Forum Discussion

Sorrentino100's avatar
Feb 13, 2021

Tire Valve Stems and Monitoring Class C

I am replacing tires on an older 1979 Dodge F40 chassis Class C. GVWR of 11,500 lbs.

The tires will eventually need to be rotated, so take that into consideration with your valve stem suggestions. With that in mind what should I be looking at in terms of valve stems? Also, any suggestions for a tire monitoring system? Even though the tires will be new, they are an off-brand bias-ply tire (Power King) because of the 16.5" rim size and I want to keep an eye on them.

Thanks!

6 Replies

  • PatJ's avatar
    PatJ
    Explorer II
    I have 2" steel stems on my rear tires which allow me to use a straight dually Milton gauge and similar inflation chuck (from Napa) which I carry with me. I would use an actual quality American made gauge before each trip no matter what type of monitoring system I had. Just my opinion.
  • DrewE's avatar
    DrewE
    Explorer III
    Rotating tires is somewhat of a moot point on most people's class C's because most people will have to replace the tires due to age long before the tread is worn. Tire rotation is mainly a technique to maximize tread life. Unless you plan on traveling cross country extensively, I wouldn't worry too much about the tire rotation part.

    (Then, too, if you have dually wheels, you should take care to keep the two tires on each end of the axle as closely matched in overall wear as possible, which limits one's options in how to do tire rotations. Moving a front tire to one half of a back tire pair is likely to be counter-productive.)
  • Because a tire is off brand does not mean it is not a quality tire. Just not heavily advertised in the US. Takes a bit of research.

    How many tires do you want to monitor?
  • Can’t help with TPMS as it’s not something I purchase.
    But regarding your wheels. You would be far better off picking up a set of 16” or 17” rims before buying new tires.
    It doesn’t make sense to use an obsolete size wheel, especially when complete sets of new or newer wheels are cheap and readily available.