Rotated the tires today. Take the backs and bring them straight to the front, take the fronts and bring them to the back, but cross them over (right on left, left on right).

But, what about the Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS)? The tires will no longer be where the car thinks they are, so the low pressure readings will be reporting the wrong tire.

Well, page 5-75 of the book has the procedure, but it is pretty easy.
Take off all of the valve caps.
Turn on the car but don't start it.
Press and hold both lock and unlock buttons on the key fob until the car beeps.
You will see the DIC has the message TPMS Learn Active.
Start at the driver's front and work clockwise (DF, PF, PR, DR).
Let air out of the tire, continuously, for five or more seconds, until the car honks the horn once.
Proceed to the next tire (PF).
Repeat.
At the last tire (DR), the car will honk twice to let you know you are done.
Turn it off.
Fill all four tires back to the correct level.
Put the caps back on.
Drive.
Enjoy.
Tailgate a Prius...

 

FJ ... aren't we not supposed to "swap" sides anymore, just go front to back but leave left and right on the same side? I thought swapping sides was only for those old (dating myself) bias-ply tires? Excuse but I didn't check the Hybrid manual regarding this.

Thanks for the pointer on the TPS, didn't even occur to me when I rotated tires on the wife's Lexus (dealer never did it as part of the $200 "service"). As always, great info being traded on this forum

 

I was of the thought that you didn't swap sides, but the manual was clear about it. There is even a picture with the old "crossed arrows" from the 1960s...

 

Thanks and sorry for not looking at the manual myself

I wonder when this changed??? I could have been rotating tires wrong the last 5-10 years

 

fjungman,
Thanks for sharing,
If one needs to lower the tire pressure on a certain terrain (sand for example to get better traction) is it possible to turn OFF the TPMS temporaily or adjust the TPMS levels?

Thanks

 

Not that I know of. I didn't see anything in the manual. I guess the message would be annoying, but it would remind you to fill them back up when you were done off-road.

 

FJ,
Thanks for yoru reply,
what if you follow your procedure, and reset the TPMS at lower pressure, doesn't that reprogram the warning threshhold for the tire pressure, or is is prset at fixed pressure?

 

It is preset at the pressure dictated on the door-jamb sticker. This is what the vehicle was designed for.

The step for letting air out of the tire is to get the pressure sensor to transmit. To save energy, they only transmit when there is a change in pressure (up or down). Letting out the air triggers this transmission. It does not matter what the absolute pressure of the tire is, before or after letting the air out, only that it changes.

 

fj,
Thanks for yoru reply.
So I guess there is no way to drive it with Low tire pressure, without triggering the sensors

 

You can learn more about the system here:
http://www.gmtpms.com/
The pressure values are stored in the body control module (BCM) and this is what would need reprogramming to new values for your off-roading. Becoming friends with the service tech might let you do this. Most gear available on the market for reprogramming the PCM/ECU do not let you access the BCM.