TPMS question
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 21
Likes: 0
From: Lawrenceville, GA
TPMS question I work in production in a medium-seized body shop. Recently, we had an Impala come in with some aftermarket wheels that were damaged. We ordered the replacement wheels from a local vendor, and to my alignment shop's surprise, the wheels had 2 valve stem holes in them. I called up my vendor, and he said this was very common ("Industry standard") on new a/m wheels, and that the extra hole is for a TPMS sensor. These sensors break, he said, during the tire mounting process in a typical valve stem location, so an auxillary one was machined into the wheels. It was in an impractical filling location for an air chuck, so they cut a second hole. It makes perfect sense, but this particular Impala did not come with those sensors from the factory.
The question comes here. Both the vendor and his distributor said to run two valve stems per wheel. Although this seems like the correct thing to do (seeing as the TPMS sensors are basically valve stems themselves), is this a safe procedure? My insurance company rep, my alignment shop, and myself all wanted the vendor to release some documentation stating that this is the correct procedure, but he refused and defected to the manufacturer's warranty. I just wanted to know if this procedure is as common as he claims, and if this really is a new trend in the industry that I will have to remember in the future.
The question comes here. Both the vendor and his distributor said to run two valve stems per wheel. Although this seems like the correct thing to do (seeing as the TPMS sensors are basically valve stems themselves), is this a safe procedure? My insurance company rep, my alignment shop, and myself all wanted the vendor to release some documentation stating that this is the correct procedure, but he refused and defected to the manufacturer's warranty. I just wanted to know if this procedure is as common as he claims, and if this really is a new trend in the industry that I will have to remember in the future.
Staging Lane
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 66
Likes: 0
From: Scottsdale, AZ
See it all the time. I work for a Lincoln dealer and all custom wheels have 2 holes for vlave stems. Just use regular valve stems. Only thing to be sure of is if the 2nd hole is in the center for the wheel, that the valve stem sticking up will not hit the caliper/rotor. First time I saw it 2yrs ago, I was like WTF!, but now it is normal practice to use regular valve stems in the extra holes...but BE SURE they do not hit anything when the wheel rotates.
