Seriously...TPMS?

[timswi]

Got the TPMS re-learn tool today..Literally 2 minutes to reset the system. Beats the drain and re-fill method. Still not thrilled about having to buy a $70 tool for this, but it does equate to 2 dealer visits for them to do it. Wonder what the flat rate manual calls for?

 

[ruffdog]

Since I have had mine, I've reset many TPMS for friends, family and neighbors. Yes, it is much easier than the drain and fill method.

 

[Soundguy]

. I know of a young couple and she drives a newer SUV and every day her tire was half flat. She said her husband fills the tire every day and her mechanic husband will fix it. So, a few weeks later, the pregnant woman is STILL driving around with a flat tire. You CAN'T fix STUPID

i have a similar story. At work, this gal's car wouldn't start. just clicked. i popped her hood. battery cable loose and corroded so badly that the nut was permanently attached to the stud screw / couldn't tighten it.

I told her her boyfriend / husnamd / dad needed to get a new end. or at least cut the old nut off and put a new tension bolt in it.. In the mean time I took a penny and bent it and hammered it in as a tension wedge betweent he clamp and the post ( after cleaning both ). of course.. started right up like it should.

fast forward i saw her in the parking lot a few weeks later and asked her if she got it fixed. She said her BF looked at it.. thought it was a pretty good repair and left it.

UGH!

 

[hawkeye08]

I wonder if that $70 tool is an electromagnet? I was thinking about making one for myself (9volt battery, a switch, some wire and a big nail) and trying it. If it works, I could add a nice plastic package and Tx LED and low battery warning LED and sell mine for $50.

Someone with the tool might want to see if it is a magnet (does it stick to steel wheel when button pushed?)...

 

[timswi]

I wonder if that $70 tool is an electromagnet? I was thinking about making one for myself (9volt battery, a switch, some wire and a big nail) and trying it. If it works, I could add a nice plastic package and Tx LED and low battery warning LED and sell mine for $50.

Someone with the tool might want to see if it is a magnet (does it stick to steel wheel when button pushed?)...

Feels too light to have any size magnet. There is what appears to be an antenna on it..Didn't touch the wheel, just the tire sidewall. I read conflicting opinions on the electromagnetic method.

 

[GManBart]

If you want all the garbage the put on todays vehicles, that's fine. Your more than welcome to pay for them.
Personally I do not like antilock brakes.
I do not need TPMS.
I do not need traction control.
I sure don't want to be paying extra for any of it.

Even if you're the best driver in the world, you can't stop a car as well as an ABS system can...proven fact.

You can't tell when a tire is losing pressure when you're driving, nobody can.

Lack of traction control usually only causes idiots to wind up in ditches close to their departure point, not plowing into the back of someone because they can't stop, or losing control because they didn't realize they had a tire going down. Traction control only gets you going, it doesn't help you stop....and why it's an option system, not one mandated on new vehicles.

People who think they can drive better, safer, or even just as well, or just as safe, without ABS and TPMS are either ignorant or refuse to accept reality. It simply can't be done in the real world. They make for safer cars and safer driving which benefits the OTHER people on the road. See, it's not about you, or what you like, it's about making the road as safe as reasonably possible for the rest of us. If people only hurt themselves because they refuse to accept a better, safer mousetrap, that would be one thing, but that's not reality.

If you don't want to pay for any of that stuff, don't buy a new car....it's simple.

 

[GManBart]

Another "good idea, bad law"....

How is it a "bad" law? Who does it hurt? Oh wait....nobody! Adding a couple hundred dollars to the price of a $30K car isn't hurting anybody, even if some folks don't like the idea. It certainly has the ability to help many people...the folks who don't get into accidents because they didn't realize they had a tire going down, or the folks who aren't involved in an accident because somebody else didn't realize they had a tire going down.

As I've said before, pull enough dead bodies, or seriously injured people from car wrecks, and your point of view can change dramatically on stuff like this.

There are a number of reasons the number of fatal accidents have dropped significantly for the last 50 years or so....and it's not because the drivers have gotten better, in fact it's in spite of the fact that drivers have gotten worse (and now frequently distracted on top of being unskilled). Things like ABS, air bags, TPMS, crush zone engineering, etc, have all added up to far safer cars on the road now than at any time in history...it's not even in question.

 

[kenmac]

There are a lot of people who aren't car folks, who don't really know any better, but would pay attention to a warning light.

That's right. And the idiot lights have made it worse. What did people do B-4 TPMS. ? They checked their tires B-4 they left if they had a flat and had it changed. No big deal. Can't change a flat. pay for road side assistance. It will be cheaper than repairing TPMS when something goes wrong

 

[kenmac]

As I've said before, pull enough dead bodies, or seriously injured people from car wrecks, and your point of view can change dramatically on stuff like this.

O sure, got any data to show that TPMS saved xxxx amount of lives ??? Look I don't have a problem with people that want all the bells and whistles so they don't even have to drive their car. Just don't make me pay for it if I don't want it

 

[DK35vince]

Even if you're the best driver in the world, you can't stop a car as well as an ABS system can...proven fact.

I like to have the control over my brakes to get a better feel for how slippery the roads are in the winter, antilock brakes take much of that feel away IMO and I don't like them

You can't tell when a tire is losing pressure when you're driving, nobody can.

Never had TPMS in nearly 40 years of driving and never needed it, . Now (according to you) I suddenly can not get by without this feature.
I don't get it.