set rather quickly.

 

[ABDave]

Same problem here, i got a set of winter wheels. I go with option one, too expensive to get reprogram by the dealer twice a year...

 

[Scottd9000]

Option 1 is what I run on my Scion when I have my winter set on. I have the summers stacked up in the garage near where I park and when I start the car... no light until I am about 20 miles away. Must only check so often on the 2008s.

 

[EasyAndy]

A buddy of mine has all his TPMS under his seat in his tundra. He made an enclosed PVC cylinder with the sensors on/in it and pressurized it to the 35psi. Throw it under your seat and your problems are solved. Except now you will have to manually check to see if your tires are low. I'm pretty sure he found the instructions to make it online but it is pretty simple.

 

[mdogg]

I went with 2b.... no complaints here.

Just to add a little more.... Yes, there is a device that can read the sensor ID through the tire. Most dealership/tire places will have this. Alternatively, Toyota (or a friendly neighbor with the TIS/cable) can read your sensors from the ECU.

If you pull into the garage and the receiver see signals from 8 sensors (2 each), it's not a problem. The only thing to watch for is when 1 of the storage wheels is low, the low PSI will trigger the light (but then go out after you drive away). I'm currently dealing with a low winter tire in the garage since I haven't touched them in 7 months. Once I air up the low winter tire, there won't be a problem.

 

[flatspin]

A buddy of mine has all his TPMS under his seat in his tundra. He made an enclosed PVC cylinder with the sensors on/in it and pressurized it to the 35psi. Throw it under your seat and your problems are solved. Except now you will have to manually check to see if your tires are low. I'm pretty sure he found the instructions to make it online but it is pretty simple.

That's a good idea. I can see it going so badly though if he ever gets pulled over and it rolls out from under his seat. Bet it looks a lot like a pipe bomb.

 

[EasyAndy]

That's a good idea. I can see it going so badly though if he ever gets pulled over and it rolls out from under his seat. Bet it looks a lot like a pipe bomb.

Yep, that is pretty much what it looks like. I said the same thing to him. I think he has it Velcroed under there. He had a couple of the TPMS sensors break on him so this was his solution to never having to buy another again.

 

[96r50]

I bought a second set of OEM wheels and TPMS sensors and had winter tires mounted on them. When I put them on I'll use an old laptop with Techstream to reprogram the TPMS. Easy enough, and you get the benefit of having the system working.

If you didn't want to do that, my next suggestion would be the second set of identical sensors. Swapping sensors around twice per year would get expensive pretty quickly, plus the risk of breaking them.

 

[Dario]

A bunch of excellent responses very quickly. Thanks to all.

Same problem here, i got a set of winter wheels. I go with option one, too expensive to get reprogram by the dealer twice a year...

I'd be fine with option 1. My guess is the wife is going to complain. It's her car, not mine. How bright, obnoxious, and in-your-face is the indicator? Maybe I'll just de-pressurize a tire to see how it looks.

Option 1 is what I run on my Scion when I have my winter set on. I have the summers stacked up in the garage near where I park and when I start the car... no light until I am about 20 miles away. Must only check so often on the 2008s.

Thought about that too. Same issue with the idiot light. No idea if this is 20 seconds or 20 mins in the 2014.

A buddy of mine has all his TPMS under his seat in his tundra. He made an enclosed PVC cylinder with the sensors on/in it and pressurized it to the 35psi. Throw it under your seat and your problems are solved. Except now you will have to manually check to see if your tires are low. I'm pretty sure he found the instructions to make it online but it is pretty simple.

Ha! I meant to add this as option 3b - read about somebody else putting their sensors inside a pressurized wheelbarrow tire. Has the disadvantage of re-installing the sensors on the summer tires every year. Not much better (imo) than just moving them between tires. Or... I guess option 4 is to pressurize them and just never move them. Rather than do this I'd rather find a way to get some cheap RFID tags and program them (I work in tech - can't believe this is very hard to do.)

I went with 2b.... no complaints here.

Can you tell me how you programmed the sensors and what they cost? Looks like I can get pre-programmed ones for ~$25-30 each.

I bought a second set of OEM wheels and TPMS sensors and had winter tires mounted on them. When I put them on I'll use an old laptop with Techstream to reprogram the TPMS. Easy enough, and you get the benefit of having the system working.

If you didn't want to do that, my next suggestion would be the second set of identical sensors. Swapping sensors around twice per year would get expensive pretty quickly, plus the risk of breaking them.

This is how I'm leaning. The cable + software is ~$150, correct? Hate to spend it, but it's a one-time purchase. I'll look at programmable sensors as well - not sure what's required to do that.

 

[96r50]

This is how I'm leaning. The cable + software is ~$150, correct? Hate to spend it, but it's a one-time purchase. I'll look at programmable sensors as well - not sure what's required to do that.

It's about $30 for the cable on Amazon or Ebay and the software is available for free on the internet. I used an old 32 bit Windows XP laptop I had lying around and it works perfectly. Check out these threads for more info:

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/121604-toyota-tis-techstream.html
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/gener...ta-tis-techstream-8-x-windows-7-8-64-bit.html

 

[LandCruiser]

I just mounted a set of Blizzaks on FJC steelies with no TPMS.

No point in spending extra money on something I can do myself with a pressure gauge twice a week--which is what I do anyway.

 

[Dario]

I just mounted a set of Blizzaks on FJC steelies with no TPMS.

No point in spending extra money on something I can do myself with a pressure gauge twice a week--which is what I do anyway.

I hear you. A dummy light telling me the pressure is already dangerously low isn't helpful. Seeing real-time pressures would be helpful. See above - my concern is the wife complaining about the light being on for 3 months.

 

[Dario]

It's about $30 for the cable on Amazon or Ebay and the software is available for free on the internet.

I saw that - wasn't sure if that cable would work. I'll take the free software if it's really free (legally). If not, I'll pay for it.

 

[3wbdriver]

Been running option 1 since February. ~$220 for an extra set of sensors just didn't do it for me.

 

[uood8]

I saw that - wasn't sure if that cable would work. I'll take the free software if it's really free (legally). If not, I'll pay for it.

that'd be 55 dollars for 2 days (consecutive), or 1100 per year....might as well pay the dealer for that price.

 

[mdogg]

Can you tell me how you programmed the sensors and what they cost? Looks like I can get pre-programmed ones for ~$25-30 each.

It was about $200 for the set of 4 programmable sensors. The shop programmed them for me (including reading my OEM sensors) for free. Obviously, YMMV. I had them do the winter tire installation as well, so the mount/balance took the price up too - that probably didn't hurt their decision to do it for free.

 

[Dario]

It was about $200 for the set of 4 programmable sensors. The shop programmed them for me (including reading my OEM sensors) for free. Obviously, YMMV. I had them do the winter tire installation as well, so the mount/balance took the price up too - that probably didn't hurt their decision to do it for free.

That's kind of what I was hoping for. Will stop by a shop today to see what they have to say. $200 is a lot for sensors, but over 7 years or so it's not bad.

Also need to let the wife see the dummy light and see if she could live with it.

 

[Dario]

Dummy light is out - wife said NWIH is she going to look at that thing for 3 months.

Local tire shop said sensors are $220 installed and the car programmed. However, they'll swap wheels and reprogram for free for as long as I run their tires. So again, over 7 years or so it's not too bad.

My preference would be sensors that can be programmed to match the existing ones, but they have no idea what to do with those.

 

[skimr]

Can always put black tape over the dummy light, then won't be able to see it.