The sidewall of tyres can all too often snag TPMS sensors when tyres are removed from a vehicle. In this post, we’ll show you how a few tips can help you prevent damage to your TPMS sensors by protecting them, so you don’t receive extras costs.

The equipment that is usually used to take tyres on and off wheels aren’t designed with TPMS sensors as a consideration, risking damage to them consequently.

Indirect TPMS

Indirect TPMS tends to use wheel speed sensors that are used by anti-lock braking systems and makes calculations to calculate tyre pressure. This means that while it can be less accurate than direct TPMS, using indirect TPMS will minimise damage as there are no direct TPMS sensors to damage when fitting or removing a tyre from a wheel.

For more on the differences between indirect and direct TPMS, please see our brief guide, “What is TPMS and How TPMS Works – A Brief Guide”.

Direct TPMS

In general circumstances, banded sensors won’t collect damage when mounting or dismounting tyres, but the valve stem potentially could.

We recommend the following process to help prevent damage to the valve stem:

Removing a Tyre with A Valve-Mounted TPMS

  1. This is the easiest way to avoid damaging the sensor when removing a tyre. Using an aluminium clamp-in stem, simply remove the nut from the stem, permitting the sensor to fall, contained within the tyre.
  2. When servicing a rubber snap-in stem, have the valve positioned at a 90-degree angle (the 12:00 or 6:00 position) while breaking the bead on both front and rear tyres. This ensures the sensor won’t get crushed on the opposing side of the valve by the machine.
  3. For an extra tip when using a rubber snap-in stem, ensure the valve is under the dismount head before starting the turntable when trying to remove a tyre from the rim. Doing this will stop the tyre hitting the valve when it snaps, protecting the TPMS sensor.

Mounting a Tyre with a Valve-Mounted TPMS

  1. When attaching the tyre to the rim on a turntable, place the valve just before where the tyre meets the rim, known as the traction point. The tyre will then flip over the lip of the rim directly over valve at the end, ensuring the TPMS sensor doesn’t get damaged. This works for both rubber snap-in valve or an aluminium clamp-in.
  2. Every time, remember to lubricate rubber snap-in valves before pulling them through the valve hole. This ensures proper placement of the valve and provided more protection at the pull-through stage.

TPMS Services

For all TPMS services, we recommend these three key tips:

  1. Change the service kit, whether you see visible damage or not, every time. This ensures customers won’t be back with slow air leaks.
  2. A garage cannot disable TPMS in vehicles it services. Therefore, it needs to make sure to perform “Test Before Touch”. In other words, test your customer’s car to verify whether it has working TPMS when it enters your care. This is a standard best practice that helps to minimise or even eliminate liability problems later.
  3. Note that “relearn a vehicle” and “programming sensors” are two different steps. Depending on the vehicle manufacturer, model, and year (MMY), you will always need to perform a relearn, whether it’s automatic or manual.

Conclusion

Keep in mind some sensors vary in shape and size, so some sensors, particularly the larger ones will be more susceptible to damage. This is because they can get in way during a tyre service. Consider adding the above best practices to your TPMS standard procedures to help keep your customers happy.