Tpms query

Jayw13702 · June 30, 2018

I have posted this somewhere else in the forum but I thought I would ask in the IS lounge as well.

Are the tpms sensors corner specific?

Reason for asking is I’m at a tyre centre and want the rears put on the front, I’ve been told that it can’t be done as the tpms system will tell me incorrectly which wheel is punctured.

So by moving rear to front if a rear has a puncture the tpms system will tell me that it’s a front that faulty as the frequency that the sensor transmits cannot be changed!!!!

I thought that by resetting the tpms it will tell the computer which wheel has what frequency sensor

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Thackeray · June 30, 2018

It may depend on the Lexus model. But the IS manual recommends rotating the tyres.

The manual then says:

"The tire pressure warning system must be initialized in the following circumstances:
● When rotating the tires.
● When the tire inflation pressure is changed such as when changing traveling
speed or load weight.
● When changing the tire size.
When the tire pressure warning system is initialized, the current tire inflation
pressure is set as the benchmark pressure."

This seems to suggest that rotating the tyres on the IS won't cause any problems but the system has to be initialised.

But it may be more sophisticated on other models.

200h · June 30, 2018

rotate the tyres & initiallise the tpms system then drop 1 of your tyres by 10 Psi and see which tyre is reported a being low pressure

you would then know if rotating the tyres would change the reporting of the tyres for certain.

rayaans · June 30, 2018

I don't think they're corner specific. They don't give any information other than if pressure is lower than a certain level. It's more sophisticated on cars with more detailed tyre pressure readings like the RX

Also rotating tyres? Deemed to be bad practice nowadays.....

Jayw13702 · June 30, 2018

Also rotating tyres? Deemed to be bad practice nowadays.....

Any particular reason?

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rayaans · June 30, 2018

37 minutes ago, Jayw13702 said:

Any particular reason?

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The theory is that if you're putting rear tyres with say 3mm on the front and 6mm front tyres on the rear, pretty soon you'll have a vehicle with 2mm all around.

Instead it's better to let the tyres wear out as they are doing normally and have 8mm on one axle and 6mm on other.

Jayw13702 · June 30, 2018

The theory is that if you're putting rear tyres with say 3mm on the front and 6mm front tyres on the rear, pretty soon you'll have a vehicle with 2mm all around.
Instead it's better to let the tyres wear out as they are doing normally and have 8mm on one axle and 6mm on other.

Fair comment, and one that makes sense

I’m a bit old school and have always tried to get the tyres to wear at the same rate

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200h · June 30, 2018

personally i dont rotate tyres as i prefer to replace 2 at a time rather than 4 in one go

but the other reason i have been told is that its better to have the best tyres on the rear

regardless of front / rear wheel drive in case you lose the back end you'll have more

chance of gaining some grip back with having more tread on the rear

rayaans · June 30, 2018

14 minutes ago, 200h said:

personally i dont rotate tyres as i prefer to replace 2 at a time rather than 4 in one go

but the other reason i have been told is that its better to have the best tyres on the rear

regardless of front / rear wheel drive in case you lose the back end you'll have more

chance of gaining some grip back with having more tread on the rear

Yep I've always heard that too although that means FWD cars would need rotating as they wear the fronts out first.

Having said that, the counterargument is that 70% of braking is done by the front brakes and this goes through the tyres so having decent tread up front is a must too