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TPMS and AWD

10K views 16 replies 8 participants last post by  JuneBug 
#1 ·
Hello all,
New to the forum. I have been reading a lot here since my wife bought her 2014 Rav last year. Tons of great info and how to's on this forum. Also seems to have a great bunch of members. I have recently also fallen into the Rav community 2 weeks ago with a 2015 XLE awd. I have searched Rav4 world and the like of the internet and cannot for the life of me find a definite answer to my question of TPMS. If I install a new set of wheels with winter tires and skip adding the sensors will that have any ill effects on the AWD system ? I live in the Chicago area and usually am on the road way before the plows clear the streets. This would be my first small SUV. I have always had large Dodge 4x4 trucks so I had no problems in the past. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
 
#2 ·
I don't know if my logic and thinking are correct. But from what I understand, the TPMS only monitors the tire pressure and has no effect on the AWD, VSC, & TC. That would be my only concern is that all the systems are operational except the TPMS. The dash light would not bother me in the slightest.
 
#3 ·
Welcome aboard.

No, TPMS will not affect the VSC or the AWD on the RAV4. Lots of people refrain from adding sensors to their winter tire/wheel setup due to cost.

I've never heard/read of any ill effects to those systems from anyone running without sensors on their wheels on any of the forums that I'm on.
 
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#7 ·
Good to know. The 8th generation Honda Accord (past model and we have one) had this issue wherein the driver cannot disable the electronic stability control when there are no TPMS sensors. This will not matter for three seasons of the year but during winter time, disabling the electronic stability control may be required to rock the car back and forth when stuck in snow.
 
#4 ·
Well that is very much appreciated Mikey. It puts my mind at rest. I think that's all I needed was the little push you just gave me. I know I was over thinking this I guess. Ha-ha. Also thanks for the welcome to the forum. So much great info here and seems like a really great bunch of members willing to help and advise. Once again sir, Thank You.
 
#5 ·
You can buy clone-able sensors for about 50 bucks per tire. TPMS has saved me some serious headaches and possibly my skin more than once in the past 10 years...and I actually check my tire pressure weekly or more.
 
#6 ·
Thanks for the advice MPH. This is my first vehicle with TPMS. I never had it before, but I was very religious about checking my tire pressure on both vehicles. My wife's also. I came from a world of Big Boy 4x4 trucks which was nice since I usually go to work before the roads are plowed. That's why I wanted to get a set of snow tires for the Rav, which I never had for the larger truck. We never know what combination of snow/ ice we are going to get during our lovely Chicago winters. Just wanted to be prepared. Your info was very helpful and its something I will definitely look into.
 
#8 ·
Going to be lining up at Costco Sunday Morning to have winter tire package installed.

The Costco Tire Service Center rep I spoke to a few evenings ago asked me to find out if not having TPMS sensors on the winter set will disable stability control on the RAV4 so I decided to check this thread out once more and it seems all systems are GO.

Unless anyone has had a difference experience?

We definitely need stability control and hopefully are able to disable it in case the vehicle gets stuck in snow and needs to be rocked back and forth.
 
#9 ·
Unless I'm reading this thread wrong, it seems the others in this thread feel it's more appropriate to have TPMS sensors in the summer (all-season) wheels and go without TPMS in the winter wheels.

Is it just me, or shouldn't it be the case that if you're only going to have TPMS sensors in one set of wheels, wouldn't you want them in the WINTER set?

That way if a tire is low, you'll know to fill it or get it fixed *before* it's a real problem, when the surprise flat tire you'll get will need to be dealt with when it's cold/snowy/more-dangerous on the side of the road, or wherever.

Plus, one would think tires would be more likely to be low on pressure when it's cold out.

Currently I have my winter tires on the rims that came with the RAV (and have the TPMS sensors). I picked up another set of OEM wheels for the new summer tires I'll be getting, and now that I have the second set of wheels will need to make a decision about dealing with TPMS in a little while. I had been thinking about going without TPMS in the summer, using my reasoning above, but now I'm wondering if I need to reverse my thinking based on this thread.

Seriously, what do others here know that I don't? What am I missing?

Thanks very much for helping fill in the blanks.

.
 
#15 ·
Seriously, what do others here know that I don't? What am I missing?
What did we all do 15 years ago when no one had a TPMS? The conscientious drivers checked their tire pressures monthly or more often and dealt low pressure as needed. I still do that and have never had the TPMS light come on in except when I rotated my own tires.

Todays tires are so good, I don't think not having TPMS on a set of seasonal wheels is any big deal as long as you have a good tire gage and don't mind spending 2 minutes a month checking the pressure.

My opinion is worth what you paid for it!:wink
 
#10 ·
Can the RAV4 actually handle two sets of TPMS?

Winter is shorter, though it is at least 4 months up here in Canada. Also, the all season the come with car have the TPMS sensor already so there is no additional outlay for it where as for the winter set, the sensors have to be bought and installed, which likely means dismounting and re-mounting of the winter tires to the rims.

If the RAV4 can handle two sets, then I will go for the TPMS before next winter.

Your thoughts makes perfect sense but it's already winter here in Canada and I have not had time to buy the sensors and figure out who can install them for me at a reasonable price (or if I'm stuck with a Toyota dealership for that).

Not so much of an issue for me because I tend to check our tire pressure manually once every few weeks.


On our Honda Accord, I will have to place TPMS sensors in the winter set once the tires wear out because I cannot disable stability control without the TPMS sensors present and we all know sometimes when stuck, we need to rock the car back and forth. Only one set of TPMS can be used for the Accord and if two sets are required, it may require constant and costly reprogramming, which is going to be too inconvenient for me unless I learn the trade

So for that car, winter tires is where the TPMS should be installed but I didn't know about that before and I didn't want to spend a few hundred dollars to put those in.

The Accord is going to be used much infrequent now except for pure highway driving because the RAV4 is more fuel efficient in city driving though my wife drives 80% highway / 20% city for work but it does get congested during her commute. On weekends, it's going to be a toss up between the two vehicles but our Accord is two-door and we have a soon to be two-year old so it's a pain to get her in and out of the car. :)
 
#11 ·
So the decision is made primarily based on convenience related to when you bought the wheels and winter tires? Wow.

Maybe it would be worth considering having the tire shop take the all-seasons off the wheels that came with the RAV and remount them on the new rims, then mount the new winter tires on the original TPMS rims?

True, it's a bit more work up front, but I believe it would make more sense in the long term.

My independent tire shop's primary focus is tires, and they say that they can put new programmable sensors in the new rims and then clone the IDs from the TPMS sensors currently in the wheels on the RAV. So the RAV wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the winter wheels and the summer wheels. That way you're never without TPMS, and don't need to reprogram the vehicle every fall and spring.

I'd have to find out the costs for that, but it's definitely an idea I'm seriously considering.

Thanks.

.
 
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#12 ·
Do share your experience with the cloning as that sounds interesting. I will have to read up if there are re-programming costs here and elsewhere when switching between tire sets.

I'm not trying to penny pinch on a $30k vehicle but I did mention I will be checking the tire pressure manually from time to time. I do it for the our Accord and Civic and can easily do in on our upcoming RAV4. So to me, not having the TPMS in the winter set is slightly but not overly inconvenient and wouldn't be much of a safety issue.

It's evident that waiting for someone like you (who will be willing to share information) to find a solution maybe the most prudent approach for people willing to check tire pressure manually in the winter.

Don't get me wrong, I would share information with people on this forum too if I knew what to do but I'm pre-occupied with a solar roofing project, looking after our little one, filing tax returns and such. TPMS on the winter set is definitely the least of my worries right now but would be a good idea to accomplish a few months before the next winter. I am willing to pay all those mounting/dismounting costs but not when I'm not armed with enough knowledge, just yet since I'd like to have all the information in front of me before going through the motions.
 
#13 ·
I will definitely share whatever I learn. I'm leaning towards trying the cloning. I also definitely hear you on the "Life Happens" front.

Checking tire pressure periodically is great, obviously. However, it's worth mentioning that earlier this week I went out to the garage to leave for work only to notice the TPMS light was on before backing out. It turns out one of the front tires (on the dark side of the garage) was flat. Not just low, but actually flat. I had not noticed that before getting into the RAV.

So I changed the tire and put on the spare tire in subzero (Fahrenheit!) weather, but at least in the convenience of my own garage.

Took it to my tire shop, who found a small finishing nail in the tire.

The point is: flats can happen at any time, and fairly fast. If you don't visually notice them (snow around the tires, dark, whatever) without TPMS you may damage the tire - and possibly the wheel - driving on it, or driving on one that has very low pressure, e.g. leak in progress. Cha-ching! And if you have AWD, you may need to replace all 4 tires, depending on the amount of tread left on the other 3. Quadruple-cha-ching!

I'd rather have to deal with that "Life Happening" in the light and heat of summer than in dark and subzero temperatures of winter, so that's the route I'll be going if cloning doesn't happen for any reason.

.
 
#16 ·
So I'm not sure if the TPMS is any different on the '16's but I had winter tires/rims installed about a month ago and didn't add the TPMS sensors. I didn't have anything pressure warning come up on the dash even without installing the sensors. The tire store said it could be because the pressure sensors are not in the rim. I'm completely ignorant to how these work, so I have no idea if this is correct or not.
 
#17 ·
No, it's because Canada doesn't require TPMS sensors. The USA does.
 
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