Havent been on ClubLexus in a minute. Life's put a hold on this, but Im back..

I was looking to take advantage of Costco's Michelin deal for PS4S's but only 2 things stopping me: 1) Front tire sizing, and 2) TPMS

I've browsed through the forums and read that our cars can only hold 1 set of TPMS codes. Ive been looking into TPMS sensors that you can clone, but no idea the reliability in such models. Am I better off just getting OEM sensors and dealing with the TPMS light when the other set of wheels is on? Its gonna drive me bonkers over time. And I really dont want to have to pay the dealership each time I switch my wheels just to switch out the codes..

Anyone have a simple solution?

As for the front tire sizing, been back and froth on 235/40r18 and 245/35r18... or even 245/40r18. Currently leaning towards the 235's... Rears will be 265/35r18 for sure.

 

You're going to spend a boat load of money on front tires that will eat themselves up. I mean up to you. Why not go back to Firehawks? Did they discontinue them? (I saw your sig)

I'm a huge fan of PSS/PS4s but they don't last quite as long on other cars (BMW/Porsche) where you can get a good 20-25k out of them. I used to average around 20-22k on my BMWs on PSSs. They'd wear pretty far and on the inside by 20k, but you could still get a bit more life vs. 2IS/3IS where 15k (for me) was pushing it.

I know on on the 3G prius, there's a simple wire pair you jump with a paper clip under the dash which disables the TPMS from going off. Maybe 3Is has something like it.

 

Have a few friends in the S2000 racing crowd that werent big fans of the firehawks and suggested I try something different. Nankang NS2Rs came up as an option. Those would be okay as a dedicated summer/autocross set. Only looking at the Michelins right now cause of Costco's promotion.

I think I saw another thread about disabling the 3IS' TPMS light, but gonna have to search for it again. I know its out there.

 

The 235/40/18 will be the closest in match to the high of the 265/35/18...so best to go with that.

Depends how easy of a solution you want for the second set of wheels will determine what you choose to do.

Option #1 - Get 4 aftermarket TPMS sensors cloned to your current set and you can swap sets each season without doing anything...chances are the pressure readouts on the dash will not be present with the aftermarket sensors
Option #2 - Get your own TPMS programming tool like an Autel and program a set of aftermarket sensors yourself...that way you can swap sets without having to pay the dealer to do it...I would say after 2-3 swaps you will recover the cost of the tool vs dealer fees
Option #3 - Get your own TPMS programming tool like an Autel and program a set of OEM sensors yourself...that way you can swap sets without having to pay the dealer to do it, and you will have the pressure readouts on the dash regardless which set is on the vehicle

Not sure if there is a way to disable the TPMS light...but I guess the question is to what end. Yes the light might be off, and now what...the TPMS system isn't doing anything for you at that point.
Every winter I drive around with my light on...it's to the point I don't even see it anymore...but that's me.

 

@Sasnuke , really appreciate the concise reply. Exactly what I was hoping for. Thank you. Will consider those options....

 

If the OP is thinking of changing the size of the front tires, COSTCO is not the place to go. Other members have posted that COSTCO will not let a customer deviate from the stock size. They even insist that the speed rating be the same as stock, not higher or lower. Discount Tire is far more customer friendly when changing sizes. They will, however, tell you if the tires you select have a lower load carrying capacity than stock. I am a COSTCO member, but don't buy anything automotive from them. I've been a Discount Tire customer for more than 20 years.

Edit - Discount Tire is America's Tire in California.

Lou

 

This is true. At Costco they gave me a hard time about my tires, claiming they were not the right speed rating for the car... Of course I told them to go look at the sidewall of the OE tires on the car and they would see it's the same. But yeah they are trained to be difficult if you install anything other than OE speed rating/size.

 

Everyone that knows me will tell you how OCD I am, and yet, on my little Spark, I have my TPMS light on all the time and don't even see it anymore either....Maybe my "cheapness" over compensates my "OCD" - LMAO

 

With at least the 2018 AWD the TPMS only goes off after a long drive, for me its past the 40min mark and it will remember it after restarting for a day or so then it stops turning on the light until you go on another long drive. I will be looking for a cloning solution next winter.

 

I picked up OEM PMV-C010 TPMS off ebay for 69 dollars a set for my wheels and went to pepboys to program them to my car for $15 dollars. no issues here.

 

The batteries on TPMS typically last five to eight years, so not sure what Year your car is if it's Pretty new you can take the old sensors out of the old rims and use them without any issues. If not Purchase them new TPMS and have them programmed you're talkin about a hundred bucks. And it's worth it to have. With the pressures on our Dash it's a little more complicated but definitely doable.

 

I have a separate set of aftermarket TPMS sensors purchased from tpms.com for my winter wheel/tire set. Yes, programming needs to be done each time you switch sets. But, my local discount tire programs TPMS for free, no need to have purchased the tires from them. I would call your local discount tire and ask them. Otherwise, I was quoted 20$ to program the sensors from a different tire shop.

 

As Sasnuke mentioned - Clonable sensors would be the quick solution to this. Same cost as the others we carry however the shop would simply scan your other sensors and Clone the sensor ID codes to the new sensors. Now the vehicle will only need 1 set of ID codes stored due to all 8 tires having the same set of codes.

@flowrider Thank you for your years of business!

@Beek Thank you for the shout out!

 

I used Autel MX TMPS and Autel MaxiTPMS TS401 for my winter set of tires. Cloned existing Lexus sensor IDs and did not need to reprogram the ECU.