Discount Tire Requires TPMS rebuild kit???

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I went to Discount tire today and was told that the TPMS rebuild was mandatory and is $8 per tire. This really irritates me. How can they require you to buy this? I love Discount but this may have me looking elsewhere.

Anyone else experienced this?
 
It could be worse. I had a TPMS valve that the liars at the local CarX shop claimed was leaking, and I WANTED an $8 rebuild kit... but they refused to rebuild it. Nope.

They wanted $75 for a NEW one.

I told them "no". I discovered that it didn't leak once it was tightened to 72 inch pounds. It leaked because they had loosened it to where it was only finger tight.

Crooks and liars. That's my local CarX shop. First time I went there, and the last time.
 
The position on this varies from OEM to OEM, but Nissan's service manual does say that is required to replace the components (valve stem, rubber o-ring and nut) whenever a tire is mounted/dismounted.

Considering the cost of the kit and the few minutes that it takes to perform this service, $8 isn't completely unreasonable.
 
Unless its leaking or you see corrosion I wouldn't replace it. I had a place tell me I require a TPMS rebuild kit if I got new tires with them. My car just turned 2 years old at the time and has never seen road salt. I walked away from that place.
 
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To prevent breaking the sensor, you're supposed to unbolt it & drop it into the tire. That way the bead won't break the sensor when pulling it over the wheel edge. This breaks the seal of the small rubber sealing washer & it's cheap insurance to replace the kit with the tire off. If your tire shop leaves the sensors installed while installing tires, that's asking for trouble. I work at a dealership & have seen hundreds of sensors come in failed after recent tire replacement. Almost every time the bead contacted the sensor & made hairline cracks on the sensor causing it to fail soon after
 
I read somewhere a while back...may have even been here on bitog... that tire techs inadvertently break tpms sensors on a fairly regular basis. Maybe they got tired of paying for replacements for angry customers and just made the rebuild 'mandatory'.
Just my $.02
 
BJs chipped one of the TPMS sensors on our MDX when doing tires a few years ago. They did not drop the TPMS sensor into the wheel before performing the work. Actually, I've not seen any place do that.

I do agree that replacing the seals is good practice. Replacing rubber valve stems is standard practice, and maintaining TPMS sensors should be as well. The life of the seals will vary. Our 2008 CR-V had a leaking TPMS sensor with only 3 years and about 50,000 miles on the car. I replaced all the seals with the next set of tires. Our 2005 MDX has never had a TPMS sensor leak, and is still on the original valve stems and o-rings, 10 years and 120,000 miles later. I asked for new seals last time we had the tires done, but BJs didn't have them at the time. It's still fine...no leaks...go figure.

I'd let them replace the seals. The $48 you spend now is worth the hassle, in my opinion, of returning later with one or more leaking sensors.
 
If you are really serious about vehicle maintenance you will want to replace those seals at every new tire purchase. In some vehicles that can be a long time...
 
Just an FYI:

I have lost 2 tires due to old valve stems developing cracks. So the old adage of replacing valves every time you replace tires remains true - and by extension, the rubber components in TPMS's.
 
Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
Just an FYI:

I have lost 2 tires due to old valve stems developing cracks. So the old adage of replacing valves every time you replace tires remains true - and by extension, the rubber components in TPMS's.
Especially if they are Chinese production.
 
Originally Posted By: HerrStig
Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
Just an FYI:

I have lost 2 tires due to old valve stems developing cracks. So the old adage of replacing valves every time you replace tires remains true - and by extension, the rubber components in TPMS's.
Especially if they are Chinese production.

Yup, the only time in my life so far that I lost a tire, it was due to valve stem failing.
Also, when I did tires I always dropped the sensor into the tire before I dismounted.
 
Originally Posted By: mehullica
To prevent breaking the sensor, you're supposed to unbolt it & drop it into the tire. That way the bead won't break the sensor when pulling it over the wheel edge. This breaks the seal of the small rubber sealing washer & it's cheap insurance to replace the kit with the tire off. If your tire shop leaves the sensors installed while installing tires, that's asking for trouble. I work at a dealership & have seen hundreds of sensors come in failed after recent tire replacement. Almost every time the bead contacted the sensor & made hairline cracks on the sensor causing it to fail soon after

I have Installed thousands of tires without dropping the sensor, and have never broke one yet. You can not drop the sensor if it is attached to a rubber valve stem. You can easily destroy a sensor just trying to take the nut off, especially if it is corroded. The only time I would replace a seal is if it is leaking. If it isn't leaking it is better left alone. My wife's car at 190kmi, and several sets of tires, in the salt belt do not leak yet. The rubber seal can easily, but not always of course, outlast the sensor. The sensors get broke by tire techs from not indexing the tire to the correct position when dismounting, or mounting the tire. Rubber valve stems can be cut for the same reason.
 
Rubber valve stems dry rotting and cracking are different than a seal on a metal tpms valve stem. If they have been changed recently or the car is fairly new, I wouldn't worry about it. Some of the discount tire stores will accept 'no' for an answer. Shop around.
 
In 51 years of driving I only had rubber valve stems replaced once in 1968. When I got home that day I noticed a tire loss air. I found the new valve stem split. I always bought used cars and kept them a long time. I would think the quality of rubber when up a lot since then. Yet the cheap Chinese stuff is a concern.
 
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The Goodyear where I got my last two sets of tires also does this. It looks like a nickel-and-dime practice, but it probably also prevents problems for both shops and customers. Call it the modern equivalent of replacing $1.50 valve stems with a set of tires.

That Goodyear won't sell used tires either. In the words of one manager, "You can probably find a shop down on Jeff Davis Highway that will put on a used tire." A guy could probably find a shop that doesn't require the TPMS rebuild, too.

I learned a lot about changing tires with TPMS from this thread--thanks.
 
Just say no to them. They reluctantly removed them from my bill.
All they replace is the gaskets not the batteries.
I have 30 yr old carb gaskets working fine.
 
Originally Posted By: Traction
Originally Posted By: mehullica
To prevent breaking the sensor, you're supposed to unbolt it & drop it into the tire. That way the bead won't break the sensor when pulling it over the wheel edge. This breaks the seal of the small rubber sealing washer & it's cheap insurance to replace the kit with the tire off. If your tire shop leaves the sensors installed while installing tires, that's asking for trouble. I work at a dealership & have seen hundreds of sensors come in failed after recent tire replacement. Almost every time the bead contacted the sensor & made hairline cracks on the sensor causing it to fail soon after

I have Installed thousands of tires without dropping the sensor, and have never broke one yet. You can not drop the sensor if it is attached to a rubber valve stem. You can easily destroy a sensor just trying to take the nut off, especially if it is corroded. The only time I would replace a seal is if it is leaking. If it isn't leaking it is better left alone. My wife's car at 190kmi, and several sets of tires, in the salt belt do not leak yet. The rubber seal can easily, but not always of course, outlast the sensor. The sensors get broke by tire techs from not indexing the tire to the correct position when dismounting, or mounting the tire. Rubber valve stems can be cut for the same reason.


+1. Been in the industry from the beginning of tpms going mainstream, and I have only broke two sensors.
The first was when nobody knew what they were, and I managed to clip one. With a shovel.
The second was when a customer had tpms sensors installed in some 30 series tires after they were installed previously. Later he needed new tires and breaking the bead 180° out caused it to crack. After that we tried to drop the sensors but because of the angle of the aftermarket tires stem hole they would wedge on the tire. We ended up breaking all four. his vanity caused this and he realized it so he didnt fight much. Sensors still functioned so he put them in a pressure vessel.

I have literally done tens of thousands of tires. Indexing the tires works, but the seals In tpms do go, so it is best to get them changed out. I mean really $8 for 60k seems trivial compared to what bitogers spend on maintenance.

However if they say it looks corroded and they don't want to push it, go with their recommendation. I have seen too many dodge stems In perticular hold air and never come apart. Even to the point of rotting the valve core area of the stem away
 
DTD charges $4.00 for the rebuild kit. I always asked them to price match their own company, and they do.

I hope my next car has ABS base TPMS rather then the wheel ones. Just another part that breaks and cost money because the gubmint forced this on the manufactures because of all the morons in this country.
 
I was at DT and they had it on the bill I requested them not to change them and so.. they didnt.

Car was 8 months old with 5600 miles.
 
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