RagTop69

My Vette reported low pressure in my left rear tire so I fired up the compressor and went out to the garage to air it up. I bumped the rear tires up to 30# each and decided to check the fronts as well. I stuck the air chuck onto the left front and, when I removed the chuck to verify the pressure with my gauge, all the air rushed out of my tire, leaving it flat. I found 1/4" of my TPMS, with the valve stem still in it, under my compressor. So, to prevent me from having to use a tire gauge to check my tires regularly, I find myself stuck with a crippled car. Back in the day, when people didn't need "technology" to deal with the responsible use of an automobile, this would have been no big deal. Today I had to pull my left front, take it to America's Tires, buy an new TPMS unit for $65 installed, drag it back home, remount the tire and then return to AT to have the stupid TPMS matched to the car's computer, since, as they had predicted, the Vette kept registering 0 tire pressure until it was sync'ed. All to save me the inconvenience of remembering to check my tires and of carrying around a pen sized tire gauge.

jrose7004

That's the way it goes sometimes!

Larry Myers

You can thank the federal government for tpms. And the nimrod suv drivers who could not maintain control when an underinflated Firestone tire blew out.

BTW, have you bought a gas can lately? Another example of inept government interference.

Z0HS1CK

Honestly tpms is dumb.

My current cup wheels didn't come with it when I bought it and I don't care. I just hate the warning that comes up on the cluster.

Back in the day, would you check tire pressures once a week or so. That way you can do a visual check of your car/tires that you might not even know about til it's time to clean your car etc.

For example my '15 camaro. It's my dd. I don't treat it as good as the vette but I still care for it since its brand new and I take care of my cars. Anyway it's been a month between washes and I was washing it, cleaning the wheels and I noticed a huge *** screw in the tire.

Had I not washed the car that day, I wouldn't have saw that screw. My cluster readout read perfect pressures on all tires.

What I'm saying is sometimes tech hurts the car world, the whole car owning experience.

Good thing about my wheels now on the vette is I now I definitely have to check tire pressures manually, thus at the same time inspecting the car overall in doing so. It's goes hand in hand.

87SAM

I for one think that the TPMS is a fantastic invention. Sure you can check the tire pressure once a week but what good does that do when you pick up a nail in the middle of the week? I would much rather be alerted of an issue real time. With that said, I do check the pressures regularly with an actual tire gauge just to keep tire wear at its maximum.

Rocketmanwpb

You need the TPMS with the run flats. If you did not have the warning you would continue driving on a tire with no air pressure until the tire was ruined. I have had three flats since 2004 and was able to save all the tires.

If you don't use run flats you don't need the system.

That being said I have been getting spurious readings from my left front sensor indicating a flat tire condition that goes away with a few minuets of driving. Certain I will need sensors in the near future as they are rated for 10 years of use before the battery dies, mine are 8 years old this month.

Don-Vette

Yeah,so what? Regular maintenance, glad it happened at home. Everything was easier in the "olden days".

Z0HS1CK

The tpms didn't help at all with me finding that nail in the tire. I found it while I was cleaning it.

So it could have been there the day after the previous wash. And I was running with a nail in the tire for a whole month and the tire didnt leak so that's why I didn't check.

If you had to periodically check your tires manually, you'd be observant enough to look at other parts of the car while you're there.

Tpms just adds to the laziness imo.

That's almost saying I'm a sexually active person but show no signs of any stds so i won't get actually tested.

Always good to just check yourself. Why wait for warnings?

87SAM

I see what you are saying about needing to be observant, but your overall logic regarding the usefulness of the TPMS mystifies me. Not all leaks take a week or more to materialize. I would much rather the TPMS give me a heads up before I pass the last service station for a hundred miles.

Z0HS1CK

A TPMS isn't instant second by second of what pressure the tire actually has. It takes a bit to register. If you do travel your car that much, hundreds of miles at a time, its actually better to use my logic lol.

When you're filling up with gas, you check the car for any fluid leaks, check and recheck your tire pressures, AND check for any nails or screws in your tires BEFORE you leave that service station to travel another couple hundred miles etc. Again why wait for a warning?

TPMS is just as useless as an oil life %. reading.

Again this is all IMO. Not saying people shouldn't want it. I have it in my camaro. And now i currently don't have it in the vette because of the wheels i bought but i'd only get it again on my next set of wheels so i dont have to see the "service tire monitor" everytime i start the car. Other than that i wouldn't get TPMS on my next set of wheels.

Turbo6TA

I wonder if a 'Tech 2' Scan Tool could remove the "Service Tire Monitor" message, so it cannot be seen anymore?

I would be happy to just replace the TPMS sensors with a set of regular rubber valve stems the next time I change my tires on my GS.

.

okie08vette

At least our TPMS tells us what wheel is effected and the pressure. My wife's Honda just lights a warning light and you have to figure out which wheel it is, a real PITA.

Z0HS1CK

It can.

Lots of the late model GM cars come with individual tire readings. My camaro has it, my friends bmw has it. Sister's mini van has it. Brother's rogue has it.

My moms 08 sentra doesn't have it. Just a warning indicator. Which tells you, go out and CHECK ALL YOUR TIRES lol

This is proper maintenance anyway.

cclive

I live near the longest stretch of interstate highway in the country without any services...103 miles. I always just flip through the TPMS info before starting in there. It's much easier than stopping the car and checking all four with a gauge.

z06cop

so true...lol. playing guess which tire right now with our Odyssey.

ruxvette

Go to
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...e-of-junk.html
and commiserate with commander2000

Larry Myers

I have two vehicles, one with tpms and the other without. Must say I like tpms even though have had several false warnings.

Standby for the next government mandate...rear view camera.

HOXXOH

Wait until you have a blowout and see how long it takes to register a flat tire. I don't think I traveled more than 200 feet from the time I hit the rock, until the dash lit up with flat tire and 0 pressure.
Standard sample time is every 30 seconds and transmit time is once each minute while moving. If a 1.2 psi change is suddenly made from the previous reading the IP light will go on.
I assume you don't understand the OLM either.

Don-Vette

I love the rocket science on this forum! !! Lol

If my tire looks low,I take my tire gage out of the glove box and check it. Wow!! that was difficult. LMFAO! !

Z0HS1CK

If you have a blowout, having a tpms doesn't do anything for you either!

It'll tell you something you already know. You don't need a tpms to give you a warning when you hear "thump thunp thump" going down the road lol.

BTW olm doesn't do anything for me either, that's for people with no understanding of car maintenance and bring the car in to the dealer for an oil change when it reaches 10-15% etc.

My car has 2500 miles since its last oil change and currently shows about 60% iirc. I'm doing my own oil change in 2 weeks anyway. I don't need any percentage to determine whether I do it or not.

It's meaningless to me some of those features cars come with. Imho.