Since somebody out there knows something about practically everything, I want to throw out this question: My 08 Chev Impala lets me know when my tire is low on air. For example it might tell me my right rear tire is low. If I rotate my tires, how does the car know which tire is then low. Are sensors in the tires? If so, are they re-calibrated each time the tire is rotated?
The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has developed a Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard that requires the installation of tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) that warn the driver when a tire is significantly underinflated. The standard applies to passenger cars, trucks, multipurpose passenger vehicles and buses with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or less, except those vehicles with dual wheels on an axle.
So... there are 2 types of system... Direct and indirect... The direct system will tell you when a certain tire is low, for example, your right front steer tire... or your left rear drive, etc... There is a tool that is needed to reset the TPMS (Tire pressure monitoring sensor) that can be costly....
There is also the indirect system... It will tell you that you have a low tire, however, it could be any of the four...
What does this mean for the consumer???
Another trip to the dealer for a tire rotation, and probably the added cost for the TPMS reseting, after all, the shops got to recover cost of there tools.... This makes it even more difficult for the shadetree or do it yourselfer to actually do it yourself....
With the indirect system, since all the TPMS activate the same sensor, you would not need to have this reset...
