Interstate tire failure - any other cases?

[InterBlog]

Yesterday afternoon I was sitting in my rig, on the couch, at my boondocking property in eastern Canada, when all of a sudden I heard a very loud SSSSSSSSSSS....

Dashing outside, I quickly determined that the valve stem had spontaneously failed on the rear driver side tire, as the rig was peacefully parked. By pressing against the stem with my thumb, I could halt almost all the leak. I piled boulders against the stem to press on it and buy me enough time to crawl under the chassis and position the on-board jack to prevent the rim from transmitting the entire weight load to the tire, which intuitively seemed like a bad idea (there are no jacking points near the rear exterior side of the T1N chassis as there are with passenger cars... only underneath).

As of this morning, Good Sam's downstream contractor is still trying to find me a local servicer who can deal with this. From this location, I'll consider mounting our spare tire only as a last resort - knowing that in 99 percent of all tire incident scenarios, it would not be safe for me to change it myself, I never vetted that spare. I don't know how fit is is for service (it was on my to-do list to find out). This is why I pay for Good Sam.

Question is, has anyone ever heard of spontaneous valve stem failure on these rigs? My father and I have almost 100 years of driving experience between us, and we have not heard of any such thing on any vehicle. Even the Good Sam delegated contractor has not heard of such a thing. I've had to explain it to them several times that this is what actually happened. There was no damage. There was no roadway incident. It just failed as I was sitting here.

I'm wondering if it could be related in any way to the wheels used by Airstream. I have limited connectivity and can't research it effectively. Thanks.

[xrvr]

Stems should have been replaced when tires last replaced. Six to eight years on tires. I have metal stems put on my tires. Valve stem failures is one of the most common tire problems. Good luck

[Lily&Me]

Bummer, IB...and, no.

On probably the 4th set of tires on mine, and never that kind of problem.


Maggie

[Protagonist]

Rigid metal stem, or flexible rubber stem?

I have heard of flexible stems spontaneously leaking. Back in the days before TPMS, when most stems were rubber, the conventional wisdom was to replace the stem every time you replaced the tire, because stems dry-rotted, too.

If you try to put aftermarket TPMS sensors on a rubber valve stem, the extra weight of the sensor causes the valve stem to wobble on every rotation of the wheel as gravity fights centrifugal force at the top of the rotation and adds to it at the bottom of the rotation. This can cause the stem to wear out more quickly. If you use aftermarket TPMS sensors, they should always be placed on metal valve stems.

Now that TPMS is mandatory for new vehicles under 10,000 pounds GVWR, rubber stems are uncommon. I have not heard of rigid metal stems developing spontaneous leaks. So far.

You do have a functional emergency jacking point at the rear of the van— if you need it— on the hitch receiver where it bolts to the frame. It's not shown as such in the manual, but it should be strong enough to do the job because the receiver reinforces the frame to prevent bending. But the OEM jack doesn't necessarily have enough lift to raise the tire off the ground if placed at that point.

[Titus]

I have never heard of a leak as you have described, but would be thankful that it did not occur while driving. I had my cheap rubber stems replaced with metal stems at my first tire rotation. The plastic extension on the inner rear did not accept air, an thus was useless. I wanted to replace the plastic with a better (metal) extension but was concerned about the extra mass tugging on the rubber stem. The metal stems will also facilitate us of a TPMS at some future time.

You apparently do not have duals on the back. I would not be afraid to have one rear dual holding up the other dual on that side, but sure would not drive anywhere like that.

I don't know which of the three rims (front, inner rear, outer rear) the spare tire/rim can be used for, but I think you were wise to call for service.

[InterBlog]

Rubber stems, no TPMS, no dually, tires in excellent condition just under 3 years old. Hower LB_3 and I were not the ones who had the tire installation done - our flipper did that, or the owner before him. Thus we have no idea about stem history.

Contractor is due in about 3 hours and reportedly grew up in this general area so odds are good that he'll be able to locate me.

[ben322]

I've been using the high pressure valve stems on my cars for years but the all-metal type is a better alternative for the Sprinter.

Good information here: http://www.tirereview.com/make-the-r...y-as-it-seems/

[InterBlog]

Rocks still pressing on stem, see the blue jack under to the left. Tire still in contact with ground but you can tell from the wheel well that most of the weight is bearing on the jack, not the tire.

[InterBlog]

Everyone gets educated by virtue of my mishaps. The correct valves were on the tires (high pressure) but see how this one split. After the tire is remounted, I will go back to the shop for replacement of the other 3.

[InterBlog]

The most amazing thing just happened: as the tire guy was packing up to leave after fixing the stem, THE OTHER REAR TIRE VALVE STEM SPONTANEOUSLY LET GO. What are the odds?? As soon as this is done, I'm heading straight back to their shop for the final two replacements. Assuming that I get that far.

[Lotus54]

Back when I worked for Sears doing tyres, we would always change the valve stems every tyre change. And the tyres didn't last nearly as long back then, but still replace. Yeah, some of that is more income generated, but also makes sure no valve stem failure.
Since one stem failed, it doesn't surprise me the other did also, I'd replace them all. (Maybe I'd better go check mine, no clue when the tyres or stems were replaced last- and the specs calls for 80psi F/R)

Good thing the guy was there!

[Air99]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

The most amazing thing just happened: as the tire guy was packing up to leave after fixing the stem, THE OTHER REAR TIRE VALVE STEM SPONTANEOUSLY LET GO. What are the odds?? As soon as this is done, I'm heading straight back to their shop for the final two replacements. Assuming that I get that far.

Incredible! Thanks for keeping us informed!

[GCinSC2]

Both rears? Wow.

Any tire stem chewing zombies been seen it the area?

Any chance for mischief and troublemakers?

Good luck.

[amirm]

Sharp rocks may have cut through that and as such, did the same to the other one. Doesn't look like dry rot or anything.

IB, didn't you say you have recently improved that road?

[FlyFishinRVr]

Originally Posted by GCinSC2

Both rears? Wow.

Any tire stem chewing zombies been seen it the area?

Any chance for mischief and troublemakers?

Good luck.

My guess is pixies or garden gnomes. Both are known tire-stem-chewers.

Best luck IB. Once this little "adventure" is over, let karma work its magic and go buy a lottery ticket. I'm pretty sure you're due for some balance....

[lovetokite]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

The most amazing thing just happened: as the tire guy was packing up to leave after fixing the stem, THE OTHER REAR TIRE VALVE STEM SPONTANEOUSLY LET GO. What are the odds?? As soon as this is done, I'm heading straight back to their shop for the final two replacements. Assuming that I get that far.

Dang...I would buy a lottery ticket...lol...

[weirdstuff]

Well, we didn't have spontaneous leaks, like you, but we did have a slow leak that was attributed to the valve stem. And of course, it was while on the road in Newfoundland...nowhere near a place that could fix it! Pumped up our tire with the bike pump for a few days, until we got to Stephensville, where the mechanics who had never seen a Sprinter van, figured out how to jack it up and fix it.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by amirm

Sharp rocks may have cut through that and as such, did the same to the other one. Doesn't look like dry rot or anything.

IB, didn't you say you have recently improved that road?

Sharp rocks cutting the valve stems wold have also scarred the tire sidewalls. Rocks aren't terribly selective in the targets they hit, unless they're top secret guided missile rocks.

And the shape of the wheel rim doesn't allow the valve stem to protrude farther out than the tire sidewall, so any thrown rocks would have been more likely to hit the sidewall than the valve stem. Plus the damage seems to completely circle the stem, which a rock wouldn't do.

My guess as to the cause of the failure is simple age-related decrepitude.

[InterBlog]

Road is new but no rocks touched these things. I had it all done in fine-grained gravel.

After the second one failed, tire guy replaced that one in the field and then drove slowly the 25 miles back to civilization so that I could follow him closely. We got back to the shop and they replaced the final two there.

Tire guy said he would never, ever leave a stem on a truck for more than two years for exactly this reason. Three years reading all the forums and I never knew that tire stems were A Thing until just now.

In this neck of the woods, such failures are rare because smart people are still using snow tires ("all season" tires exist, but do not perform). So tire stems are replaced 2x every year as standard procedure.

I'll close for now with an observation on humanity.

Y'all know that Interstates attract intense public interest. At least, they do during those times when we are not having natural disasters. Typically people look at me and all they see is this Interstate. Right now the ONLY thing they see is its license plate. They rush up and ask if I'm from Houston and are my people OK? And I tell them that my husband and I live in one of the hardest-hit areas but we personally didn't flood. My husband is due to fly up to meet me - this whole trip was designed to revolve around our ten-year anniversary. Now we don't know if he'll make it, but our lot in life is so much better than countless other people's. I haven't been able to read many threads; I hope that Tayara and McRider and the local TT folks are all OK. My thoughts are with them.

[amirm]

Actually I came to the forum to create a thread to see if you are safe and saw this and realized you were not home. So sigh of relief.

Watching the news as I type this. One amazing storm. Hope everyone gets out safe and recovery is not too difficult.