Keith Browning Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 I am following a new thread over at the monkey house where a couple of members are claiming that their dealers had "reset" their TPMS for lower pressures on 2011 Super Duty trucks. ~scuse me? I was under the impression that the TPMS minimum pressure values were hard coded into the SJB and are based upon the certified pressures the vehicle safety/tire information decals present. The TPMS is required to alert the driver if the tire pressure falls to 25 percent below the manufacturer’s recommended tire pressure. According to one monkey the dealer *allegedly* contacted the Hot-Line and was able to reprogram the module. Has anyone heard of this? Is this even legal? Possible? I was under the impression that this was written in stone. If you look at the TPMS Job Aid in the PTS website there is no mention of reprogramming or configuration... The Job Aid by the way is very informative by the way and contains a lot of information that the service manual ignores. I haven't read it front to back so I do hope I haven't missed something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Warman Posted November 1, 2010 Share Posted November 1, 2010 ROFLMFAO!!!! Now... I only read the first post in the thread so far. I'm not sure I should bother with the rest. The TPMS light comes on when a tire is 25% low. The idjit in the first post has an F350... meaning his rear tires are recommended at 80 PSI. If we reduce his tire pressure by 25%, we get 60 PSI before the light turns on... Yup.. don't know how much his dealer charged him - but he is happy that his light doesn't turn on at 65 PSI... I think it was P.T. Barnum that said "There's one born every minute...". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Warman Posted November 1, 2010 Share Posted November 1, 2010 Well, I read the rest of the thread... My fucking GOD!!!!! You guys allow people like this to vote? And procreate? Oh... wait a minute.... some of those guys are Canadians.... And they haven't realized that the TREAD Act doesn't apply to Canada... Hell.. I bet they haven't realized that Moss-Magnusson doesn't apply to Canada. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam_Dodson Posted November 1, 2010 Share Posted November 1, 2010 Most over-sized tires 35" plus that are load range E have a max pressure of 65psi only then could I see it being OK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Warman Posted November 1, 2010 Share Posted November 1, 2010 Most over-sized tires 35" plus that are load range E have a max pressure of 65psi only then could I see it being OK. You mean they aren't P rated.... right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam_Dodson Posted November 1, 2010 Share Posted November 1, 2010 Originally Posted By: Adam_Dodson Most over-sized tires 35" plus that are load range E have a max pressure of 65psi only then could I see it being OK. You mean they aren't P rated.... right? it still bothers me those were put on... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbriggs Posted November 4, 2010 Share Posted November 4, 2010 I was fumbling around in programmable parameters on something the other day, and found that you can reduce the threshold pressure for the tpms system, but a big warning message comes up and goes on about liability and responsibility for whatever "non-approved" changes that are made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Warman Posted November 4, 2010 Share Posted November 4, 2010 You have to be shitting me!?!?!?! You can change the alert pressures for 2011? After the thing with the Explorer, Ford is going to help us hang them? And we are going to help Ford help us hang ourselves? Wait... I'm starting to get a headache... So... after all that, I can rest assured that I will be following people on my morning drive to work and these people will have at least one low tire (most of the people I know don't know if the right side of their car is still there - they never look at it). Accepted industry standards agree that a tire that is as little as 25% under-inflated is "grossly" underinflated. I see P rated tires on F350s.... I see TR400 valve stems on F350s.... I see "techs" rattle on a wheel nut for 2 or 3 seconds and then they pretend to torque it. (That kind of crap makes me look fondly at torque sticks). we have a preponderance of "techs" that will either bend a customer over the service counter screaming "ride 'im, cowboy" (obviously a reference to "Brokeback Repairbay - the sequel") or be heard uttering phrases like "you want me to spit swallow or gargle? You are gonna be one lucky sailor". Just because someone is willing to do something doesn't mean it's the right thing to do... And now this.... What fucking good is a safety device, if lay-people are allowed to control the parameters? Especially given the fact that most people will not have something fixed until the truck wont move any more.... (Did I mention the half ton I have.... been making a noise from the front of the engine for a while... customer was waiting for the concern to cure itself... it did... the noise went away... but the FEAD belt came off and now the power steering don't work.... never mind that oil leak from the hole in the front cover). Why... oh, why???? Why would they give the keys to the henhouse to the fox? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Browning Posted November 4, 2010 Author Share Posted November 4, 2010 I guess you didn't follow up in that thread in the monkey house. A few days ago I had a new 2011 in my bay for a PDI and I decided to put IDS on it at the recommendation of a poster. Low and behold I discovered that yes, you CAN now change the TPMS settings and I too got the obtrusive warning window but I don't recall it being worded in a way that suggested this was illegal. What I noticed is that it said you are only to adjust the pressure setting at or above the placard as certified for the truck. (not in those exact words) It went on to say that only those pressure choices would be available (again in similar words) but on My IDS was able to, and did set the rears for 30 PSI. Imagine that! I then set it back to where it was. When I attempted to return to the screen to play around some more IDS would return me back to the main menu when selecting TPMS in the programmable parameter screen. I don't know what that glitch was about. Like Jim I have a problem with this as it could set us up for liability concerns and I am thinking that when these concerns rear their ugly heads it will have something to do with a serious injury or death. Flash back to the Mark Fabian topic... he was allegedly negligent. Here, we are knowingly and purposefully changing the setting of a safety warning system... Thank you Ford! I do however understand that people are going to install aftermarket parts and change tires and so forth and that this does not necessarily mean that the parts or changes are affecting safety in a negative way. We can't re-certify the truck so what do you do? With the world the way that it is I am hesitant to do anything out of what is documented or labeled in any way related to safety and certification. My own truck? A different matter perhaps. I don't think I will be willing to reset this on any customer's truck at the moment. What really pisses me off is that the service information like the Workshop Manual and the current TPMS job aid makes no mention of this capability. It is great that the 2011 WSM is still missing so much information that we really need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Warman Posted November 4, 2010 Share Posted November 4, 2010 What irks me the most.... Being able to adjust alert pressures downwards has been one of those things some customers (indeed, looking at the tire pressure settings on most customers trucks) have been requesting. Ford has fulfilled that dream for these people... and we are going to look bad for it. We can refuse to adjust the setting (Ford looks good - we look like assholes).... or we can throw them some breadcrumbs and adjust the alert pressure downward. How far down can we go? How far should we go? A tire that is under-inflated by 25% (the TREAD Acts magic number) is, by accepted industry standards, considered to be "grossly under-inflated". Airing down the back tires on an empty F350 is one thing... but will an owner air the tires back up when he slides under his trailer? Wanna buy some prime Florida real estate? or maybe a bridge? This is a complex situation.... made even more complex with this new ability. We will be forced to act like prostitutes so that we can stay alive in a town full of prostitutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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