Tire pressure monitor system (after market)

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Jun 9, 2016 | 05:27 PM

smartobject

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Joined: Dec 2010

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From: Memphis, TN

Tire pressure monitor system (after market)

Our "other" car is a 2012 minivan and I have grown to like the real-time tire pressure readings and now I see that these systems are offered as retrofit kits for just about any wheels.
They also have small screens that one _may_ be able to integrate somewhere on the dash / console .

Has anyone here tried these TPMS gadgets? They are about $150 US at sites like Amazon and ebay.

I need new tires and this would be a good time to have the sensors installed, I may do this.

Jun 9, 2016 | 06:26 PM

al_roethlisberger

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From: Sanford, NC

Quote:

Originally Posted by smartobject

Yeah, this has been on my "not urgent, but would be nice to have" list for a while.

Unfortunately a lot of the aftermarket kits seem to be of dubious quality, and I'd stay away from any of the kits that have the sensor that screws onto the valve stem. Those kind require you to put all your trust in the "cap" holding in the tire pressure, they are relatively heavy and I worry about their stress on the stem, and they can be lost/stolen.

The two I've been considering are both made by Schrader, who makes a lot of the OEM sensors. Each model is essentially the same, simply that one has the head unit/display battery operated, the other hard wired:

Battery powered display: Schrader SCH-BRK-4PC TPMS Retrofit Kit For Passenger Car and Light Truck (Wireless-Battery Operated Display)

https://www.amazon.com/Schrader-SCH-...s+kit+schrader

Hard wired display: Schrader SCH-WRK-4PC TPMS Retrofit Kit for Passenger Car and Light Truck (Hard Wired Display)

https://www.amazon.com/Schrader-SCH-...XCSWDHFSGP9XAT

In the reviews, I think the battery powered unit is said to not have a back light, but I don't think that is correct as that would make it somewhat unusable, an both have a "light bulb" icon on the display.

The TPMS sensors can be installed by any tire shop, and I think I was quoted $25 per wheel to install.

I'm not sure where I'd mount the display in the X300, and have toyed with a few locations, but none seem ideal. And again, while convenient, I've lived with cars for decades without TPMS so it isn't critical. So I just haven't put a lot of effort into it.

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