My 2010 Liftback; Feels like I just gave birth!

[bewley]

what luck we have, junorico. yeah, i guess 40 is a little ridiculous, especially in the city.

[CTScott]

Originally Posted by bewley

when i get this fixed tomorrow morning, is there anything specific i need to ask for regarding the valve if down the road i want to replace the sensors? sorry for all the lame questions.

Most tire shops have the tool for programming the TPMS, so they should be able to tell you why the system was not happy. Most also sell replacement sensors, should that one now need to be replaced.

[bewley]

thank you, Yoda! very helpful indeed.

[enviri]

no issue aside from the light being on. Just have to keep your tires inflated the 90's way. Funny, last time i had a flat i decided to not take the saw mill pkwy, and went up fdr to 287. stupid nyc.

Originally Posted by bewley

Enviri, does that present a problem for you in any way, aside from the light being on?

i went down to the car just now and the tire was completely flat, the one that wasn't accepting air earlier. i guess i tore the valve some when I jammed the chuck on. i haven't had a flat in at least ten years (driving in NYC the whole time) and i get one on the fourth day with the car... after being concerned about this pressure sensor thing. could it be that 40 psi was too high? seems unlikely. lots of glitches but i still love this baby.

[bewley]

junorico24, Dude, you might be my brother from another mother because we had the exact same experience, except there are two nails in my tire. Weird. are you tall and skinny with a big ass too?

Enviri, uncanny! I think my tire was 'nailed' today on the FDR! i was thinking 'wow, there's no traffic to the brooklyn bridge ramp, how lucky am i!' and the FDR was like "Bring out the nails!"

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by bewley

Bridgestone Potenzas, in case this could possibly matter.

Brand and model of tire can matter.

I have a portable 12v Craftsman air compressor that I use to inflate my tires. I had the same Firestone FR710s on my car for 85,009 miles and I could (fairly easily) pump the tires up to the max PSI (44) on the sidewall (past my normal 38 PSI). I ordered the same tires again. I showed up to my appointment on time. A couple of hours later they told me my car was ready. I walked out to my car and saw the wrong tires on the car. I pointed this out to the service writer and he told me they screwed up my order, so they upgraded me to another tire at the same price (this = true, but they should have asked me first).

I lived with the upgraded tires for about two weeks (I had 30 days to change my mind). ONE of the things I didn't like about the upgraded tire (which the rep said had more steel belts) was that I couldn't get the tires above 34 PSI (sidewall max 40) and I'll bet this was one of the reasons I was getting slightly worse MPG. I went back to the tire store, ordered the FR710s, returned at the assigned time 3 days later, and had new FR710s put on (no cost re Firestone's guarantee).

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by bewley

Enviri, does that present a problem for you in any way, aside from the light being on?

i went down to the car just now and the tire was completely flat, the one that wasn't accepting air earlier. i guess i tore the valve some when I jammed the chuck on. i haven't had a flat in at least ten years (driving in NYC the whole time) and i get one on the fourth day with the car... after being concerned about this pressure sensor thing. could it be that 40 psi was too high? seems unlikely. lots of glitches but i still love this baby.

You might want to carry a portable 12v air compressor and a can of tire sealant (unless the sealant invalidates your tire warranty, or CTScott says it isn't a good idea ) with you in your Yaris. My Craftsman compressor fits snugly in the side pocket on either side of my back seat. I think my compressor cost $20.00 or less.

[bewley]

Nookandcrannycar,

Thanks for your reply. That's interesting; while that one tire was EXTREMELY difficult to fill, the other three were almost as bad. So maybe these expensive Bridgestones are just more recalcitrant when you try to fill to max (though I think the maximum psi listed was 44 on the side of the tire and I was going from 35 to 40)? Turns out the nails that the AAA guy found when he swapped the tire with the donut were not actually puncturing the tire and I had actually damaged the valve stem with the chuck after all. Good idea about the compressor and some sealant, especially since this was the final AAA call I can make for the year. In other news, I wrote the manager of the dealership a fairly stern email about the absent sensors and he agreed to install them but now I have to communicate with the guy who lied to me to get it done (after accusing him of lying in that email). Awkward. On an end note, I love, love, love my car! You guys are awesome, btw!

[bewley]

Nookandcrannycar, One more thing, you probably know more than I do about this but I just wanted to warn you that when I filled my tires to max on the geo metro, i could have sworn that they didn't last as long as they should have. is it possible that filling them to limit impels them to wear faster because of the thinner skin?

[junorico24]

Originally Posted by bewley

Nookandcrannycar, One more thing, you probably know more than I do about this but I just wanted to warn you that when I filled my tires to max on the geo metro, i could have sworn that they didn't last as long as they should have. is it possible that filling them to limit impels them to wear faster because of the thinner skin?

YES.

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by bewley

Nookandcrannycar,

Thanks for your reply. That's interesting; while that one tire was EXTREMELY difficult to fill, the other three were almost as bad. So maybe these expensive Bridgestones are just more recalcitrant when you try to fill to max (though I think the maximum psi listed was 44 on the side of the tire and I was going from 35 to 40)? Turns out the nails that the AAA guy found when he swapped the tire with the donut were not actually puncturing the tire and I had actually damaged the valve stem with the chuck after all. Good idea about the compressor and some sealant, especially since this was the final AAA call I can make for the year. In other news, I wrote the manager of the dealership a fairly stern email about the absent sensors and he agreed to install them but now I have to communicate with the guy who lied to me to get it done (after accusing him of lying in that email). Awkward. On an end note, I love, love, love my car! You guys are awesome, btw!

I'm running my new Firestone FR710s at the same 38 PSI I normally used on my previous set of 85,009 mile FR710s. On my previous set anything 41 PSI or above felt like I was driving on bricks. Firestone doesn't set them (as new) above 32 PSI because that is what is says on the Yaris door jamb. I noticed that it was a bit harder to get the FR710s to 38 PSI that is was to get the previous FR710s to that PSI toward the end of their 'life', but that is probably to be expected.

I was reading another thread within the last couple of weeks and one more expensive tire being compared to a cheaper tire was described as having more belts. This made sense to me re a recent Firestone experience. The more expensive (but not to me because the added cost was being adjusted off) Firestone Affinity Touring that were put on my car without asking me have more belts (I was told). As I lived with those tires (beyond the first couple of days) I found more and more bad reviews and I also learned that the strengths of that particular tire were lost on a car as light as the Yaris. I'm glad I went back to Firestone within 30 days and got the FR710s.

Your Bridgestones have the same 44 max PSI that my FR710s do. Some hypermilers swear by going over the max PSI to get the best MPG and feel they don't lose any longevity. I think your 35-40 PSI feeling is a good range. Over 40 is just overkill, IMO. I sometimes go to 40, but never above (well, not since testing/figuring out where I wanted the PSI to be when I got my previous FR710s 3 years ago).

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by bewley

Nookandcrannycar, One more thing, you probably know more than I do about this but I just wanted to warn you that when I filled my tires to max on the geo metro, i could have sworn that they didn't last as long as they should have. is it possible that filling them to limit impels them to wear faster because of the thinner skin?

I had a 2001 Suzuki Swift (same as a Metro) before my Yaris. It had 151,000+ miles on it when I got my new (at the time) Yaris. Each set of tires lasted about 50k miles (I was finishing up the 3rd set -- including OEMs -- when I got my Yaris). I don't remember what the mileage rating was on those tires was for certain, but I think it was 40k for each set. I don't remember the PSI I kept the tires at nor the sidewall maximum on those sets of tires on the Swift/Metro. I had such good luck with the previous FR710s (I could have gone past the 85,009 miles) that I'm going to keep these at 38 PSI most of the time and monitor the wear and MPG to see if they live up to the last set. Thanks for your suggestions.

I started carrying around a portable air compressor once it became even remoltely hard to find a gas station with free air and i now look upon it (for me personally) as a safety feature.

[bewley]

85,007 miles is certainly impressive. No wonder you want to stay the course, both with the brand and the pressure...and for a reasonably priced tire as well. i just looked up my tire on the Bridgestone/Firestone site and it's more expensive but has a shorter warranty than almost every other tire fit for a Yaris on the site, which serves to confuse. I mean how are they deemed "high performance" if they don't last? So did you notice a difference in the way the car handled when you went back to the FR710s or just fuel economy? I wonder if the more expensive tire you were using was also heavier. perhaps the weight contributed to the worse mileage, along with your inability to inflate them beyond a certain point. Regarding the free air, the gas station where i filled the tires offered free air and i thought I was seeing a mirage. Now i'm thinking maybe the chuck was more worn because the air was free. Or maybe the air was free because the chuck breaks your valve stems...

[enviri]

and here i am using uhp falken/kumho tires that last no more than 20k miles lol.

[bewley]

ri-ight enviri!

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by bewley

85,007 miles is certainly impressive. No wonder you want to stay the course, both with the brand and the pressure...and for a reasonably priced tire as well. i just looked up my tire on the Bridgestone/Firestone site and it's more expensive but has a shorter warranty than almost every other tire fit for a Yaris on the site, which serves to confuse. I mean how are they deemed "high performance" if they don't last? So did you notice a difference in the way the car handled when you went back to the FR710s or just fuel economy? I wonder if the more expensive tire you were using was also heavier. perhaps the weight contributed to the worse mileage, along with your inability to inflate them beyond a certain point. Regarding the free air, the gas station where i filled the tires offered free air and i thought I was seeing a mirage. Now i'm thinking maybe the chuck was more worn because the air was free. Or maybe the air was free because the chuck breaks your valve stems...

When I had the Firestone Affinity Touring tires on my Yaris for that brief period recently, I looked up the weight of each tire just because I was curious. if I remember correctly, the FR710s weigh 18 lbs per tire and the Affinity touring weigh 20 lbs per tire (both for 185/60-R15). I asked a weight/MPG question re tires a few weeks ago---namely would having a full size spare on a regular 15" steelie (steel rim) weigh enough more than the space saver spare to effect fuel economy. The answer was no, and I think it came from CTScott. I think the 8 lb increase of the Affinity tires over the FR710s is probably fairly comparable to the difference between a full size spare mounted on a 15" steelie and the space saver spare. Even if there is still a few pond difference, I don't think it would be enough to appreciably change MPG.

I like the way the FR710s handle compared to the Affinity Touring. Touring is an apt description. Those tires are better suited to a heavier car and to giving a smoother, more 'plush' ride. The Affinity tires aren't 'floaty', they just aren't as 'taut' as the FR710s and isolate imperfections in the road. The FR710s don't isolate the imperfections, and I don't want to be isolated prom the imperfections. I want the tires to feel as 'taut' as possible, transmitting as much road feel as possible, with the PSI just low enough so that I don't feel as if I'm driving on bricks.

I feel the inability to be able to inflate the Affinity tires more than 2 PSI beyond the 32 PSI door jamb spec (when using my portable compressor) definitely had at least a bit of a negative effect on MPG.

[bewley]

Thanks Nook, for clarifying and for answering questions you couldn't have known I had, like if the weight of a regular size spare would affect the mpg.

In other news, there were only two sensors missing, which seems odd given that all four tires are the same. Why would the previous owner have installed two after swapping out his rims, I wonder. The dealership where I bought the car is paying for and installing two new ones next week; supposedly they are on order from Toyota, but the repairs manager tells me that I will have to get them programmed elsewhere (and submit a receipt for reimbursement). I'm a little skeptical though I have a good feeling about the manager. Anyway, I paid a $137 dealer fee (putatively for transfer of plates and registration) with a credit card so if I don't get reimbursed for the reprogramming, I'll dispute that fee. This seems like a bit of a headache for something I feel I don't even really need and who knows whether the light will work as it should after this. Still, I paid a lot of money for this car (even if it was a deal) and I want everything working as it should.

[bronsin]

I agree its something we dont really need (TPMS) but thanks to nerdo geeks everywhere who demand it we're stuck with it!

There is a way to disable it somewhere in the forum I think under DIY.