Safer solution for storing TPMS sensors in trunk
 

A safer solution comes from being soundly and rightly scorched :w00t: for using a potentially unsafe method of storing TPMS sensors inside the trunk under pressure. It is about a $13 solution consisting of a $6.99 small wheel and tire from Harbor Freight plus a $3.99 tube of Black RTV Silicone and a $2 valve stem. Convert the tube type rim to tubeless using a liberal amount of RTV between the wheel halves, add a valve stem and locate the TPMS sensors inside the tire. Add RTV to the bead as well.

Update: This didn't work so well. It leaked too much air too quickly. Would go from 35# to 25# in an hour or two. Too much hassle to worry with at the track. No longer an issue with current setup: Drag pack with no sensors at all. If I decide to leave the front stock wheel/s tires on with rear slicks (as in driving car to the track), then the issue could come up again. AND AGAIN, not every Gen 6 reacts the same to this condition.

https://www.camaro6.com/forums/attac...1&d=1614199292
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All that effort.. why not put them in the wheels ?


I like being able to see tire pressure without getting out of the car... game changer.

This is for using drag radials running under 20# of air pressure at the drag strip. If sensors are in the wheels, on this car, the computer thinks tires are going down and puts the car in limp/safe mode. This is to "fool" the computer into thinking pressures are normal.

That's weird. I run TPMS sensors and have the fronts at 42 and the rears at 19. No issues.

Same here... my car never goes into limp mode over low tire pressure. I do get a light on the dash.

Yes it is weird. I'm well aware that not all, maybe only a few, Gen 6's do this; mine does.


Maybe I just have a weird car. Two more TPMS related issues I have never discussed with anyone. 1. When the battery is disconnected and reconnected, the TPMS's have to be re-learned. Doe's yours? 2. When a new tune is flashed, the TPMS's have to be re-learned. Doe's yours?

No and No.

Nice solution, what about the fronts? Run sensors in the skinnies?

Yes. Since psi is 40lbs +/- in the fronts, no issues there.

I'm not happy with the little wheel/tire solution as of right now. At first it held air overnight. Now, it is leaking down in a few hours. Don't think the wheel is leaking. I suspect the cheap tire is too permeable. This idea sprung from a Discount Tire tech telling me he has seen people put all of the TPMS sensors in a donut spare tire. That may be fine for street rods, but for my purposes (drag racing with weight reduction), that's too much weight to carry.

Still think the best solution is out there in a small, tubeless wheel/tire, or maybe, a higher quality tube-type tire. Just haven't found it yet. Car is on jack stands right now waiting on new wheels to arrive. Need to get re-motivated on this project! My excuse is I'm going to try NO SENSORS in any wheels first. If that works there is no need for this. If this car were a daily driver with stock fronts, the need would still be there for trips to the track.

Best way I have seen to do it is using a small piece of PVC pipe with a stem on it. Put the stem on a piece of pipe, close off one end, put the sensors in, close off the other and pump 32 pounds into the pipe and hide it in the trunk somewhere.

You can buy one of these for about $100, it emulates a GDS GM diagnostics tool and runs the software in a virtual machine.

You can set the low pressure threshold to whatever you want in GDS2.

https://www.vxdiagshop.com/wholesale...i-version.html

The point of this exercise is to avoid PVC which is not rated for compressed air use. Many consider that dangerous including some tech inspectors.

Now we’re talking! I’ve been hoping someone would step in and say you can do that with HP Tuners. This looks like the most promising solution yet. I’ll check it out. Thank You!

I will warn you its pretty much a Chinese POS haha. You will have difficulty connecting to it and setting up the COM ports and trying 80 million different things to try to get it to connect. If you have trouble let me know.

It will also emulate a Tech2 for older stuff. I have trouble with mine where it will randomly drop out and lose communication whenever I try to do certain tests like cylinder balance or something like that.