Gotta love electronics; Tires Size Rant!

My wifes 06 Sienna had a warning light come on when she got a flat a few years back(She hit a curb),and had to use the spare. It was time for new tires anyway,so I ordered some new ones online. The tire seller insisted that I get the TPMS rebuild kits for each wheel at $12 a piece if I remember correct. Had the local tire place swap the old tires off the rims,mount,and balance new tires. Was there when the tech was doing it,and there weren't any TPM's in the old tires!! I wondered why to the tech,and showed him that I had the rebuild kits. He assured me they were not necessary,and I asked him why then was there a light on the dash. He didn't know why,but I found out later that the van was noticing the one tire(spare) having a smaller diameter than the other three. It all went away with the new tires,and now I have $48 worth of TPMS rebuild kits sitting in my tool box. By the way the van never went into limp home mode. It was still the same power level,but with the donut on it I wouldn't want to push it too fast.

One Nissan Dealer says, NO, My mechanic says NO second Nissan dealer says "No Problem"

Both Naysayers are quoting Tire Rack data.

No idea what they are looking at.

It is a set of 4 195-55-15 tires going on in place of 185-65-15 tires. Have not checked yet, but I don't expect much change in rolling diameter.

The 185's are a good inch taller. Might not be an issue for the tire monitors, but that is a big difference in size....any clearence issues?

NOHOME wrote: It is a set of 4 195-55-15 tires going on in place of 185-65-15 tires. Have not checked yet, but I don't expect much change in rolling diameter.

If you're swapping all four tires at once, your vehicle won't know the difference!

Bryce

sachilles wrote: The 185's are a good inch taller. Might not be an issue for the tire monitors, but that is a big difference in size....any clearence issues?

Why would there be clearance issues if the tire going on it is smaller than stock?

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote:

sachilles wrote: The 185's are a good inch taller. Might not be an issue for the tire monitors, but that is a big difference in size....any clearence issues?

Why would there be clearance issues if the tire going on it is smaller than stock?

195/55r15 is 23.44" tall.

185/65r15 is 24.46" tall.

How is it "smaller"? To answer your question, clearances at full lock plus all the overhanging strut/a-arm/spindle bullE36 M3....

My parents 2010 TDI jetta has an option in the computer for "Snow Tires".

Grtechguy wrote: My parents 2010 TDI jetta has an option in the computer for "Snow Tires".

So does the Cayman, but I think it is just a slight adjustment in the pressure parameters due to a narrower suggested Winter tire size.

My Golf had a note in the owner's manual that snow tires should be run 3 psi higher than summer tires. Perhaps that's the reason for a special setting.

Lots of people freaked out about what they don't understand with electronics. Again, don't sweat it if all the tires are the same size.

My E39 monitors tire pressures by watching the wheel speeds via the ABS sensors. If one of them starts running at a different speed than the others, it means the pressure's wrong. Pretty clever, and it doesn't require any special hardware or even any new hardware that wasn't on the car already. The problem is that it can't tell if all four are low (or high) by the same amount.

Ranger50 wrote:

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote:

sachilles wrote: The 185's are a good inch taller. Might not be an issue for the tire monitors, but that is a big difference in size....any clearence issues?

Why would there be clearance issues if the tire going on it is smaller than stock?

195/55r15 is 23.44" tall. 185/65r15 is 24.46" tall. How is it "smaller"? To answer your question, clearances at full lock plus all the overhanging strut/a-arm/spindle bullE36 M3....

..... The 195/55r15s are going on in place of the 185/65r15s according to the OP.

He's replacing the bigger tire with the smaller one. Clearance is not an issue.