I firmly believe in TPMS now

[53' Stude]

TPMS is good and bad. Can't recall how many cars come back to us with "aftermarket" sensor and wonder why tire light is on. My opinion is you don't check your tire psi often and watch where you drive it's going to happen. My old Acura didn't have TPMS either. Hyundai's don't even give you a spare tire anymore and some Gm vehicles don't. Now, that's a joke!

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: turtlevette

I grew up in Louisiana. I wouldn't want anyone to see me having a spare changed for me.

Its a macho culture down there.



Do they let you tint windows? Then you wouldn't be seen.

 

[4WD]

Nor do some high dollar euro cars ...

 

[blupupher]

A TPMS light will not fail you for inspection in Texas. Nowhere in the inspection code does it state this. Tires only have to appear to be inflated to a correct pressure, not even a manual pressure check is done.
If you were failed for it, contact DPS and report the inspection station, they are doing it wrong. The only dash light on that can fail you is having an illuminated CEL (which will set an OBD II code).

My wife's Scion has the "dumb" in tire TPMS. It does not tell you the pressure or which tire is low, just that it is low.
I had a screw in a tire that I probably would not have noticed for a while because of the TPMS. I check my tires monthly, and the TPMS came on about a week after I had checked them. I had to figure out which tire it was (the 3rd tire I checked), but got it fixed quickly.

 

[CBR.worm]

I love my TPMS. It has helped me more than a few times after hitting debris on the highway. I have one that tells me each tire PSI, one that shows a list of pressures, but doesn't indicate which one is where, and two with dashboard lights.

My experience has been that the sensors seem to last around 8 years in my nissans. I've never had one die in a Toyota or BMW.

My Nissan sensors are $55 each and can be registered to the car with a single piece of wire (no money).

I now replace them in sets of four at the ~8 year mark when getting tires.

When I was driving 40k miles plus a year, it was a lifesaver - possibly literally.

 

[bbhero]

Well I've successfully ignored my TPMS for about 50k miles and counting

It would be north of $125 to fix them. Well I have got a tire gauge that works just fine. It was $12 for a nice light up digital one. I drove probably 400k miles without a TPMS system. So if I didn't need it before then I don't need it now either. And here in Va it doesn't mean your car can't pass inspection with that light on.

 

[springerpop]

My TPMS recently saved me a real headache.

We have a two-axle travel trailer and a single-axle utility trailer that we regularly tow. When we tow the single-axle trailer, I put the other two sensors on the rear wheels of the truck, as a low rear tire is a bit harder to feel than a front.

We stopped just about dusk at a town thirty miles shy of our evening destination in western Oklahoma to grab a bite. When we came back to the truck the monitor had started alerting, and showed one rear truck tire low. Since the tire still had 40 pounds in it, I drove slowly to the nearest station's tire hose island, and topped the tire off.

It was now after dark, so I parked under an adjacent parking lot light to find the "nail". Surprise! No leak could be found at all until I moved the stem a bit. Never had a stem leak before, but that's what it was.

I was able to conveniently put on a spare with benefit of lights and a hard surface instead of somewhere remote alongside I-40 in the dark, all thanks to knowing that I was losing air, albeit slowly.

Thanks to the monitoring system, I didn't have the risk of changing a tire in a dangerous location, and didn't flat-run an almost-new tire.

A local tire shop got me all fixed up in the morning, and I was only delayed a total of an hour or so.

Total savings: About $200 for the tire, and no worries for my safety.

Thanks, again, to the TPMS!

Guess I should place an order for a couple more sensors, huh?

Pop

 

[ludey]

Originally Posted By: Benzadmiral
Originally I thought of the TPMS as a nice gadget, one that I'm fine with if it came on the car; but since I check my tires' air pressure myself every month, and have the tires rotated at each oil change, I didn't think it was all that useful.

Ha.

Last night I'm driving out to the suburbs on the Interstate. Suddenly the DIC displays "Low Air Pressure," with a diagram of the car and with the RF tire highlighted. And it showed the pressure, at 23 lbs. As I head toward the nearest exit, I see the pressure steadily dropping: 22, 21, 20 . . .

Fortunately I had my tire inflator in the trunk. But it took 10 solid minutes to fill the tire to 35. I couldn't see a leak, but that kind of slowness to refill meant air was getting out, and not slowly. I hopped back on the highway and off at the next exit, watching and cursing as the 15 pounds I'd put in swiftly escaped back to atmosphere. So I found an empty parking lot and called AAA. They swapped out the cut tire (a cut on the inner shoulder of the Michelin, so not repairable) for the compact spare. It's good for 3000 miles at up to 65, so I've got time to shop.

My point: The TPMS saved me from a blowout or from getting stranded on the side of the highway. Without the warning, I would have thought the tires were fine, until BANG! . And a blowout at highway speeds, well, I don't have to tell you. So be glad you have TPMS. Don't sell it short or dismiss it as "frippery" or "expensive gadgetry"!

Re:
Had a similar situation going home. Ran over what looked like black rope but very long with my car. Felt like I ran over a speed bump at 45mph. My TPMS idiot light went on then,1 minute later air pressure was showing 25psi and dropping fast. Made a u-turn in a Subway parking lot. Checked out rear passenger tire under the car. Heard air hissing. It was a slash on the inside of the tire. No spare tire came with my car and did not want to use fix a flat that came with the car. Costs $125 for that stuff from dealer. Called AAA and towed home. I guess that rope was the power wire of electrical wires. It was very long and covered most of the lane I was on. It slashed the inside of my tire but TPMS saved my aftermarket wheel. Otherwise, I would've never pulled over. I use to think TPMS was just a device stating the obvious but, in my case I am glad to have it mandatory on new cars today.

 

[Errtt]

Just yesterday my TPMS low tire icon appeared in the dash. Took me a few seconds to figure out what it was, sure enough LF tire loosing air. 1st time for me seeing the TPMS go off.
Added air, drove over to DT and they fixed me right up. Even checked to see if they had on hand same tire in case they needed to replace my tire (didn't need it).
Counter worker was very talkative starting out with the 3 types of tires I have for 3 vehicles (pc check on me), then on to other tires.
I haven't had to have a tire fixed since I dunno when (many years). I think I like the TPMS system. 111k on the vehicle, original TPMS sensors.

 

[HTSS_TR]

My 2004 Honda S2000 and 2000 MB E430 don't have TPMS, I usually look at the tire when I approach the car before driving. If a tire is few PSI's low I can spot it easily, if the tire with low pressure is on the other side of the car I can detect it the first mile or two of driving.

Personally, I hate TPMS. An extra mandatory part of a car that is forced on drivers because of screwed up by Ford and Firestone.