Tire Pressure Monitoring System????

[yfarm]

I was recently told by a firestone dealer that federal law requires TPMS on all new vehicles and has penalties for dealer removal of the system. One of my vehicles has the schrader system and had a valve stem(aluminum) crack cost $84 to repair.The vehicle(dodge) dealer quoted me $50 for the wheel unit, $35 to install and $100 to reprogram the unit for the new sensor.The tire shop that did the repair said the new sensors automatically reprogram.My opinion is remove the system, buy a good gauge and use standard truck valve stems.

[Ford_6L_E350]

The TPMS is not for guys who take care of their vehicles. It is for the idiots who can barely gas-n-go. I know a girl, everytime I see her I have to add air to her tires, sometimes they are as low as 10psi. She needs a TPMS in her car.

Mike

[scatter]

I was wondering if anyone would pick up on the 60psi part. It's my range of choice as I run BFG's and don't see any reason to change at this point. (That's been beaten to death elsewhere).

I've also heard that the TPMS systems are required. Just another government regulation to make vehicles cost more and keep in the gene (voting) pool those that natural selection would otherwise remove.

[jage]

Originally Posted by scatter

I was wondering if anyone would pick up on the 60psi part. It's my range of choice as I run BFG's and don't see any reason to change at this point. (That's been beaten to death elsewhere).

Even if you run 60, how can you tell you're not over if it maxes out at 60? I prefer a 60 or 50 for airing down, as the gradations between say 20 and 22 psi are a lot better on a 60 psi gauge than a 120 or something; but I carry a digital cheapie in the van anyway so it's not an issue.

I've also heard that the TPMS systems are required. Just another government regulation to make vehicles cost more and keep in the gene (voting) pool those that natural selection would otherwise remove.

Implying they don't already drive around with no muffler and the CEL light on...

[Skywagon]

Most of the good analog 60psi gauges don't peg out at 60psi, but keep going past the 60 mark even though there aren't any numbers there. I have a 60psi gauge and am using it on my brand new Toyo M/Ts which I'm running at 65psi at the moment. If I decide that more pressure is needed, I guess I'll have to get a 100psi gauge... (Plus when I air up from the 26 or so psi I run in the dirt, I usually over fill 5-6psi to account for the tires being hot). When they cool down they're usually pretty close to the psi I run on the road.
Bill

[Skywagon]

I just went out and looked more closely at my Load range E Toyo Open country M/T tires and I was startled to see that they are rated 3640 @ 65psi. I would have guessed that their rating would been at 80psi. And actually thought that was the case. I guess I can keep my old air gauge.
Bill
p.s., I'd like to add an initial report on these tires, (35X12.50X17) with which I replaced 315X70X17 B.F.G.s. I'm a longtime fan of and have had probably 10 or more sets of the B.F.G.s. The only reason I switched to the Toyos was added capacity as my van weighs almost 11,000 lbs. In a lifetime of off-roading, I have never had a failure that I can remember with the B.F.G.s.
The Toyos, (which I've only had for two days), handle as well as the old tires. They steer similarly and turn in a little quicker, most likely due in part to the added 15 lbs. of pressure.
They ride a tiny bit rougher, no doubt again due to the increase in pressure. However, they are considerably noisier than the B.F.G.s. Not a howl, but more like added wind noise. I went to a fair amount of trouble to make my truck as quiet as possible, and I'm a little disappointed
with the noise. But if they perform as advertised off-road, all will be forgiven.

[Greggd]

I am running the identical tire that Skywagon is and found them more responsive , a little noisier and smother overall than the Under Spec'ed BFG's that came with our 2007 EB-50 that weighs in at little under 11,000 lbs. loaded and on the road , I had two major sidewall separations with the BFG tires , one at 13,000 miles and the next at 23,000 miles ! Even though that I check pressure and rotate religiously , I posted a photograph in my album of the last failure . Thankfully my Daughter noticed the large bulge on the inside of the passenger rear tire and contacted me on the radio at 65mph it would not have been a a very pleasant experience . Oddly enough the first same type of failure was on the driver side rear tire .
Greggd

[jage]

I've had more than my fair share of BFG failures, two on the SMB alone. However, I've got to ask, are you guys comparing the noise of Toyo MTs with BFG ATs, or MTs and MTs? I found the Toyos the quietest Mud Terrains of any that I have experience with- though admittedly the competing tires were never on the van (Diesel, not soft top, windows up, etc)

[Skywagon]

Jage-
I'm comparing the Toyo MTs to BFG ATs noisewise. I wasn't putting the Toyos down, just saying that if one changes to Toyos, he can expect them to produce more noise. I expected the Toyos to be noisier than the BFGs, but after reading several comments on them I wasn't prepared for them to be quite as noisy as they are. I'm 65 years old and have had 4-wheel drive vehicles all my driving days but have never had "mud" tires before, so I just wasn't prepared for the whine. I expect I'll get used to it. My wife says "Suck it up, you didn't buy a Bentley!"
Bill

[Greggd]

Ditto on the BFG ATs Jage . This is what SportsMobile was providing at the time of delivery and quite frankly I questioned the integrity of a D rated tire on a vehicle of this size and weight but was told that it had proven itself well ?
Greggd