Quote:
Originally posted by mike100:
So what happens if you take out the valvestem sensors and replace them with garden variety 69 cent rubber ones? eventually the batteries will go dead in them, right? somebody will probably have a dongle or hack to fool the central unit eventually. i dont like the hard metal stems. a rock caressing the sidewall might snap that right off. what happens when the spare is mounted?

all this because ford sold underinflated explorers off the showroom floor? probably adds $100 to the cost of a new car.
Well, you might be able to catch th stem on a rock and rip it off, but chances are slim I would think. My wheels got nasty rock rash, but have not come close to my stems.

And if it should happen, that is what you have a spare tire for. I mean what if that same rock ripped a hole in your sidewall?

As for putting the spare on, the system would sound, but the solution there is to get the tire fixed and put it back on. If you want to rotate the spare in when rotating tires, then you have a problem. The solution (though it would suck) would be to swap the tires on the rim, or if you want to rotate the rim too, have the sensor swapped out.

Personally, I check my pressure every other fill up (about every two weeks) and I have still had the the alarm go off twice, and yes, the tires were under inflated.

They claim the batteries will last 160K or 10 years. I don't know if the units are sealed or if you can change the batteries. If you can it might be a good idea to change them around the 100K mark during a tire change.