New wheels - Do I need TPMS?

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I bought alloy wheels for my Hyundai Sonata. I want to put snows on my steel wheels and all season on the new alloys. The steels have OEM TPMS. Do I need TPMS with the new alloys? If yes, where do I get them?
 
Yes you do. You should be able to purchase at a tire shop or go to your dealer. The dealer needs to "progam" the new TPMS so the TPMS idiot light goes out.
 
Need? It depends on your definition. The car will run without the TPMS present. I don't think there is an audible alarm. You drove for years with no TPMS, but you may have destroyed a tire or two along the way that you had to deal with at an inconvenient time.

I think TPMS is worthwhile. If you don't so much, you could disable the TPMS system. In some cars, there is a module you could unplug. The preferred method depends on the car, so you might check at a Hyundai forum. A more universal method with your system with sensors in the tires, is to put tape over the dashboard light when the snow tires are not installed.

If you have snow tires on for a shorter period each year, you might look into moving the sensors. I don't know if the sensor for the alloys is the same as for the steel wheels. There are sensors made for more than one angle, so that the centrifugal switch will be more responsive on a corresponding wheel.
 
Does your car have the in-car TPMS learn feature? If it does, bite the bullet and get new TPMS.

If there's a costly dealer fee involved to get the new sensors learned, get the TPMS swapped to the alloys and forgo it on the winter tires you're only running for 1/3 of the year.

Another law of unintended consequences for TPMS.
 
Yes you do need them. For a variety of reasons, if your state/province has annual safety inspections, you may fail with the light being on(the case in my province). Some vehicles use the wheel sensors as speed sensors and with an automatic transmission may go into limp home mode without a signal(do not believe it's an issue on the Sonata),etc. It's a shame the rest of the world didn't adopt GM's indirect TPMS, it would have avoided all this nonsense and additional expenses to the owners and ridiculous service work for technicians.
 
I just had my first experience with TPMS.

I rented a car for a trip and the TMPS light was on when I picked it up. Measured the tires and they were 3 to 4 psi low. I guess the change in temperatures caused this.

Pumped them up - but couldn't tell the difference in the ride.

I can imagine that 3 to 4 psi low would cause any immediate problems, but over the life of the car........
 
Thanks for your answers. It seems the car needs TPMS so I will keep them with all the tires. I'll probably go to my local mechanic (30+ years) and get the tires from him. I believe he can do the TPMS. He will also do the change overs each winter and spring for free if I buy his tires. He uses tirerack. I'm cheap, but I think this may be the best value and he and his staff know cars better than I do. Thanks
 
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