TPMS for aftermarket wheels

[chavez]

What TPMS did you get for your wheels or did you use the sensors from the stock wheels. Or ?

[4MacFam]

I still need to add these to my second set of tires. I've been warned by a few tire companies that the cheap ones they sell on Amazon as being stock "Ford" parts or genuine Ford are just crap in false packaging. The bummer is that ford's TPS is internal so I have to pay someone to install them in each tire. So if they go bad I'd have to pay someone to replace them.

I'm planning on going with genuine ford TPS parts and then getting their little device you need to program each tire sensor.

Good luck on your choices.

[chavez]

Good info. Saw them on eBay for $43 a set ford motorcraft. Glad I didn't buy em. Wonder what they cost at the dealer?
No problems with running tires without em?

[boywonder]

What year is your van?

The 2008's TPMS sensors are banded around the rim, I think starting in 2009+ they are on the valve stem. The OEM bands are not reusable but you can buy aftermarket bands to affix them to new wheels. I think the bands were going to be $60 total for 4. In my case I was moving to 17" rims from 16".

Keep in mind that the TPMS sensors are powered by coin cells with a rough lifespan of 6-8 years or so.

I have an '08 and when I got new wheels, I purchased 4 new aftermarket valve stem TPMS sensors from the tire & wheel dealer for a total of $160. I did not buy bands and reuse my OEM sensors since they were already 6 years old.

I ended up selling the stock wheels and tires as they came off the van with the sensors on Craigslist.

[boywonder]

Originally Posted by 4MacFam

The bummer is that ford's TPS is internal so I have to pay someone to install them in each tire. So if they go bad I'd have to pay someone to replace them.

I'm planning on going with genuine ford TPS parts and then getting their little device you need to program each tire sensor.

Good luck on your choices.

........aren't all TPMS sensors internal to the tire?

The big shock for the US population is that TPMS has been mandatory since 2008 on passenger cars, and it's now just about the time when 2008 era sensors will have dying batteries, so people's bills for new tires will be increasing since they will need new sensors.

....and to replace a dead sensor, you will be paying for dismount, remount & balancing.

In California, you cannot pass smog testing with a TPMS light on in the dash......if you remove the sensors, you cannot turn off the light, or the error code.

[4MacFam]

On my 2013 with no sensors in the tires I have a dash light on all the time, the message display beeps and displays a sensor fault message on startup (push the button to clear it), then while driving every so often the message center will beep and show the sensor fault again. Not driving it but once a week right now in winter so it hasn't been driving me nuts yet. Will not want all this beeping going on during a trip though.

I think the new ford sensors are going to be about $65 a piece and the reset tool is about $70.

[jage]

Originally Posted by 4MacFam

I've been warned by a few tire companies that the cheap ones they sell on Amazon

No bias there!

....and to replace a dead sensor, you will be paying for dismount, remount & balancing.

Most tire companies do that for free if you bought the tires there, and it's pretty cheap even if not. Plus re-balancing periodically is not a bad idea as weights fall and get knocked off.

[boywonder]

Originally Posted by jage

Most tire companies do that for free if you bought the tires there, and it's pretty cheap even if not. Plus re-balancing periodically is not a bad idea as weights fall and get knocked off.

It's not a bad idea......I didn't realize how badly balanced the tires that came on my van were until I got my new wheels and tires, and the old ones weren't very old.