Forum Discussion

philh's avatar
philh
Explorer II
Nov 02, 2020

Tire Valve Stem Cracking

TT is just under 2 years old. It's been sitting for almost a year, and I moved it from storage near our B&M to our new residence. Turned on TPMS, and I'm showing 50 PSI :( Got out my new Rigid air pump, and filled the tires...

Looking at the valve stems and they are cracked all over the stem. These are the cheap China Bombs that too many have reported "suddenly" blow, causing a lot of damage.

Even tho we will probably only have this TT for another year, I'm biting the bullet and putting on Goodyear tires tomorrow and adding a metal valve stem. We still have a trip planned to FL over Christmas.
  • dougrainer's avatar
    dougrainer
    Nomad
    Nov 02, 2020
    I work at a medium size RV dealership. Tens of thousands of customers over the years (41 years) Probably MILLIONS of tires over those years. NOT ONCE HAVE I HAD A CUSTOMER COME BACK AND COMPLAIN ABOUT A FAILURE OF VALVE STEMS. This post is much ado about NOTHING. Doug
  • time2roll's avatar
    time2roll
    Nomad
    Nov 02, 2020
    There was a recall some time ago on valve stems cracking and I had some of them. I would not be surprised to see poor quality stems still getting distributed.

    I recommend replacing all stems with either high pressure snap in or metal stems. Never get regular car stems on a trailer.
  • Dutch_12078's avatar
    Dutch_12078
    Explorer II
    Nov 02, 2020
    jjrbus wrote:

    The winner so far on damage to the coach from a catastrophic tire failure is $6200. Yes sixty two hundred dollars!

    I think the "winners" on that scale would be the folks that blew a front steer tire on their motorhome and ran off the road rolling it over...
  • jjrbus's avatar
    jjrbus
    Explorer
    Nov 02, 2020
    I use to bring up valve stems whenever anyone mentioned new tires. It seemed like no one ever paid attention so I quit!

    The winner so far on damage to the coach from a catastrophic tire failure is $6200. Yes sixty two hundred dollars!
  • Nv_Guy's avatar
    Nv_Guy
    Explorer III
    Nov 02, 2020
    I had a tire failure this last summer (1 yr old GY tires), after looking at the result I noticed the valve stem was gone. I have seen a lot of tire failures in my time (mine and others) and this is the first where the rubber stem was missing. End result, when I replaced the blown tire, the other 4 (included spare) got metal stems.
  • Ron3rd's avatar
    Ron3rd
    Explorer III
    Nov 02, 2020
    If you're running external TPMS sensors metal stems are required.
  • lhenry8113's avatar
    lhenry8113
    Explorer
    Nov 02, 2020
    Metal valve stems are definitely the way to go with your Good Year tires. "China Bombs" do unbelievable damage when they blow to the wheel well as well as the RV interior around the wheel well area.
  • Beverley_Ken's avatar
    Beverley_Ken
    Explorer
    Nov 02, 2020
    Yes, good quality rubber, not. On a trailer that we had, after about 2 or 3 years, during the winter. I saw that one tire was flat and another very soft. The soft tire and the always covered spare had very bad cracks in the rubber valve stems. The flat tire, the stem had actually broken off. I'm glad it happened in my driveway and not on the highway.

    Ken
  • RoyF's avatar
    RoyF
    Explorer
    Nov 02, 2020
    Metal stems are a good move. I don't know how many times I had to have a leaky valve stem replaced (and it's always during a trip) before switching to metal stems. And the cost of a good tire is cheap compared to the collateral damage caused by a blowout.

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