TPMS Install

I installed a TPMS system on my Bullnose today and I'd like to share the new setup.

The TPMS system was a freebie... more on that at the end of the post (it's a bit of a story!). I'm guessing it probably came from eBay motors, but I don't know. It had been on the shelf a while, long enough that the batteries in the valve caps were all dead. Thankfully, I was able to get some geniune Sony ones for cheap (eBay) and all is good.

Box info:





The unit is a solar chargeable unit (has an internal battery)... but since my dash is SEM bumper coated, I wasn't keen on putting it there and using adhesive on said dash. But, it also can be charged off a micro-usb cable, and it fits more or less perfectly in the cubby under the right side of the instrument cluster (I have factory air, thankfully):



To keep things tidy while avoiding parasitic draws, it's charged off a hardwired dashcam brick with a left-angle plug:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/174428444648

I wired it to the isolated ground ignition relay circuit that powers my CB and supplies the ignition-on signal to my stereo. If I ever need to park charge it, I have a micro-USB cable for my phone charger to use with my Logitech speaker and massive USB battery... or pull it out and leave it on the dash if it's a sunny day!

To keep the charge cord tidy, I tied it to the trailer brake controller harness:



From there the cable is routed past the ECU and up behind the radio to live with the other bricks and cables for the radios/accessories I've added to the truck.

In terms of accuracy, the sensors are bang on. At first I though they were too high, but upon checking with the handheld dial gauge I have in the glove box, nope, the error is on my cheap pistol-grip tire wand and I've been underinflating things by 5psi this entire time ... I guess I know what I need to put on my birthday list!

The only issue I ran into is that the valve stems are too short on the front wheels to be able to use the locknuts. My front tires are going to need replaced soon anyway; the right front is especially bad, I think I may have a worn joint as I had it aligned last time, and my Ranger (1995, also TIB) isn't nearly this hard on fronts ever since I got it aligned by the same shop. Anyway.

One thing I wouldn't mind trying would be swapping the valve cap transmitters for in-tire ones. Yeah, sucks if batteries go bad (which is my main reservation), but that'd avoid having these massive valve caps hanging out.

As for where I got this... story time:

A youtuber some of you know of, EricTheCarGuy, happens to live near me and sadly lost his shop and needed some help moving a bunch of his tools and the like into storage... and I was one of a handful who answered his call. After moving the items (and him treating us all out to a very good lunch!), he had a shelf of goodies from various sponsors over the years... a lot of NOS stuff. Among the small pile of goodies I ended up with was this TPMS system (he's done some sponsored content for eBay motors in the past, which is where i suspect this came from???). This was very generous of him to share these items... and I'm putting them to the best use I can!

PS- I'm Larry in the linked video.

Good job on both, helping and the install!

Interesting newer item to add to an older truck!

I like it!  Nice installation.