Tire pressure sensors for winter rims?

I just put eight winter studded snow tires on 8 new rims for our two new Prii. We resused the TPMS from the factory rims because Toyota is out of stock for replacement monitors.

Be prepared for sticker shock... they cost $106 each. According to my tire dealer... this is an all time record for TPMs... about 6X the cost of similar sensors for other cars.

/Jim

 

Hmm, I wonder if sensors from some other car would work? There can't be too many different manufacturers of TPMS...

Nate

 

You would think so, but it's not the case. UNfortunately yo have to use these specific sensors.

 

Exactly how/where are the TPMs? If you bought a set of miounted tires on rims, can you just say unscrew them from the OEM Tires & place on the the mounted snow tires?

Sorry, I am a little confused as to where they are & what they look like?

 

So is there any harm in driving with that light on all the time? I bought winter tires/rims recently (I'll have the car in a week or two) and I just found all these threads talking about this issue. I'd really rather not spend $XXX to get a bunch of new sensors.

 

You might be interested in this thread: official TPMS info from Toyota tech training class, to clarify.

Buying a second set of sensors would still require that you take the car in to a dealer twice a year to reprogram the car's computer for the other set of sensors. Evidently, the system can only keep track of 4 sensors at a time.

This is the first thing that's made me happy that I ended up with an '05, other than saving a bunch of money.

Perhaps the best solution is to use a piece of tape to cover the sensor warning light during the winter. That will save the cost of a second set of sensors, as well as the cost of reprogramming the computer twice a year. The other choice is to use one set of rims and just swap the tires back and forth twice a year. A third possibility is to buy an alternate TPMS system and use it during the winter months. Here's one for $375, less than the cost of 4 new sensors: Pressure Pro (I have no idea if it's any good or not.)

 

I just thought of a thrid option:
3) carry the original tires around in the back of the Prius all winter! :blink:

 

Thanks lee, I think I might just use the tape method as I was more concerned on effects this might have on the car rather than worrying about the tire pressure during the winter months.

Although the winter hasn't been too bad here in Rochester so I might not even put tires on until next year. Maybe their will be a better solution by then.

 

I pretty much guaranteed us a mild Rochester winter buy purchasing a set of wheels and snow tires and putting them on the car! :lol:

 

I don't know how picky the "valve stem" sensors are, but you would think if you got oem wheels exactly like the other ones that the "resonance" would be the same too... but as you know, each wheel and tire has to be balanced differently...

So if they were "that" sensitive.. it looks like being out of balance would also trip them off too?.. But I've only heard of them measuring psi and resonance "whatever that is trying to say?".

But I would think that by unscrewing them and putting them in the other tires'wheels, you could transfer them back and forth without a reregister... but I dont' know.

 

Transferring the sensors evidently requires the use of tire mounting equipment to "break the bead". Not something you can easily do at home.

 

I bought winter tires, and winter wheels... and I had planned to buy an extra set of sensors too.

My tire dealer has two price options for changing tires:

1) $0 per changeover including re-balancing if they are already on wheels
2) $50 per changeover including mounting/balancing if not on wheels

My tire dealer told me that "technically"... they do not need to "remount" the tires to change the sensors from one wheel to the other. Hence... my tires will all stay on their respective rims year round... and the sensors will be swapped between the two sets of wheels without ever taking the tires off of the rims... and my changeover cost will be $0.

/Jim

 

i wonder what "break the bead" means?.... the seal of the tire against the wheel? or the valve stem?

 

If they do not have to "remount" then what are they doing?.. unscrewing the stems and putting in the other mounts?

 

that's breaking the seal of the tire against the wheel

 

Now I'm really confused!.... Why do you need to break the bead to unscrew or change the stems and move them to another rim? I mean ...what does the stem and the bead of the tire against the rim have to do with each other?

 

Windstrings,

The valve stems sit inside the wheel, and push out through the hole in the wheel. They do not screw into place from the outside. Hence... they can only be removed by pushing them back "into" the wheel.

In order to remove a TPMS sensor from a wheel... you would "break the bead".... which now allows you to push the tire out of the way. Next you would push the TPMS sensor into the wheel cavity. You can then take it out... and place it into the other wheel... and then reseat the bead and inflate the tires.

/Jim

 

Is it ok just use the steel wheels without the sensors for the winter? (Maybe cover the light as suggested earlier). Would this have any ill effects on the car?

 

Check the "Official TPMS thread." Galaxee is checking on this right now.