So I have a Superchips tuner/code reader and there is an option to disable the TPMS system permanently for when you air down, but that got me thinking is there a way that you can activate this setting to disable the TPMS system via a physical switch? This is not a priority of mine, and if it is not possible I won't lose any sleep, but I thought it could be cool little project to be able to do this, so you still have the TPMS system while not off-roading.

 

Welcome to JKF.. Good group here with alot of knowledge.. Interesting question; my knowledge indicates that the TPMS has a module that receives the signals and is CANBUS connected to the Body computer.. Good luck on your thoughts. (We turned ours off with Jscan on the JKU and the JT as our PSI Chalk Test said set at 27-28 cold and the TPMS system settings would not go to those numbers)

 

Welcome aboard!
It looks like you would have to interrupt the fault signal that goes into the WCM.

 

I have a tangential question (apologies). We have used our JK for only 5 months so far, and have covered a lot of gravel and a little "offroad" however have not yet done any driving in sand. Normally in sand we'd drop tyre pressures to 22 psi, then lower still if it's evident that we need to, although never lower than 18 psi so far on other vehicles. This thread led me to thinking about the built in TPMS - how do we set the desired pressure (on the TPMS)? If I understand Jay2013jk's post, the lowest pressure one can set is higher than 28 psi, so presumably if we drop pressures (in the tyres) to 22 psi or less the system cannot warn us of a loss of pressure below this?

As a side comment, we've thought about adding TPMS to previous vehicles several times, and have had at least one destroyed tyre which could perhaps have been saved with a TPMS warning. We've had two punctures so far on the JK and the TPMS warning alerted us in time to avoid serious damage.

 

I often air down to 17 for washboard trails & rocks, and much lower for loose blow sand.

I think you can program the TPMS PSI warning level to whatever you want to via an app & an iCar Pro Bluetooth LE bluetooth thingie inserted into the ODB port. It's really easy. I used JScan app for iOS or Android and the Bluetooth thing they highly recommended. Cost was something like $30 for the Bluetooth ODB thing & $20 for the JScan app (per vehicle VIN#). Well worth it & there are a number of other fun adjustments you can do too. Plus it's a code reader, & you can use it to program new keys!

You do not need to leave the ODB thing attached, it is just connected while you are making changes.
App: https://jscan.net/jeep-wrangler-jk/
And I bought this ODB thing; https://amzn.to/3WOT2zz

 

Thank you - I'll look into this.

 

I have both a BullyDog programmer and Jscan. The lowest setting those offer for an alert threshold is 22psi. Really no clue why they don't allow you to go as low as you want (can only guess this that is more on the vehicle computer side). Jscan is the best bang-for-your-buck ever. The price for the license and dongle is worth it for the diagnostics alone. The programming features is a bonus.

 

That's great if that's what your looking for, but the reason I wanted to have an off/on switch vs just setting the limit real low is that, if it only comes on at 17 psi, the tire will probably be destroyed by the time the leak gets down to that much after some city/ highway driving (not to mention that I would definitely see/feel the tire getting low before that). the only benefit I see to having TPMS enabled and set real low is that if you have a leak while off-roading it will warn you before the tire becomes unseated. Although, if you could instead of an on/off switch have a low/high switch that auto sets the limit to a pre programed number I guess that would be objectively better!

 

Agreed! 100% Yeah, sometimes I feel like the JK engineers never went 4 wheeling!

 

My chime in was just related to the tangent question, but I would submit to everyone that it takes a hell lot more to unseat a bead than might think, even if going as low as 12-15psi without beadlocks.....or basically what I'm saying here is the TPMS alert is really only pavement-related IMO. Even when airing down that low it takes some real sideways force to roll that tire and pop the bead. The whole point of lowering the threshold alert for me is for folks that run lower tire pressures with larger tires. I run my 37s around 26-27 psi cold, and when I had 35s it was more like 29-30. It gets annoying to see that alert when you have your tires right where you want them for normal driving on pavement.