URGENT dealer wants to charge me $145 for "recalibration to new tire size"

[ShadowsPapa]

I didn't dig to far into it. I was asking about it when I was going to lift my wife's JL before I bought my gladiator. They are an aev sponsored shop so I'm assuming that's why they only mentioned the snap. I think they wanted $200 for the snap, they calibrate and that was included in a $600 labor install for the Mopar lift. I never went through with it as I have since bought my own toy and have been doing things myself.

Ah, gotcha.

And for $100, I can do it myself over and over...........

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[mtudb24]

maybe I am missing something here, but the Jeep dealer will do this for $125 bucks?

 

[Hootbro]

maybe I am missing something here, but the Jeep dealer will do this for $125 bucks?

Not exactly, MSRP for just the software calibration download is $125. Dealer cost for it is $100. Then there is whatever labor charge the dealer wants to add on top of that to perform the calibration.

 

[Klicht87]

I didn't mean to hijack this thread with some of my posts. I think in summary, every dealer is different and will charge something different depending on the software they use. It sounds like the majority of jeep owners, at least those that contribute to these forums, will most likely do it themselves via JSCAN, TAZER, or any other programmer floating around. Those are obviously more bang for your buck because of the other options a user can change.

I'll be going the JSCAN route when I eventually upsize my tires and won't pay the dealer for a service like this but for those of you that don't intend to buy a programmer, you may have to hunt around at dealers for the best price...maybe try offroad shops for a better deal.

 

[AHenry014]

In the very early JL days after release, the dealer techs using their OEM WiTech scan tool could just change the tire size calibration. Jeep then implemented a program called "Mopar Custom Calibration" that required the dealerships to purchase basically what was a quasi vehicle protection plan for them to be able to download the software to update a particular customers vehicle. The software was VIN specific to do the upgrade and also put the sales code into the Jeep system that if there was any future PCM software upgrades applicable to vehicle, it would catch the tire size change and not zero it out.

The dealership actually has to purchase that software custom calibration and take the additional time to process it. That increase cost in addition to the actual labor time to do the update is passed on the customer.

When Jeep went to the Mopar Custom Calibration scheme, that also blanked out the ability of the dealer tech to do it manually once their WiTech tool was eventually updated later.

This sounds along the lines of what they were trying to do, along with the BS of "youll have issues with your brakes and steering if we dont!". Again, I used Jscan to recal the new tire size when I put them on, so I am good. The speedo is between 1-1.5mph too fast compared to GPS, which is about where it was when I recalibrated it, so either they recal'ed for the same, or didnt mess with what I did. I think this tread sparked some good conversation. Thanks all!

In other news, received a service history via email when I dropped the jeep off. Turns out the steering gear TSB was done when it had 17k miles on it. Has 29k on it now and the steering feels great. Guess that's a bonus finding from all this.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I didn't mean to hijack this thread with some of my posts. I think in summary, every dealer is different and will charge something different depending on the software they use.

And labor rates.........
The closest dealer to me has lower labor rates but isn't really adept electrically. The dealer I bought from is bigger and charges a lot more but they have better techs (and smarter sales staff, too)

Again, I used Jscan to recal the new tire size when I put them on, so I am good. The speedo is between 1-1.5mph too fast compared to GPS, which is about where it was when I recalibrated it, so either they recal'ed for the same, or didnt mess with what I did. I think this tread sparked some good conversation. Thanks all!

Are you meaning he analog dial speedometer or the digital big fat white numbers?
We're seeing the analog dial speedo is typically higher than truth. Mine reads roughly 2 mph higher at 35 mph, for example, than reality. Digital is closer.
I used the odometer to get mine set and it's spot-on. (at least until I wear the tires bald, or buy new tires)

In other news, received a service history via email when I dropped the jeep off. Turns out the steering gear TSB was done when it had 17k miles on it. Has 29k on it now and the steering feels great. Guess that's a bonus finding from all this.

Bravo! Good to hear. Always good to get some positive news.

 

[AHenry014]

Are you meaning he analog dial speedometer or the digital big fat white numbers?
We're seeing the analog dial speedo is typically higher than truth. Mine reads roughly 2 mph higher at 35 mph, for example, than reality. Digital is closer.

The analog speedo is hard to read or compare to due to the parallax effect, so I was comparing the digital readout to the "speedometer" app on my phone. The digital speedo is approximately 1-1.5mph faster than the GPS.

 

[briscoelab]

Also, keep in mind that when comparing to GPS indicated speed that you should not have your iPhone plugged into the infotainment system when doing a comparison. For some reason, Waze, etc, will read speed from the Jeep instead of GPS speed when plugged in. Just unplug it and stick it up on your dash and set your cruise control... compare numbers from the digital readout.

This has lead a more than a few people making claims their speedo was spot on after changing tire sizes.

You can also just take the percentage it's off and easily do the math to figure out exactly how much you need to increase size in Tazer/Jscan to get it dialed in, without having to measure the tire size at all.

 

[AHenry014]

Also, keep in mind that when comparing to GPS indicated speed that you should not have your iPhone plugged into the infotainment system when doing a comparison. For some reason, Waze, etc, will read speed from the Jeep instead of GPS speed when plugged in. Just unplug it and stick it up on your dash and set your cruise control... compare numbers from the digital readout.

This has lead a more than a few people making claims their speedo was spot on after changing tire sizes.

You can also just take the percentage it's off and easily do the math to figure out exactly how much you need to increase size in Tazer/Jscan to get it dialed in, without having to measure the tire size at all.

good info! and good point with the % off for changing tire size.

 

[hendrixjr]

On the same topic, I asked the dealer about activating the passive entry ( I replaced the door handles and door wiring harness) and they wanted $160. I just purchased JSCAN and did it myself.

 

[Hootbro]

Also, keep in mind that when comparing to GPS indicated speed that you should not have your iPhone plugged into the infotainment system when doing a comparison. For some reason, Waze, etc, will read speed from the Jeep instead of GPS speed when plugged in. Just unplug it and stick it up on your dash and set your cruise control... compare numbers from the digital readout.

This has lead a more than a few people making claims their speedo was spot on after changing tire sizes.

You can also just take the percentage it's off and easily do the math to figure out exactly how much you need to increase size in Tazer/Jscan to get it dialed in, without having to measure the tire size at all.

So WAZE has access to the vehicle speed signal through the radio CAN BUS messaging traffic?

Got a reference for that? Maybe my Google foo sucks but I cannot find any reference to WAZE getting the vehicle speed signal.

 

[briscoelab]

Waze, google maps, and Apple maps. They will all display vehicle indicated speed like the in house sat nav in the radio when plugged in.

I was surprised too. But I verified in 4 different vehicles. 3 of these when changing tire sizes one just artificially setting tire size wrong with Jscan

It’s easy to verify. Just use JScan and set a wrong tire size. Turn on waze with it plugged in, then unplug and watch it change.

This has been discussed in the forums before too, if you care to dig it up.

It nearly got me a speeding ticket once when the dealer flashed my ecu during a service and I didn’t know. ?

 

[Snow Army]

The biggest problem is people keep bring there vehicle's back to the dealerships after they buy them. All your doing is buying into fairy tales about warranty. It's all bull shit and the sooner everyone realize it, the better off they will be. BUT! I know why everyone keeps going there, it's because the vehicles are way over priced and everyone is heavily leverage on them, a repair on a transmission for example could cost someone two to three months of payments that they didn't account for on there vehicle, so I get the abuse everyone is going to put up with. If you can find a good TRUSTING mechanic and just walk away from those dealership's You will be better off. Plus we are Jeep people we should be able to work on most of this stuff on our own.

 

[AHenry014]

The biggest problem is people keep bring there vehicle's back to the dealerships after they buy them. All your doing is buying into fairy tales about warranty. It's all bull shit and the sooner everyone realize it, the better off they will be. BUT! I know why everyone keeps going there, it's because the vehicles are way over priced and everyone is heavily leverage on them, a repair on a transmission for example could cost someone two to three months of payments that they didn't account for on there vehicle, so I get the abuse everyone is going to put up with. If you can find a good TRUSTING mechanic and just walk away from those dealership's You will be better off. Plus we are Jeep people we should be able to work on most of this stuff on our own.

I have my own tire mounting machine and balancer at home. The balancer is from 2006 and does great with "normal" stuff, but not so great with bigger tires. After much trial and error over the years, I wrote my balancer off on anything larger than 33" and/or anything heavy, but gave this wheel set a try after a recent recalibration. Nope, still not great, hence my reason to go "out of house" for this balance. In the past, I've just dropped them off at the most convenient garage and picked them up when they were done with hit or miss results. Fairly recently, I dropped off two sets of wheels at my local firestone tire to have them balanced. One set was mud terrains on steel wheels (very heavy), and the other was a set of raptor wheels that I had on my F150, so 315/70r17's (same size as the jeep). They did an OK job with both sets, but neither were perfect. They were also expensive, about 25 a wheel, so I wasn't going back.

In short, Ive done my due diligence when it comes to tire balancing. Big tires need more attention. This time around, I figured I would give the "road force balance" a shot. Since dealers pop up as the only local spots with them, off to the dealer I went! At 67 bucks out the door, it was a bargain, and they did a nice job.

 

[jay21mojave]

Sounds like I'd be finding another dealership because that's load of BS. JSCAN or Tazer are all that is required.

Not a Lie,, the factory charges dealers for the program, per VIN, it was $125 previously per the service mgr, a very good friend of mine at the dealership that works on all mine.

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