Kvothe

What is everyone doing for TPMS when getting new tires?

This spring/summer I plan on getting new tires. A local tire installer said they'd throw in the rebuild kits for the TPMS.

I thought about buying new but am curious if those that have had them rebuilt have had any issues.

ChevyDave

my first read of.. "rebuild" , i thought you meant rebuilding the tps itself. hope you didnt mean that.

you should get a definition of 'rebuild kit' from them. if your tps is rather new, sure a rebuild kit is cheap per tire ($3.00 or so)

my understanding of a rebuild kit is...


you can get what they call new service kits, old tps with new fittings..


i have never seen a rebuilt tps itself. wont say it cant be done, just that i never seen them. i have seen one that was taken apart, you know, to see what the battery looked like. it was so destroyed you could never reuse it.

4SUMERZ

I'm still on the original TMPS after 6 years. How long are they supposed to last?
I'm due for a tire change next year, so it may be time to replace the sensors?

Bill Dearborn

You can replace the outer parts with the rebuild kit but you should really decide what to do about the sensors themselves based on how old they are. Stock sensor batteries last about 7 years and if you are near the end of battery life it is better to replace the whole sensor when you change the tire Vs having to break down the tire a year later to replace a sensor. Bob at House of Wheels has an excellent price on stock sensors so if you decide to replace them give him a call. Stay away from aftermarket sensors since they can't be counted on. Last year I installed new Dorman sensors in a set of track wheels and they failed twice in 2 months. Cost me $20 each time I had to break down the tire although the sensor was covered under warranty it was a huge hassle.

Bill

weathermaker

I just replaced the tires only. 8 years in March. Will replace them when they act up. May be sooner than later, but they are rated for 10 years.

Zogs2011

really, what is the life expectancy?

v1 rot8

I still had the ones that came with the 98 C5 when I sold it in 2011.

festone

My 2001 has the original sensors - still going strong - Amazing since my 2010 has already had one failure.

redrckt97

same here - just replaced tires on my 2005 (62k miles) -- kept the factory tpms which are still working fine.

peter pan

Have not had to buy TPMS yet, will get OEM when needed

white90conv

I think they can last for a long time. I have one on my C5 that is the original from 2000 and it is now 2013. I replaced the others because I thought they were going to give up, not because they quit working. The car has 100K miles.

50 4Ever

When I get new tires I do not touch the sensors.

Kvothe

When I asked about the kit I was told new battery and grommet. Having never held a TPMS in my hands I didn't realize you couldn't replace the battery in them. Obviously the guy at the tire store didn't either

Looks like I'll be keeping the one's I have vs. buying new since others have had them last so long. I did read the TPMS only transmits a signal every hour when not being driven. I would think since mine isn't a DD the batteries would last until my next set of tires.

Thanks guys

Top_Fuel

I have had a couple of OEM TPMS sensors on different cars die after only 2 years. It was an inconvenient pain each time to fix. If my car is 4 years old and I need new tires, I'm going to pony up for new aftermarket sensors.

TPMS sensors really aren't that expensive any more. You can purchase good aftermarket TPMS sensors (Orange Electronic brand) on Amazon.com for about $35 each...or roughly $140 for a set. OEM sensors on Amazon are $45/each.

When you have your new tires installed, the shop should "rebuild" your existing TPMS sensors if you want to re-use them (which basically means they install a new rubber grommet and replace the installation nut and Schrader valve). This service usually costs $5-$10 per wheel and is considered to be good preventative maintenance.

So it's at least $20 to rebuild your existing sensors...or spend $120 more to go with new aftermarket sensors. That's not a huge expense when you are dropping $1,000+ on a set of tires.

4SUMERZ

That's good to know. I may have another 4 years with the original sensors, or a C7, whichever comes first.
When and if I get a failure, then I'll replace all 4 at the same time.

jmac2009

I'm on my 3rd set of tires and still using the original TPMS units.

Fiss

I would go with new sensors. One of mine failed/started having issues on another car and It would trigger a msg on the DIC saying there was a flat when there wasnt. The msg would go away after maybe a minute but it was still annoying.

Vette5.5

I've embraced TPMS since the beginning, and no sence not to, so it's standard on all cars, since 2008. My Vette track tire set up is TPMS equipped, as are my daly cars Blizzak winter set up. Have a Bartec tire reset tool, and only takes a few seconds to program in. No big deal, except a few bucks up front. What else is new.

Tonylmiller

I just bought my own TPMS tool. It will pay for itself after a couple of uses.

TCW

No reason to replace them just for new tires. Most last 10 years and longer.

Tom