Reading TPMS pressures

Is there a way to read the exact pressures with the factory TPMS sensors? (This is for an 09)

 

https://www.oreillyauto.com/shop/tire---wheel-16779/tire-pressure-gauge-17472

 

lol, wiseass

 

No and Yes.

No, because Toyota has the old school version TPMS installed in our Tacoma's but the only indication is of course the symbol as shown below (which we all know).




But Yes, one can add to this without spending a lot of $ for a fancy TPMS monitoring system such as the one below.


Tire Pressure Monitoring System

This is a great gadget that lets you keep an eye on all 4 tires.
A tire pressure monitoring system consists of four sensors, each of which gets attached to your tires.
After this, you plug a special display into your cigarette lighter. This display will allow you to keep track of the pressure in all 4 of your tires. It makes it easy to track exactly which tire(s) need air, avoid flats or gradual leaks, etc.


I know it sucks that Toyota could not have at least added a feature like this as a "standard" feature such as Chevy has done with the Canyon.

 

@Tex-Tac, you wouldn't happen to have a link for that TPMS pictured above would you? This would be nice to run on my trailer.

 

I've seen those and I'm not a fan since they have to defeat or bypass the tire valve, you essentially introduce a point of failure.

 

^This^

 

I'm not sure how that is any different than a valve core failing other than now you can see when the pressure is dropping. From the looks of it the valve core remains in the valve stem and is opened when the cap is tightened so if the cap loosens you still have a core in place that'll close...could be wrong though.

 

No I sure don't.
I just happen to find that particular picture off the internet after I Googled TPMS monitor then clicked on images and just chose that one.
Thing is the site does not indicate the brand name or where to buy, etc. It was just an article showing 10 items to add to your vehicle and that was one of them.

 

Friendly debate here and all.

I can think of 2 ways it's different. #1 You've introduced an ADDITIONAL point of failure. You have MORE things to go wrong. #2 How many cars on the road vs how often do valve cores fail. The odds are extremely, extremely low. Now how many cars have this and how many fail? --Odds are nearly as good are they?

 

I'm not knocking the specific product, but rather how they function. They HAVE to see air pressure in order to report it. Since there is no pressure outside the valve, the valve must be defeated or bypassed if external.

 

Looks like the pin in the cap compresses the valve core, causing it to open. I assume if the cap backs off the valve core will close.


Also, I worked at a tire shop in college and saw a few instances of valve cores failing.

 

Here ya go, try this one?.....

https://www.amazon.com/Fullele-Wire...895&sr=8-2&keywords=rv+tire+pressure+monitors

.....and another version:

B-Qtech 3.2" RV Tire Pressure Monitoring System with 6 Flow Thru Sensors(0-199PSI) & Repeater, Solar TPMS 7 Alert Modes Real Time Full Display Pressure Temp for Trailer Motorhome,Pickup,Truck

https://www.amazon.com/B-Qtech-Pres...1KFPX4PW/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_sims?ie=UTF8

 

I bet if that cap starts to back out, it will still depress the valve core and dump all the air out before it falls off completely allowing the valve to fully close. Also that (aftermarket) mechanism may also leak on it's own. Lastly, let's not ignore some folks have damaged factory valves on factory wheels on trails; these caps are larger and would increase the chances of that happening.

 

FYI if you have a techstream cable and a laptop with techstream on it you can read pressures to i think 2 decimal places on each tire (if not 2 decimal places, at least 1)

 

I'm looking for an option for a travel trailer...no concern of tearing a valve stem off.

If it backs off and you do lose air, the monitoring system is there to catch it so you can correct before you have a complete failure (it'll take several minutes to lose all the air in your tire if you have the valve core in place still). Looking at the product description that model is tightened on with a wrench so it backing off should be a non issue anyways.

 

The same thing crossed my mind, especially since I need to program another key. Unfortunately not the most practical.

 

I was thinking about this for a trailer also... From what I've read, the range is very short, and can't pick up the signal on a trailer. I would expect they will come up with something that works for trailers soon.

 

As we all know that the 2nd Gen. Tacoma's have the basic generic TPMS that comes standard but I wanted something with a bit more detailed information.

Went ahead and purchased one of those TPMS external systems, as previously mentioned in this thread, for my 2008 Tacoma.

I decided that I did not want to spend a lot of $ on a fancy system so I went ahead and purchased this kit from Ebay. Price $56.99 with free shipping.

Just installed it this afternoon and well over a period of time we'll see how it all works out.

I have to say that the display also will indicate tire temperature in C (Celsius) and the tire pressure display can be set to show either PSI or Bar (already come's from the factory set to show PSI).

Here are a few pictures of the kit and final display installed.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that the unit also has a USB port so that if you want to charge your mobile device (iphone, etc.) using a USB link you can! It's hidden right underneath the display.

 

That's pretty cool but those sensors on the tires stick out a little far for my comfort. I can see using those on a trailer though. Keep us updated on how these work.