aftermarket TPMS
 

I am putting some snow tires that are runflat on my other car and was wondering if anyone has experience with aftermarket TPMS.

First of all, I see in your profile info that you have a 2010, so you'll need tire pressure sensors that are either OE GM part# 15268606 or aftermarket ones compatible with that OE sensor. The 2005-2009 C6 used a different sensor.

Our OE sensors are made by Schrader. I don't have any personal experience with aftermarket sensors, but there have been a few reports on the forum that the Oro-Tek aftermarket sensors work just like the OE ones.

HOWEVER, the OE sensor used in the 2010 and newer C6 is a bit cheaper than those used on the 2005-2009, and I think you can get them for as cheap or cheaper than any aftermarket ones.

Go to that popular auction site and do a search for "15268606" and you'll see a bunch of them pop up - they may say for a Cadillac, Impala, Monte Carlo, etc., and not mention Corvette, but that part# is the one that is used on the 2010+ Vette as well as many other GM vehicles. Here's a picture of the OE sensor you need:

http://i.ebayimg.com/14/!CBYZ3(QBWk~...EtwCg~~_12.JPG


Many are OE sensors (you'll see the green peanut shaped sensor in the pictures), and a few are aftermarket (possibly Dorman or Oro-Tek). You also may see a peanut shaped one that is red in color and made by Schrader - it's sorta aftermarket, but not really, considering that it's made by Schrader but just distributed outside of the GM parts system, so it's exactly the same as one you'd get from an OE parts source, just red instead of green.

You can see on there that there are a bunch of used ones, and there are also many brand new ones. The used ones will usually (but not always) come with retaining nuts. The new ones will come with a grommet, valve stem core, a valve stem cap, but NOT a retaining nut. Your tire shop will have them availble for a couple bucks each. Most of the used ones need a new grommet when installed in your wheels, and your tire shop will have them as well - they usually charge 6 or 7 bucks for each wheel for a "rebuild kit" that has a new grommet, valve stem core, retaining nut, and cap.

So.....I would recommend that you either get a set of new ones from a forum vendor for around $200, or get OE ones off the auction site. I see a number of new ones for around $25 each. That's what I did last Nov - I got a new set of wheels and tires, and I bought four sensors for $100 and they work great.

BTW, I guess you know you'll need to program the new sensors into the TPMS computer in the car. The TPMS memory only holds 4 sensor ID#'s, so every time you swap wheels/tires/sensors you'll need to do a relearn procedure to program the 4 current sensors mounted on the car into the TPMS.

The 2005-2009 sensors required a tool to transmit a triggering signal to program the sensors. The good news for you is that you can trigger the 15268606 sensor by changing air pressure in the tire during the relearn procedure, so all you'll need is an air source to get your tires to the correct pressure after the procedure.

Good luck!!

Bob :flag:

I've been using the 05-09 oro-tek sensors for about a year. So far I haven't had any trouble with them.

Uh-Oh!!! I just read your post again and noticed the OTHER CAR reference.

Disregard all I wrote in my other post!!!

Bob :flag:

:D Still a great post full of info

:iagree: :thumbs:

None the less, thanks for posting all that. I just learned a lot :thumbs: