TPMS relearn procedure

I'm looking at buying a new set of wheels and tires from Tire Rack and I'm planning on getting the TPMS sensors from them as well so everything is ready to bolt onto the truck.

The guy I spoke to said that they are most likely the same brand as the OEMs (Pacific) and that they would note the numbers of the new sensors on my paperwork so I'd have them available (he even told me what to write on the order to make sure they do note the numbers).

What he couldn't give me a straight answer about is whether or not the only thing that needs to be done to get everything working is to program the numbers into the truck via something like Techstream. He said that "the sensors need to be initialized by the dealer or tire shop", but when I asked what that entails and if its the same thing as programming the numbers into the truck, he couldn't tell me.

Does anyone here know whether its as simple as programming the numbers into the truck via Techstream, or is there some magic that has to be done with a TPMS tool to "initialize the sensors"?

Thanks

 

Some sensors do need to initialized or woken up as they are shipped in a sleep mode to conserve battery power. I do not know if the OEM sensors require this or not. If they do, it can be done with a hand held trigger tool that any tire shop should have. The trigger tool will display the ID number as well as the temp., tire pressure and battery condition.

I can confirm that Tire Rack's sensors are identical to the ones from a dealer. I'm kind of surprised that they don't trigger them after mounting to insure that they are working correctly before shipping them out (and not damaged in the mounting process).

 

Thanks Rich. Along with installing the tires, I'm going to install some eibach coilover struts as well, so maybe I can get the alignment shop to wake them up for me.