Do all of the 04-08's have TPMS? i've never owned a vehicle that has had them. Also, those that have put aftermarket wheels on their trucks what did it cost you to have the TPMS sensors swapped to the new wheels?

Im about to put these beauties on my truck and just want to know what all to expect.

 

No. My 06 fx4 doesn't have it.

 

short of pulling off the tire is there any way to tell if it has them?

 

It was mandatory in 2007 to have the feature. 2007 and up trucks will have them from the factory. When you turn the key to the on position (not started), there will be a lamp in the cluster that will light up. When started, it should go out.

 

Bucko is right, your '07 has TPMS.

Whom ever mounts you wheels will charge you to install the sensors.
You will have two options. Stem TPMS sensors, or banded. The banded sensors are strapped to the wheel with a metal band. I've had to go back to Discount tire multiple times because the metal band came loose and messed up the wheel balancing.

The stem TPMS sensors are better. With my wheels, I couldn't use them due to the wheel thickness not allowing the stem to seat and causing air leaks.

Good Luck!

 

I just went thru this process and switched to valve stem sensors:
and bought the training device instead of relying on the shop to have the correct one:

It all worked out as smooth as butter...

 

is there anything wrong with using the stock sensors?

 

never mind. those are probably the stock sensors and i may as well just replace them. didnt know how they worked, but seen that they had a battery and its probably near the end of its life span.

 

The early "band" sensors usually get replaced with stem sensors, as the batteries in the older band sensors become due for replacement, and stem sensors are simply easier (for the tire shop) to replace.

Interesting story for me; I had the band sensors replaced with stem sensors when I had new tires installed. I never had a low tire alarm, as I check my tire pressures bi-weekly. The next morning after the tire/sensor replacement, I got the dash light to come on, indicating a tire low alarm. In about 10 seconds, I could hear the perverbial "flap flap" noise. By the time I found a safe place to pull over, the tire was shredded. The tire stem/sensor had pulled itself into tire, causing it to loose all its air.
A trip back to the tire store netted me a new tire at their dime of course, plus they refunded me the cost of the stem sensors (and replaced the one they failed to properly seat into the hole).

If you have the band type, you may want to stick with them, unless they need new batteries, or they (tire store) give you a great deal on them. Don't let them tell you that you need to go the way of stem sensors; it's just another way for them to get a few extra bucks on the sale.

 

whats the training device? how do you use it? does it stay in the truck after you've used it?