I just picked up a set of 265/75/r16 winter tires for the Wife's 2008 SLT. I'm mounting them myself and bought a set of sensors from a 2008 1500 that I will be installing.

Will the truck automatically read the sensors after a while or do they need to be programmed? Can I program them myself or do I need a tool?

I know on the GMs you could do it your self by raising and lowering the tire pressures one at a time.

 

I think there is a tool that you need to program them yourself.
Thank god both my vehicles don't have TPMS! What a PITA.

 

 

My dak didn't come with the dreaded monitors... thank the lord. My caliber has them, and one was leaking... spent a day at the dealer waiting for the tool to program the darn car.

 

i.HATE.tpms.

 

I don't have tpms in my Dak luckily, but my Kia has them. Honestly, I don't have any problem with them. I swap to my winter setup, the summer wheels come off and the tmps goes with it. The TPMS light comes on for 4 months and then after a day or two in the summer setup, the light goes away and it all works again.

 

Good news! The TPMS system picked up the new tires right off the bat. Light didn't even flicker.

It occurred to me that since the system doesn't give an individual reading of each tire it doesn't care which tire is where. All that it cares about is that it receives 4 signals indicating that all the pressures are good. Thus no programming needed.

The 265/75r16s even fit well with only minor trimming needed.

 

The TPMS is nothing special, it's just an off-shoot from the ABS system. When 1 wheel moves slightly faster than the other over a period of time, the system considers that the faster wheel is smaller due to lack of air. If you have the same size wheels (tire with rim) on both sides and the tires have the same pressure, there's nothing for the system to "learn", even if that system was a "learning system".

 

How do you know if it is really functional? Have you tried airing down a tire to test it?

 

So the Dakotas use an indirect system?

I think that's why my Kia TPMS works so well, it's a "Direct" system with a wireless sending attached to the inside of each wheel. It actually measures the real-time pressure. No headaches yet, unless the batteries (or capacitors) go bad.

The newer "indirect" systems are supposed to be better though, they monitor body-roll and vibrations as well, but if the system is reset when a tire is low then it has the wrong reference info.