Stock wheels

[lawman007]

Ok I did it. I got my stock wheel package, finally. Well it was a long time coming.

I got the factory 18" steel wheels, with BFGoodrich T/A radials, and TPMS sensors and the extras. I found them on EBAY. Price was $525.00 for the tires and wheels, and $139.00 for shipping. This is what I wanted to do in the first place.

I went to EBAY and found nothing for me. Went to a local tire shop. It was obvious they did not want to help me out. They wanted over $900.00 for a 18" set of after market wheels and tires. I said no, not more than $800.00 and they said well we'll call you back and that $900.00 was the lowest. So I went back to EBAY and found the right set for the right price.

So moral of the story, watch out for corperate greed, it's out in force. You don't have to say a word. Let your money talk for you. And believe me, people will start to listen to you or at the very least your money.

Now I have a question. Can I get these tires put on and the others taken off for free, or reasonably at the dealer or at a tireshop? I understand I need to get them reprogrammed at the dealer. Maybe give the dealer first crack? I can do this at home but I'm an old fart. What do you think?

[Sir Nuke]

Have you ever done business with your local Discount Tire store?? if so, as a RETURNING CUSTOMER....talk to the manager, and even if your not, it very well would be a good way for him to bring in new business. So see if he will GET-R-DONE for you, AND they have the hand held TPMS programer which talks a few seconds. I've done this very thing before at my local shop before and they were glad to do it for a very small fee. I was in and out in about an hour.

[lawman007]

Well the guys at Firestone did it for $15.00. They took the 20s off and put the 18s on and reprogramed them. I will post the 18"s when I get a chance.

These were the 18" heritage steel factory wheels. There were 245/55R18 BFGoodrich Radial T/A tires mounted, balanced and with TPMS installed. Rings, covers and lugnuts. I got them for $525.00, $139.00 shipping.

Now I got them from a dealer in VA, on EBAY "used". They were "take offs" from a customer who ordered his Camaro with the 20s. In other words; brand new. I would say they had less than 50 miles on them, if that.

So now I get to go to ND on those! I don't think they look all that bad either. Bet the 20s weigh a ton though. The Firestone guy asks me if I want the locking lugnuts back on from the 20s(I had them put the locking lugnuts on for my 20s, ya never know right?). After thinking about it I told him no. It turns out that the lugnuts are threaded. The covers thread onto the lugnuts. So it works out. Those of you out there looking for tires and wheels and things just don't give up and be persistant. It'll pay off.

[lawman007]

Just a quick note. As it turned out I was able to get home ok with my new 18s. I went somewhere after I get home, lo and behold, the tire pressure light on the dash flashes for a minute and goes out. So now I'm thinking I need to go to the dealer to get this done.

Well I get home and do some researching. I didn't know the pressure for the 18s(turns out to be 35psi, with a max of 44psi, this from BFGoodrich). Second I have no idea how to reprogram the new TPMS sensors. So I dig into the owners manual and says that the dealer must use the tool. Ok, I'm not desperate at this point, but I haven't found the info I need yet.

Now I think why don't I google it? Couldn't hurt, So I found that in '09, folks were having a pain reprograming without the tool, folks with Silverados. So I think why can't I do it without the tool as well? What's so different about the Silverado's compared to the Camaro's TPMS? Not much. I mean the application is exactly the same. The real difference might be a size difference or maybe a freq difference, in which case being close to a car with the same freq would screw with the tire pressures. In any case I figured why can't I do it the same way and I did. Didn't need a tool or the dealer and I didn't even need to go back to Firestone. And neither do you. I will search but I want to know if anyone put the TPMS reprograming procedure in a thread here? Like I said I'm going to search it but if anyone can remember if they saw it somewhere, can you let me know? Thanks,
Troy Lawson

[lawman007]

So I did a search, and I only found my thread and one other about TPMS. So I will post here how to relearn a new TPMS sensor. It's easy. It takes no more than 5 minutes.

Take off the protective caps off the stems. Park close to an air pump. Put the key in the ignition and turn to the running position without turning over the engine.

In the DIC, go to the tire pressure monitor screen. Depress the button at the end of the turn signal. Once it beeps it will now ask if you want to enter relearn mode, respond with yes. The car will honk twice quickly. It will also say on the display it is now in relearn mode. You have 5 minutes in order to complete this operation. Don't panic, you will be able to do this in plenty of time. Start on the driver's front tire and go in a clockwise direction to each tire till you finish with the driver's rear tire.


1----2
DF PF

DR PR
4----3


You have to actuate the valve which removes air and activates the sensor for about 7 seconds at a time. You don't have to remove all the air and do use short bursts. If you don't hear the single horn sound, it is not programed or ready for the next one. You can use your fingetnail to actuate the stem valve or a tire gauge or the pump's air adaptor which fits on the stem. All work. After the fourth horn, you should hear 2 more short horn bursts. This indicates that you have completed the procedure successfully and are done. The DIC will verify that the pressures appear on the screen. At this point go around and add air till you are at the right pressure. The procedure in the manual states that you need to do it with a tool, and this will get it taken care of technically, you can also do it without the tool. You might have to do it more than once if you run out of time.

I tried to do it by a combination of adding air and removing air. This method takes more time to program and I had to start over once. I would do this method only if I were near a good pump with a reliable adaptor. After I was done the pressures were as low as 26psi. So I topped them off and was on my way. You don't need to practice this since it is a straightforward process of just letting air out of the tires and listening for the horn to sound. I will remind you if you don't hear the horn sound or you run out of time and have to start over, you may need to take it in to the dealer or tire shop as one of the sensors or reciever may be bad. So that is the procedure in s nutshell. I cant think of anything else, if you have any questions let me know. Good luck with this method.
Troy Lawson

[lawman007]

OK so here is the pic. Those nuts on the cover thread onto the lugnuts as the lugnuts are threaded. There were no scratches, dings, scrapes, or flats. The TPMS sensors were in place. I though I got quite a deal. These tires and rims were clean and had no visible treadwear. Thanks Julie F. at Casey Chevrolet!