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[W Cole]

I've been reading through the classified sections of the forums and I have seen a couple of rim/tire combos with what appear to be TPMS sensors mounted and the seller says they are selling without TPMS as they plan to keep them for their next pair of wheels, etc.

Wouldn't you have to completely dismount the tire on a 19" rim in order to swap out the TPMS sensor or am I missing something? What about on an 18" wheel? Can you remove by just popping the bead?

[tibra1]

Yes you have to dismount the tires to get to the TPMS

[M3PO]

It's possible to get them out without dismounting the tires if the tires have tall sidewalls. Low profile tires have to be dismounted.

[schnell325]

I'd honestly take the tire off, remove the TPMS, and reinstall and re-balance and have a "fresh" seal.

[tibra1]

Originally Posted by M3PO

It's possible to get them out without dismounting the tires if the tires have tall sidewalls. Low profile tires have to be dismounted.

Please explain how..I am genuinely curious

[M3PO]

Originally Posted by tibra1

Please explain how..I am genuinely curious

On regular passenger tires with tall sidewalls you can unseat one bead and push the tire down toward the other bead which will give you enough room to remove the sensor from the wheel. On our cars, the tire sidewall is too short and stiff for this to work so you need to remove the tire completely.

[tibra1]

Originally Posted by M3PO

On regular passenger tires with tall sidewalls you can unseat one bead and push the tire down toward the other bead which will give you enough room to remove the sensor from the wheel. On our cars, the tire sidewall is too short and stiff for this to work so you need to remove the tire completely.

That sounds nightmarish..I would be surprised if any shop I know would approach it that way..but as you said it doesnt apply here

[M3PO]

Originally Posted by tibra1

That sounds nightmarish..I would be surprised if any shop I know would approach it that way..but as you said it doesnt apply here

It's not as bad as it sounds actually. Apparently that's the method of choice actually. The tire shop that I use told me that that's how they do it. I was there getting my TPMS switched out (bought some wheels with the wrong sensors) and I asked if they had to dismount them. They told me yes for low profile and gave me the explanation above for taller tires. I had another shop tell me the same thing when I asked.

[raiste]

Originally Posted by M3PO

On regular passenger tires with tall sidewalls you can unseat one bead and push the tire down toward the other bead which will give you enough room to remove the sensor from the wheel. On our cars, the tire sidewall is too short and stiff for this to work so you need to remove the tire completely.

I bought a set of factory 359s with factory tires that didn't have the TPMS installed (original owner kept them for his new set). I took them to my local tire shop, and we installed new TPMSs without dismounting the tire. Just unseated the top bead as noted above. Easy-peasy.