Rotting valve stems on all four's

[JasonSnake]

Anyone else have this problem? From what I've been reading on the net, Chinese-made valve stems made huge rounds around the globe and I may be a victim.

I had my Nitto 555's installed along with new Bullitt wheels around three years ago along with new stems. A few days ago, I noticed one of my front wheels suspiciously low. I go put in some air and the meter showed just 15 PSI when I had aired up all tires to 34 a couple weeks ago. Upon closer inspection, there are cracks in all the stems and I could actually hear the one from the low tire letting out some air slowly through its crack. I'm pretty pissed right now.

I've been thinking of using Krazy Glue as a quick fix to hold them all together until I can tackle all four wheels which would take a chunk out of my wallet. What other options besides Krazy Glue do I have?

 

[bdcardinal]

That was about the time-frame when the bad ones came out. I seem to remember there was some program where they would be replaced for free if you could show proof of purchase. Of course tire shops will not disclose their supplier to very few claims were honored.

 

[Steve@TF]

im pretty sure all valve stems are made in china.
waterproof silicone would work better than krazy glue. it keeps 3 piece wheels air tight and ive also put globs of it around the bottom of valve stem as well as an extra precaution. home depot. $5 for a tube. allow at least 24 hours to dry (not getting wet)

 

[black92]

My Explorer had the same thing happen and I ended up taking the wheels off and using a 1-ton truck to drive over the tire to knock them off the bead (mark where the valve stem is to keep them in balance). Replaced the valve stems myself and all was good.

However, it's been three years and as much as it sucks it is what it is. I imagine it would cost around $75 to have new valve stems installed plus balanced???

Edit: If you do end up using glue, I'd let all the air out of the tires so the glue can penetrate deep without being pushed out from the air.

 

[B-O-B'03]

I received an email, from Discount Tire, a while back about replacing the valve stems in my van, there was a recall on them.

The stems on the Cobra are permanent, steel stems, since I had the chrome wheels mounted when the car was new, 12+ years ago.

They are definitely worth looking into, if you plan on keeping a car.

-Brian

 

[JasonSnake]

I Twitter'ed @KauffmanTire to see what their response will be. Most of the time I hear doing this results in satisfied customers so I'm hoping I can at least get a discount on getting them fixed. The problem is I don't have the receipt anymore after all this time so let's see..

 

[JasonSnake]

im pretty sure all valve stems are made in china.
waterproof silicone would work better than krazy glue. it keeps 3 piece wheels air tight and ive also put globs of it around the bottom of valve stem as well as an extra precaution. home depot. $5 for a tube. allow at least 24 hours to dry (not getting wet)

Hhhmmm, I'll have to check that out. Thanks!

 

[JasonSnake]

My Explorer had the same thing happen and I ended up taking the wheels off and using a 1-ton truck to drive over the tire to knock them off the bead (mark where the valve stem is to keep them in balance). Replaced the valve stems myself and all was good.

However, it's been three years and as much as it sucks it is what it is. I imagine it would cost around $75 to have new valve stems installed plus balanced???

Edit: If you do end up using glue, I'd let all the air out of the tires so the glue can penetrate deep without being pushed out from the air.

lol, that just doesn't sound safe, especially on lower profile tires if I were to try that. Did you finish with all your fingers intact?

 

[black92]

lol, that just doesn't sound safe, especially on lower profile tires if I were to try that. Did you finish with all your fingers intact?

It wasn't nearly as bad as it seems. With your lower profile tires, it will be harder to knock them off the bead. Personally though, I'd just go in and ask what they'll charge to change the valve stems as it might be cheaper than you think and you are in a better position than gluing the stems which means a flat when you don't want it. Then more money involved depending on the result of that.

 

[mrlrd1]

My Explorer had the same thing happen and I ended up taking the wheels off and using a 1-ton truck to drive over the tire to knock them off the bead (mark where the valve stem is to keep them in balance). Replaced the valve stems myself and all was good.

However, it's been three years and as much as it sucks it is what it is. I imagine it would cost around $75 to have new valve stems installed plus balanced???

Edit: If you do end up using glue, I'd let all the air out of the tires so the glue can penetrate deep without being pushed out from the air.

No balance required. Just break the outer bead, replace the valve stem, and reinflate. Tire location on the wheel remains the same as the inner bead keeps it in place.

 

[ford fanatic]

I guy here at work had a flat the other night, he went to put air in and the valve stem broke right off...tire was fine.

 

[08mojo]

Get the valve stems replace with the metal/bolt-in style stems. I had a valve stem fail in the past on the highway. It overheated the tire in the short amount of time it took me to pull over and the tire was ruined. That was a $500+ lesson...never again.

 

[SHOdown220]

I would just head to the tire shop. It shouldn't be very expensive. When I was doing tires I could lift a vehicle, remove 4 wheels, bust the bead, cut out old and install new stems, air them back up and zip them on in about 15-20 minutes. 35 bucks is what we charged.

 

[BlackHrtStang]

You can replace just the stems and the tore dosent have to come off.

Mojo metal stems are a little better but still use rubber gaskets to seal the opening and dry rot just like a reg rubber stem, same thing with bolt in tpms sensors.

 

[08mojo]

You can replace just the stems and the tore dosent have to come off.

Mojo metal stems are a little better but still use rubber gaskets to seal the opening and dry rot just like a reg rubber stem, same thing with bolt in tpms sensors.

True, but the rubber valve stem failed from bending/splitting open due to the centripetal force of the wheel turning. That's (hopefully) not going to happen with the metal stem.