Valve stems and TPMS

[cosmotini]

I was washing our trailer this weekend when I noticed that the Pressure-Pro TPMS had made marks on each of the trailer's wheels. Today, I took it to a local tire shop and had them switch out the rubber valve stems with metal ones. I was happy with the amount they charged. All 4 for $21.50.

Another nice thing I found was that all of the wheels had been balanced. There are weights on the back side of each wheel. The installer made sure he did not move the tire on the wheel. He deflated it, broke the bead, removed the old valve stem and then installed the new one.

I'll have to try to rub out the mark on the wheel but I'm thinking it will become part of the trailer's "character".

[2airishuman]

good info cosmotini!

clearly the monitoring heads are heavy enough to move the rubber stems...

richL had a rubber stem failure recently, that he attributed to aging,

but it may have been precipitated by the monitor nubs.

good of the tire shop to do the balance too!

a metal stem and monitor head clearly alter balance a tad.

i'm still holding out for tpms that go INSIDE the tire at the stem, like some oem versions.

cheers
2air'

[2dabeach]

Originally Posted by cosmotini

I was washing our trailer this weekend when I noticed that the Pressure-Pro TPMS had made marks on each of the trailer's wheels. Today, I took it to a local tire shop and had them switch out the rubber valve stems with metal ones. I was happy with the amount they charged. All 4 for $21.50.

Another nice thing I found was that all of the wheels had been balanced. There are weights on the back side of each wheel. The installer made sure he did not move the tire on the wheel. He deflated it, broke the bead, removed the old valve stem and then installed the new one.

I'll have to try to rub out the mark on the wheel but I'm thinking it will become part of the trailer's "character".

Thanks for the information. I've had them on my trailer for 8 mos/3,300 miles and have not yet noticed a problem. Will definitly get metal stems before heading south for the winter.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, I was wondering about Airstream useing rubber valve stems on their trailers; My trailer came with metal valve stems, but some others, same model year as mine [actually same year, same model, same wheels, and same size trailer.] were made with rubber valve stems installed. Was this random or a dated production change?

[dznf0g]

Thought I'd revive this as I had 3 valve stem failures on my recent trip to Arizona and Colorado. One in Missouri, one the next day in Oklahoma and the third the next week in Kansas.

First, the Doran TPMS worked perfectly, paying for itself at least twice over as all tires were stopped at or above 57 psi and no tire damage occurred or replacement necessary. These systems are a must have, IMO.

I had the high pressure rubber and brass stems and that is all each tire store had to replace my leaking ones with.

Two of the tire stores said the external sensors screwed onto the stems had no bearing on the failure....and the third one said, "what's them things?"

After returning home I have found bolt on all metal stems that I think will fit into the small recesses of the Sendel T02s.

Just a heads up...the first two stores said they have seen a rise in failure rates of Chinese stems and inner tubes (on larger trucks).

[TBRich]

We had a rubber valve stem failure shortly after installing PressurePros....pressure went from 65 lbs to 14 lbs in seconds...glad we were at a stop light in town! We then had metal stems installed. No problems since.

[dznf0g]

I should mention that the stems I had on mine were the high pressure metal and rubber ones which are for LT tires and 80+psi, not the regular passenger car/P metric truck tire stems. They all split down low at the rim interface.

[switz]

Use metal valve stems if all possible. Rubber stems get hot, like the tires, and can fatigue quicker.

[dznf0g]

I have ordered bolt on flush mounted all metal stems. I am hopeful that they will fit in the small recess of the Sendel wheels. I checked for heat and the tires, hubs, nor wheel rim area was any hotter than you would expect and within a few degrees of the truck tires and wheels. I don't think heat was the issue. in addition it was fairly cool...between 80* - 95* on each of the days in question. I don't think these stems, tires or wheels have ever run in 100*+ temps.

They were 22 months old and had 6000 - 7000 miles on them. They were covered while in storage.