Tow Vehicle Tire Pressure Monitoring Saga!

Fergie

Our T@B tow vehicle is a 2009 Ford Expedition. I had a recent experience followed by my own curious investigation of it's Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS).  I thought I ought to share it with our T@B crowd if they have not already experienced dealing with this system, now mandatory in all vehicles (cars, light trucks, and SUV's) since 2008. The story is attached.

Fergie
Palmer, AK

ChanW

Thanks Doug. I love learning new stuff! (Now I don't need to tear apart my tire to learn about this one!)

tabiphile

Most "good" tire shops will offer to "refurbish" or replace your wheel sensors when you purchase new tires. It's a good idea to consider doing that after you replace the second set of tires on your vehicle. That said, OEM are always going to be the best ones to use. Tire shops offer el cheapo import copy parts.
If you are in the habit of running two sets of wheels (winter, summer) your vehicle will need to relearn the sensors when you switch the wheels. If you are transporting the replacement wheels it is possible for your car/truck to get confused when it tries to read 8 sensors...something to think about. In most cars the coding is robust enough to arbitrate that but if you have a problem and the sensors do not relearn while you are carrying the extra wheels, remove them and try again before getting worried about it. Often that's all it takes to get things sorted. Oh, and not all sensors are created equal, even within one brand of vehicle. A sensor from a 2010 might not read on a 2018....or what have you. Take that into consideration if you are buying an extra set of wheels.