2025 Bronco Badlands Spare TPMS not registering

[bgr33r]

Hello - new member here but long time lurker while I was researching buying my 2025 Ford Bronco Badlands SAS. Great forum and thanks for all the info here.

I need help especially from 2025 Badlands owners please.

Today I took my 2025 Bronco Badlands SAS to a nationwide tire dealer for my first full tire rotation (10k miles). I asked them to swap in the spare.

I've read that broncos have TPMS seasons on all 5 wheels and on the 15 mile, 45 minute ride home I expected TPMS to retrain. Instead I got a TPMS fault and an 'empty' reading on my front left tire (the 'old' spare is on the rear right).

Digging around I learned I may need to retrain TPMS. Following instructions, I put the car in assessory mode and press the hazard lights button 6 times to enter TPMS training, letting a little air out at each tire as instructed to trigger the respective TPMS sensor. Following instructions I was successful for the firs two tires: It registered the front left and front right tires with 'honks'. But it failed on the 'old' spare, now in the rear right. After a time drops out of training.

That's all to ask:

1. Do 2025 models have TPMS sensors in the spare tires? Can anyone with a 2025 Bronco Badlands please please confirm that you have a TPMS sensor in your spare?
2. How have other people resolved this issue?

I asked the Ford chatbot today and it told me that all 5 wheels on 2026 Badlands had TPMS.

My plan is to wait overnight, ensure all tires are the same PSI in the morning, and try another drive. If that fails I'll manually retrain again (using the hazard button to initiate). And if that fails, I might remove the spare tire and roll it far away and try it all again. Then I go to Ford.

Or maybe I just put the old spare back into position and 'forget about it'. Should I not be wasting my time because I'm an idiot because the 2025 Badlands didn't come with a TPMS sensor?

Thanks.

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[BudgetBronco]

You are not an idiot, all five tires come with TPMS on all trims all model years, and it should retrain automatically when you rotate them.

It is possible that you got a bad TPMS on the spare. In fact it makes sense that if that were to happen it would be in the spare location, any other location would have triggered the fault and I assume that would have been caught in quality control.

 

[23OBX2.7]

Worst case warranty.

 

[lakesinai]

Hello - new member here but long time lurker while I was researching buying my 2025 Ford Bronco Badlands SAS. Great forum and thanks for all the info here.

I need help especially from 2025 Badlands owners please.

Today I took my 2025 Bronco Badlands SAS to a nationwide tire dealer for my first full tire rotation (10k miles). I asked them to swap in the spare.

I've read that broncos have TPMS seasons on all 5 wheels and on the 15 mile, 45 minute ride home I expected TPMS to retrain. Instead I got a TPMS fault and an 'empty' reading on my front left tire (the 'old' spare is on the rear right).

Digging around I learned I may need to retrain TPMS. Following instructions, I put the car in assessory mode and press the hazard lights button 6 times to enter TPMS training, letting a little air out at each tire as instructed to trigger the respective TPMS sensor. Following instructions I was successful for the firs two tires: It registered the front left and front right tires with 'honks'. But it failed on the 'old' spare, now in the rear right. After a time drops out of training.

That's all to ask:

1. Do 2025 models have TPMS sensors in the spare tires? Can anyone with a 2025 Bronco Badlands please please confirm that you have a TPMS sensor in your spare?
2. How have other people resolved this issue?

I asked the Ford chatbot today and it told me that all 5 wheels on 2026 Badlands had TPMS.

My plan is to wait overnight, ensure all tires are the same PSI in the morning, and try another drive. If that fails I'll manually retrain again (using the hazard button to initiate). And if that fails, I might remove the spare tire and roll it far away and try it all again. Then I go to Ford.

Or maybe I just put the old spare back into position and 'forget about it'. Should I not be wasting my time because I'm an idiot because the 2025 Badlands didn't come with a TPMS sensor?

Thanks.

All OEM Broncos have 5 tire TPMS. But if you or a previous owner had tire changes done, that may not be true by modification. Have the tire dealer remove tire and diagnose. And post a photo of your tires on car.

 

[bgr33r]

Thanks for the active responses in this thread—it’s exactly why I reached out.

TL;DR: I’ve decided to put the spare back on the rack and continue wearing down just the first four main tires. Here’s the breakdown of why, including some frustrating dealer backstory.

The Dealer Experience I’m avoiding the dealer for service work and warranty issues for two main reasons:

1. Safety Issues: After a hitch install when the vehicle was brand new (<100 miles), when I got home two lug nuts were missing the the last was finger-loose-almost-off; they almost all fell off on the drive home. The dealer sent a tech who brought new nuts, and then proceeded to under tighten them AGAIN: when I checked them with a torque wrench, they weren't even close to the 55 nm (41 lb-ft) spec.
2. Service Friction: Despite the Ford app stating rotations are included in the 10k service, the advisor was dismissive and quoted me $100+. Between that and the loose lugs, my trust in their service department is low.

The TPMS Struggle I tried to DIY the 5-tire sync this morning. I even ordered a Ford TPMS Syncing Tool (Item #FB4859) that arrives Sunday, but I wanted to solve it today.

• I set all tires to the same PSI. Then I attempted the hazard-light training mode again. While the front tires trained fine, the "new" tire in the rear-right position refused to register, even after dropping 5–10 PSI.
• The dash was still reading the PSI from the "old" spare (now on the back of the car) rather than the tire actually on the ground.

The Decision I was halfway to my reputable tire shop (a 45-minute drive) when I pulled over and changed my mind. I realized:

• Time vs. Reward: The effort to save 20% of tread life by rotating five tires is being eaten up by troubleshooting time.
• Replacement Logic: If I rotate five and blow one later, I’ll still likely have to buy two new tires to keep the tread depth within the 3-4mm matched range. If I keep the spare pristine, I already have my "replacement" ready to go.
• System Limits: It seems the Bronco system only wants to "active" train four sensors at a time. It's completely logical that the spare's sensor is just not activated, but this does not matter if I just use it as a spare.

Final Result: I found a flat lot, swapped the spare back to the rear carrier, and put the original four tires back in their starting positions. I ran the training sequence, and all four registered immediately. I’ll keep the syncing tool for the future, but for now, I’m sticking to the simplest path.

That said, if we believe all 5 tires have TPMS, I do not believe the 5th tire automatically is sensed when I add it to my vehicle. Is there a Ford Tech who can confirm that in the factory the 5th tire is added somehow? How would this work if only 4 can be synced at one time in training?

Onward and upward!

 

[Ducati1098]

That said, if we believe all 5 tires have TPMS, I do not believe the 5th tire automatically is sensed when I add it to my vehicle. Is there a Ford Tech who can confirm that in the factory the 5th tire is added somehow? How would this work if only 4 can be synced at one time in training?

It does automatically sense it.
The TPMS sensor signals are sent out once every 60 seconds when the vehicle speed is above 20 mph. So it knows which sensors are moving and where they are positioned.

 

[lakesinai]

Thanks for the active responses in this thread—it’s exactly why I reached out.

TL;DR: I’ve decided to put the spare back on the rack and continue wearing down just the first four main tires. Here’s the breakdown of why, including some frustrating dealer backstory.

The Dealer Experience I’m avoiding the dealer for service work and warranty issues for two main reasons:

1. Safety Issues: After a hitch install when the vehicle was brand new (<100 miles), when I got home two lug nuts were missing the the last was finger-loose-almost-off; they almost all fell off on the drive home. The dealer sent a tech who brought new nuts, and then proceeded to under tighten them AGAIN: when I checked them with a torque wrench, they weren't even close to the 55 nm (41 lb-ft) spec.
2. Service Friction: Despite the Ford app stating rotations are included in the 10k service, the advisor was dismissive and quoted me $100+. Between that and the loose lugs, my trust in their service department is low.

The TPMS Struggle I tried to DIY the 5-tire sync this morning. I even ordered a Ford TPMS Syncing Tool (Item #FB4859) that arrives Sunday, but I wanted to solve it today.

• I set all tires to the same PSI. Then I attempted the hazard-light training mode again. While the front tires trained fine, the "new" tire in the rear-right position refused to register, even after dropping 5–10 PSI.
• The dash was still reading the PSI from the "old" spare (now on the back of the car) rather than the tire actually on the ground.

The Decision I was halfway to my reputable tire shop (a 45-minute drive) when I pulled over and changed my mind. I realized:

• Time vs. Reward: The effort to save 20% of tread life by rotating five tires is being eaten up by troubleshooting time.
• Replacement Logic: If I rotate five and blow one later, I’ll still likely have to buy two new tires to keep the tread depth within the 3-4mm matched range. If I keep the spare pristine, I already have my "replacement" ready to go.
• System Limits: It seems the Bronco system only wants to "active" train four sensors at a time. It's completely logical that the spare's sensor is just not activated, but this does not matter if I just use it as a spare.

Final Result: I found a flat lot, swapped the spare back to the rear carrier, and put the original four tires back in their starting positions. I ran the training sequence, and all four registered immediately. I’ll keep the syncing tool for the future, but for now, I’m sticking to the simplest path.

That said, if we believe all 5 tires have TPMS, I do not believe the 5th tire automatically is sensed when I add it to my vehicle. Is there a Ford Tech who can confirm that in the factory the 5th tire is added somehow? How would this work if only 4 can be synced at one time in training?

Onward and upward!

If the 4 tpms locations all work when you returned the spare to the rear hanger, then clearly the spare tpms is defective, or, the wrong one is installed. You can purchase a single Ford tpms and your tire dealer install when you are in the area. Make sure it us the right frequency, there are now two versions out there. Check via your VIN. I use CJ Pony Parts.

Regarding 5th tire rotation, the Works includes tire rotation, but, both dealers I use interpret that as 4 tires, not including the spare. When I insist, I just offer to pay extra for the 5th tire, acknowledging the extra time, all is good. When the Bronco first came out, One of the ways dealers avoided swapping the spare was by saying "there's no TPMS in the spare" and I had to insist. F150s, for example, have (had) a full-size spare underneath, but no TPMS. The Bronco has made dealers work harder.

 

[bgr33r]

Update:

I just visited the tire center. Together we scanned the original spare tire, finding a TPMS sensor is installed, an expected tire pressure (slightly higher than what’s on the car, purposely), and that it’s operating at 433 mhz (expected).



We also scanned all the tires on my car, finding expected tire pressures everywhere, and unique ids for all 5 sensors.



We discussed what happens if I get a flat. The tech explained that since my car has only 4 slots for pressures, when I have a flats, that tire will read ‘—‘ while the others will continue. I asked ‘would the new spare read automatically?’ and he started saying it would because all 5 tires are linked to my car. I said it didn’t after 2 trips. He backtracked to say I need to use an tpms electronics machine to add it to the car during training.



This leaves me thinking:

1. The machine is needed to add the spare to my car when it’s added
2. Or that maybe my spare has never been added

if I put the spare back into rotation, I’ll need to use a machine to add the tire.

 

[Fordified1]

2024 Black Diamond. My experience swapping tires and rotating Plus NEW dilemma. I have done a 5-tire rotation at home twice, and the bronco always picked up the spare in its new location. So two weeks ago I went from 35’s to 37’s at a local small independent Tire Shop. After the swap, only my fronts were picking up and the bronco was picking up the spare for the left rear. I knew it was the spare because it was 10 pounds higher pressure than the rest.. in the past rotations all of these automatically picked up the new location of the tires after a short drive. This time it refuses to. I assumed the shop had broken those two sensors so I bought new sensors that are preprogrammed, took them to the shop and he happily swapped them out. He broke the tires down and showed me that in fact the original sensors were not visually damaged. So now I have two new sensors that the Bronco atill doesn’t read. This makes me believe that something in the new software updates has changed. I don’t know what to do at this point. I need to take the truck in for some warranty work soon, so I’ll get them to get the sensors working again, but I wonder if the new software forces us to go to the dealership now versus the truck relearning on its own. I’m not generally a conspiracy theorist, but…. oh, I need to add to this. I took the spare all the way off and hid it around the other side of the house so that the truck would not pick it up so it’s blank reading on both rears still, I even unhooked the battery for a few minutes and hooked it back up and it started from scratch with the relearn and it still will not pick up the rear sensors. I actually did this before swapping them out same results.

 

[bgr33r]

2024 Black Diamond. My experience swapping tires and rotating Plus NEW dilemma. I have done a 5-tire rotation at home twice, and the bronco always picked up the spare in its new location. So two weeks ago I went from 35’s to 37’s at a local small independent Tire Shop. After the swap, only my fronts were picking up and the bronco was picking up the spare for the left rear. I knew it was the spare because it was 10 pounds higher pressure than the rest.. in the past rotations all of these automatically picked up the new location of the tires after a short drive. This time it refuses to. I assumed the shop had broken those two sensors so I bought new sensors that are preprogrammed, took them to the shop and he happily swapped them out. He broke the tires down and showed me that in fact the original sensors were not visually damaged. So now I have two new sensors that the Bronco atill doesn’t read. This makes me believe that something in the new software updates has changed. I don’t know what to do at this point. I need to take the truck in for some warranty work soon, so I’ll get them to get the sensors working again, but I wonder if the new software forces us to go to the dealership now versus the truck relearning on its own. I’m not generally a conspiracy theorist, but…. oh, I need to add to this. I took the spare all the way off and hid it around the other side of the house so that the truck would not pick it up so it’s blank reading on both rears still, I even unhooked the battery for a few minutes and hooked it back up and it started from scratch with the relearn and it still will not pick up the rear sensors. I actually did this before swapping them out same results.

Thanks for sharing your experience. I really hope it’s not a software update thing. Since I first posted I bought a TPMS-19 tool which immediately added tpms from the original 4 wheels which had been rotated. I did not move the spare back into rotation (again) - I moved onto other things. When I redo tires at end of life I’ll likely move the spare into rotation and ask my tire shop about the sensor again.

 

[Fordified1]

Thanks for sharing your experience. I really hope it’s not a software update thing. Since I first posted I bought a TPMS-19 tool which immediately added tpms from the original 4 wheels which had been rotated. I did not move the spare back into rotation (again) - I moved onto other things. When I redo tires at end of life I’ll likely move the spare into rotation and ask my tire shop about the sensor again.

I need to add to the above story the two that are picking up as they should are actually in the same location they were before the Tire swap, the other 2 are not. The one that was on the left rear before the tire swap is now the spare and apparently that’s why the truck wants to pick up the spare as my left rear. It’s just weird. Maybe it’s a glitch that Ford will fix once enough complaints happen..

 

[Fordified1]

Thanks for sharing your experience. I really hope it’s not a software update thing. Since I first posted I bought a TPMS-19 tool which immediately added tpms from the original 4 wheels which had been rotated. I did not move the spare back into rotation (again) - I moved onto other things. When I redo tires at end of life I’ll likely move the spare into rotation and ask my tire shop about the sensor again.

@Ducati1098

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