I started looking for wheels and winter tires as well for our 2008 Grand Caravan SXT. Our van came with the optional 225/65/17 tires. I figured I would try to put 16" wheels on for the winter with 215/65/16 or 225/65/16. I know the speedo will be off but only by about 5%. If you do not go with sensors on the new wheel, is it just the indication light you have to worry about or is there a chime as well? Anyone else decide how to avoid spending major $$ for a winter set-up.

 

Canadawrx - After all the trouble I've had, I would definitely go without the sensors. If you don't install sensors you'll just get one chime after start up, the TPMS warning lamp will flash several times and then it will stay lit up continuously for the duration of your drive. I'm sure I could easily ignore the warning light on this vehicle - It is small and dim. I've heard of some people putting a small piece of tape over it if it bothered them.

So my continuing saga with my vehicle goes as follows:
Took the van in to the dealer today. They reportedly had to use a reader to determine the part numbers of the new sensors on each new winter wheel. Then they had to program the new sensors into the WCM (Wireless Control Module). They reportedly "cleared the codes" then road-tested the vehicle & had no warning lights come on. They told me they would have to re-program the WCM when I put the original summer tires back on and that there was no way around that. Needless to say I was not happy about that. I want to be able to do my own wheel/tire changeovers without having to see the dealer.

So I drove the van home. While making the second to last corner, the friggin TPMS warning light came on again.

I checked the tire pressures (hot) and found they varied a bit between 38 and 41 psi. (I had just set them cold to 36 psi a couple days ago). Figured these pressure/ temperature variations may be normal after the drive.

I'll check the cold tire pressures again in the morning, but I expect they'll be very close to the specified 36 psi.

I think I'll be contacting the tire shop and kindly requesting they remove the sensors from the wheels and refunding the $. Don't know how successful that will be - Wish me luck. The tire shop and dealer will probably point fingers at each other.

I'd rather put up with the TPMS warning light for the winter months, and not have to see the dealer to re-program the system at each changeover. I've spent way too much time & energy on a simple winter tire installation as it is.

For some reason I had no problems at all with the TPMS on my 2006 Toyota Matrix when I installed steel wheels and winter tires, and they've functioned flawlessly for a couple changeovers now.

My opinion - These systems are a royal pain. They add little in the way of safety, primarily to those who neglect to properly maintain their vehicles.

 

I like the sensor info in my '05 Town & Country because I drive 40k miles per year and don't check the psi as often as I should. But I ran into the same problem when I upgraded my tires. I wanted to go from the stock 215/65x16 to a 17" wheel. Tire Rack told me they could install sensors in the wheels for almost $100 each and I would have to take it to the dealer for reprogramming. Or I could use my stock sensors/valve stems by breaking down the old tires and mounting the new tires myself. (Tire Rack sends them mounted and balanced for free) I decided to go with a 225/60x16 tire on the OE rims and avoid the hassle. Size doesn't matter with the sensors, only psi.
NOW for the really scary news. I was told that the spare has a tpm sensor also. So if your new sensors are on a different frequency than your spare and the dealer changes your receivers frequency...........

 

I have an 07 T&C. It only has TPMS on the 4 wheels, not the spare.

 

So after the warning light coming on again yesterday, I checked the cold tire pressures this morning and found they varied from 37 psi to 41 psi. Real nice considering they were obviously adjusted by the dealer who was supposed to be addressing the issue with the TPM System.

So I adjusted all 4 tires to 36 psi again. After driving it non-stop for 15 minutes out of town, then back in the fault/ warning light is still present.

So I called the tire shop. They are going to take off the winter wheels tires & remove the TPM sensors, and put my mag wheels & summer tires back on. Then I'll have to go to the dealer to get them to re-program the TPM System again. Then I'll put the winter wheels & tires back on myself and put up with the TMPS Warning Light, like I wanted to do in the first place. What a waste of time.

 

Timbit - Sorry to hear about your hassle but if it is any consolation; you have probably helped many people avoid the same issue. I really appreciate you sharing this experience and pointing me in the best direction. I now have to find a good tire (X-ice or Blizzak) in a 16" size. The dealer also wants to sell me 16" steel wheels for $150 Cdn each! Need to find another place to get wheels.

 

I ran into this thread while researching winter wheels for my 2008 sxt.
I'll have to try them but it appears that my wheels and snow tires from my 03 Kia Sedona have the same bolt pattern, spacing and offset as the sxt.
Discount tire direct lists steel and alloy wheels that for both the 03 Kia and 07 Caravan
and have the following specs. ( See their site for how to read the specs)
15" steel 15 x 6.5 5 4.25/4.5(100/114) 41 $53
16" alloy 16 x 7.5 5 100/114 38 $ 75 and up

Detroit wheel and tire lists OEM wheels for the 2008 Caravan and gives the following specs;
16" alloy !6 x 6.5 5 114 40 $185
Same specs shown for the 2007 but different price.
As you can see the main difference is 1 inch narrower than the aftermarket ones.
I'll give it a try and post if they fit.
If any tire men or Dodge mechanics have better info, please post it.
Thanks,
Don

 

Does anyone have the correct information for the 2008 caravan wheel size? I am getting conflicting information on the wheel size from various web sites; especially on the bolt circle (114mm or 127mm). Thanks

 

I can only tell you that the 07 and 08 Caravan(and T&C), do NOT have the same bolt pattern. Be carefull before you spend money & time.

 

canadawrx - I can tell you that my 2008 Grand Caravan SXT came with the following:

Wheel Size: 16 x 6.5, with a 5 on 5 bolt pattern, which is equivalent to a 5 on 127 bolt pattern. (Stock aluminum mag wheel. Also available 16" steel wheels, and optional 17" mag wheel).

Tire Size: 225/65 R 16 (Crappy all-season tires. They suck on wet roads).

I got a lot of conflicting information on the wheel size/bolt pattern when I started shopping for winter wheels. The first time I called the dealer they even told me the '08's were equipped with the more common 5 on 4.5 bolt pattern. The 2007 and earlier models were equipped with a 5 on 4.5 bolt pattern.... Not the 2008. (You can find information on the web about how to properly measure the 5 bolt pattern, but the easiest thing to do is to get a tire shop to measure with a special gauge they have. Simple procedure - free of charge).

This is not a common size/bolt pattern, nor is the stock tire size, and thus all the problems I had in equipping my van with winter wheels this year.

I ended up with basically a factory steel wheel. Shopping around locally I found I could get the wheels for between $110/each to $144 each. The most expensive being from the dealer of course.

And, I ended up with a 235/65 R 16 studless winter tire - the Nokian RSI.

Running without tire pressure sensors & ignoring the TPMS warning light.

I've been running this setup for several days on dry pavement now. Expecting snow any day. These tires seem pretty nice. I don't think I'll get a lot of mileage out of them as they have a very soft compound.... but they'll probably rock on the snow & ice. Nice deep tread with lots of deep siping.

I would have preferred the Michelin X-ice 2's but was told they aren't available in Canada in my required size this year.