Do the spare tires on our Tracs have sensors?

[Henry Suarez]

I had a Pirelli blow out on me yesterday.

 

[Richard L]

Look at the tire valves. TPS monitors have different style valve stems that have a ridgid valve stem with a hex-nut at the base of the stem, while non-TPS will simply have a flexible rubber valve-stem.



...Rich

 

[Gavin Allan]

My '10 Sport Trac has TPS, but has regular rubber valve stems. My understanding is the Ford TPS sensors are attached inside the wheel with a steel band. My Honda Pilot does have the rigid valve stem with the hex nut for its TPS.



Don't know about the spare wheel having TPS sensor. I doubt it- Ford couldnt even use the correct size wheel for a spare.

 

[Richard L]

Gavin,

I always thought that the strap on TPS units were aftermarket units? All the ones I have seen and the kind I have on my Mercedes and Hyundai are the type mounted with a rigid valve-stem and secured with nut at the base of the valve-stem. They typically have an O-ring to seal them to the rim.



If CopSta put on his (full size) spare tire on and did not get a low-tire indicator, that would indicate that he has a TPS unit in his spare. If he gets a low-tire warning, then he probably does not.



...Rich

 

[Henry Suarez]

Yeah, I checked the air on all tires and they are all fine including the spare, the dash light however has stayed on.

 

[Richard L]

CopSta,

Sounds like your spare does not have a TPS sensor....Probably a cost saving measure by Ford. The spares don't come will alloy wheels either...just a cheap black steel wheel.



...Rich

 

[scott degroot]

Ford does not put sensors in their spare tires. Ford has also used the valve stem sensor and also the strap on sensor. Not all valve stem sensors are of the solid design, there are lots of vehicles that have regular looking valve stems yet have a sensor attached to them inside.



Toyota used to put sensors inside of their spare tires, however that resulted in a ton of vehicles returning to the dealership because the tpms light was always on even though the tires were aired up properly....all except the spare tire. What's the real kicker though is that on trucks and suvs where the spare is mounted underneath the tires are put in with the face of the wheel facing up so that in order to check the air in the tire you had to remove the spare. I always flip them over so the air can easily be checked. Needless to say Toyota no longer puts sensors in their spare tires.

 

[DaninVa]

Important!!!! the sensors on the ST are on the opposite side of the valve stem! be very careful when breaking the bead on a tire machine.

 

[Richard L]

l1tech is correct about the spare being mounted with the valve stem up.



Within two weeks of buying my 2001 Job-1 I had the old exploding Firestone ATX tires replace. The tire dealer noticed that the spare was mounted with the valve up, and suggested that the spare be flipped so it would be much easier to check the air pressure. GREAT TIP!



...Rich

 

[Kevin Lang]

I'm all too familiar with the Toyota spare tire sensor. They spent the money to put a sensor on that but wouldn't spend the money to have some sort of indicator to tell you which tire was low. :banghead: