I do have a question though, because it might be important.... Does anyone who has bought the original tire and rim for a spare know if it came with the TPS sensor installed and if the system can monitor 5 tires (or if it just monitors the 4 that are on the car... etc.

It makes a difference.... cause if you get the flat and intend to use the spare permanently and it doesn't have the TPS on it then you have a slight safety issue in that one of your tires you will have to monitor yourself to make sure the tire pressure doesn't drop below safe levels. Its not really serious, after all there were tires and SUV's before TPS.

I'd guess if its installed the system must be able to handle it because its probably a similiar system as used on the Explorers and such and they have full size spares for the ones I've seen.

Hey... like I said, if you want one there's nothing wrong with it... the orginal thread post sounded like it might be a make or break deal on buying the car. And that seems a bit extreme.

Heck if I go on a cross country trip it might be a different matter even for me.

And as for gas mileage.... been thinking about that one.... how much difference can a few pounds for a spare make on a >4000 car? Its doubtful it makes much of a drag difference.

 

You guys are getting way outside my pay grade and skill level. I have no clue about sensors on the spare. I just know the thing is full size, full of air and ready to go if I have a blow out. Maybe the tech guys know the answer to your question!!

 

Tim, the '05's do not have the TPS, but I'll check for the sensor. Brian just bought one also, and he paid less than I did for the rim. It maybe because I got the sensor because the guy behind the parts counter kept having to get help from the manager of parts. What should I look for?

As far as extra weight in the FEH, I start to see a drop in MPG around 100 pounds. I carry alot of things around and still am able to hit MPG the Ford engineers must be scratching their heads over. I just love my Little Mule!

GaryG

 

newgreenie,

If you have an '05 it apparenly doesn't matter cause the car isn't equipped according to Gary. From what I saw in the manual for the '06's each tire has a TPS (Tire pressure sensor) that senses if the tire pressure has dropped to unsafe levels and wirelessly signals that to the car. A warning light on the dashboard will tell you that you have a low tire.

Its not really intended for flats (though it will serve for that if you forget to look at your tires when you are busy). Its intended for low pressure conditions that are unsafe for the tire.

Remember all those issues with the Ford Explorers and Firestone. ONE of the reasons believed to be a contributing cause was that people were running the tires down at 24lbs or less to "improve the ride" because the car felt so stiff. Its an SUV so the ride does tend to be a bit stiffer and I guess some people didn't like it that way. Anyways some people got bad advice and let air out of their tires. Low pressure can cause tires to heat excessively and cause premature failure (i.e. blowouts). This can especially happen if you say let your air down to 24lbs and then it seeps down even lower. The TPS modules are there to prevent this. There was talk of them being required at some point.

If you have an '06, I think you have them. Check your manual. You don't have to know much about them other than:

1) No "fix-a-flat" or any of the other tire additives/goo that "seal" tire punctures. They will mess up the sensor which apparenly aren't cheap to replace.

2) if your tires are serviced, replaced, make sure the tire dealer/repairman knows you have them. I think they are wrapped around the inside of the rim on the FEH (some might be on the valve stems but from what I saw in the manual ours are on the rims). If you pull the tire off the rim wrong... I'd imagine you can damage them that way too.

I was just curious if the system on the car can recognize 5 tires or not (you'd think it'd have to) and if you all managed to get the new tires with them.

Incidentally... for those that run their tire pressures HIGH to get extra gas mileage. There are definitely safety concerns with running pressures LOW, I'm not saying anything about running them HIGH.

 

Gary,

Darn... I'm not sure how to tell from outside the tire.... Its not on the valve stem from what I understand. If you have an '05 I'm not sure how you'd know, I'd think the car woudln't be looking for them anyway.

Do you have the invoice and the Ford Part numbers for the rim and tire? My dad's a Ford parts manager. I could have him look them up and see what Ford says is on that rim. I think the rims changed from the '05s to the '06s so if you got a matching one for an '05 I'd guess not.
If you had an '06 we could intentionally let the air out of the spare and start the car up and see if it complains. Of course if it only monitors the four on the ground that wouldn't do anything either.

 

I just picked up my new 2007 Mariner Hybrid today! After hearing the price of the rim and Tire, I was going to check with Discount Tire or someone that could get a used wheel.. Is there a reason I shouldn't do that? Mark

 

Its been mentioned earlier that the '05s don't come with tire pressure sensors. The '06 and I expect '07 do. If you want that added safety of knowing the tire pressure isn't low, you'd want to make sure the used rim came with a sensor and that it works with the system.

Of course people did drive BEFORE tire pressure sensors , so the severity of that issue is subjective.

 

Here's a question to further complicate things -- how do the Tire Pressure Sensors (TPS) know what is an unsafe tire pressure for the tire? Are they just programmed to freak out at <24 lbs or some other (semi-arbitrary) psi, regardless of what tires are on the vehicle, or do they get calibrated when the tires are put on to 'know' what an unsafe pressure is for that particular tire? In other words, if someone got a different tire altogether, would the TPS still work and how accurate would they actually be?

Makes me want to have the shop manual(s)... assuming that sort of thing is mentioned in them.

 

Mark, it would rare that you could find a stock rim or eco plus tire for your FEH, but nothing wrong with tring. My concern would be that buying a rim that was the same exact measurements as the FEH, may be impossible. The distance the rim sits from the others from the studs may effect handling and be a roll over concern. The donut was a big concern with that issue for me. The reason I bought from Ford was, there was no guess work, the rim and tire was for the FEH period. There was no other option for the FEH rims, so that tells me the rim and tire is a rare bird Mark.

Tim, I did provide the part numbers in this thread already. Any day now I should be getting my rim and tire and will post as to the sensor if any. I'll try to bring it up with the parts man, but it seems I, like many of you, know more than they do about the FEH.

GaryG

 

From what I've seen in the manual on changing tires.

1) Full size spares (as many have seen) fit under the FEH. They have to Its where the instructions tell you to put the flat after you change a tire

2) Its a bit confusing, but it appears that the system only recognizes the 4 tire sensors the vehicle came with. The manual says a spare will not have a TPMS and the light will illumate in the cabin whenever the spare is on because of this. But this seems like it might be a "general entry" in the manual... ie an Explorer comes with a full size spare... and it WON'T have a TPMS

Now... if you get your FULL size spare on your own... does it have a TPMS? What if your rim is damaged in an accident, somehow it will have to be "activated"?.... something gives here... I'll have my dad look it up in the shop manual and let you all know.

The manual says the sensor will go off if the tire is something like 5-6# lower than recommended by the car manufacturer so it seems they have to be set somehow when installed I guess... I'll have dad look at that as well. It may be a week or two though.

Also... a final thing from the manual. It doesn't recommend steel sidewalls on any tire because they can interfer with the wireless communication of the sensors