Bought a 2011 Malibu with 225/50/18 wheels and tire's. Seems to be OK when it doesn't snow, but here in Nebraska that just doesn't happen.

Plan on buying some snow tire's and was wondering if I just by-pass the TPM valve stems if it would be an issue? Would it effect the computer or warranty in any way?

Was planning on putting on a 215/60/16 wheel with a snow tire and standard valve stems for winter then in spring going back to standard 225/50/18 in spring.

Any advice, what do you think.

Dennis

 

I'm not sure if bypassing the Pressure Monitor would be recommended or not. But, those 16" are going to be a smaller tire than the 18's. That's probably going to make a fair difference in the Speedometer, Braking and Handling.

Just to get a good reference, here's a calculator which does the comparison.

http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/infoTireMath.dos

 

The Tire Pressure light will be on constantly. Also, it's probably going to squawk "SVC TIRE MONITOR" in the DIC. Other than that, it doesn't affect driveability nor warranty.

 

Jake, just as an additional comment...
You haven't said if you have 2/4wd or ABS, but...
If it were me, I'd be putting the widest and tallest "snow" tires on your vehicle as would go in the hole. ie: using the 18" rims for that.

 

It's the old argument, to ride over (with fat, soft tires) or cut channel through (with narrow, tall tires). All but the base Malibu comes with 18" wheels and unnecessarily low profile tires for its class. If I were in the market for "winter tires," I'd look for something with 17" steel wheels and higher profile tires, just enough to keep the same overall diameter. There may be brake caliper clearance issues with 16" wheels.