6000lb camper, blown tire on the highway
First, I'm only guessing the weight. I can feel it's a little heavier than my former AF 1150. The DOT scale by my house has been closed since I got my new camper. But anyway... Coming back today...
Forum Discussion
The tire shops I've been in only stock one, maybe two types of tire valves. They like the snap in (rubber) type because they are cheaper to buy and quicker to install, so money is saved all around.
I purchase valve stems from a distributor who sells to tire shops. The distributor only keeps seven (7) in stock. Think about that. The typical tire shop has valve stems by the box and basket full, and the distributor has valve stems by the truck and trailer full... but of the particular all metal clamp in valve stem for the .453 rim hole of a stock steel Accuride wheel, the distributor only carries 7 stems. So I order them. When they restock, I order them again.
There are two types of rubber stems. The regular car ones (I forgot their trade number, but I think it is TR416), and then there is the one ton pickup truck OEM style TR600HP... which is rated for 80 psi. The problem has already been articulated by a poster above. While the valve stem is brass, the base is still a "snap-in" rubber style. It allows too much flexibility and whipping when a TPMS (or a dually valve extender) is mounted on the end of it.
But the all metal clamp in style stems have their problems too. There is still a rubber elastomer (square cut O ring) that is used to seal the base of the stem to the wheel. That rubber gasket can degrade, just like any other rubber can.
As yet another poster illustrated above, the nut on the all metal clamp in stem can loosen over time, causing air leaks which could potentially ruin a 19.5 tire in one trip, due to the steel belted sidewalls flexing too much, suffering rapid fatigue failure from over cycling like bending a coke can back and forth repeatedly. It suddenly severs, leading to zipper failure around the sidewall of the tire. So much for the more "durable" 19.5 tire expense.
Catch 22 though... if you tighten the metal nut on the clamp-in stem too much, you'll split crack that rubber gasket inside. It won't leak right away, though... not until the crack that started along the outer diameter of the rubber ring (from being squeezed down too tightly) propagates toward the inside diameter, leading to a full split that provides an escape path. Getting the correct torque on the clamp in valve stem is important.
Which is one reason why the OEM's came up with that TR600HP, which can be snapped in by a robot with more reliability and less process time than a metal stem can be fitted, aligned, nutted, and torqued by a more complex robot.
Still, I'd pay money to get all the TR600HPs on my truck switched out to the all metal clamp in style. One must first take care to learn about the specs of their wheels, to make sure the metal stem has the right hole diameter and rim land diameter for the stem, gasket, and nut.
I purchase valve stems from a distributor who sells to tire shops. The distributor only keeps seven (7) in stock. Think about that. The typical tire shop has valve stems by the box and basket full, and the distributor has valve stems by the truck and trailer full... but of the particular all metal clamp in valve stem for the .453 rim hole of a stock steel Accuride wheel, the distributor only carries 7 stems. So I order them. When they restock, I order them again.
There are two types of rubber stems. The regular car ones (I forgot their trade number, but I think it is TR416), and then there is the one ton pickup truck OEM style TR600HP... which is rated for 80 psi. The problem has already been articulated by a poster above. While the valve stem is brass, the base is still a "snap-in" rubber style. It allows too much flexibility and whipping when a TPMS (or a dually valve extender) is mounted on the end of it.
But the all metal clamp in style stems have their problems too. There is still a rubber elastomer (square cut O ring) that is used to seal the base of the stem to the wheel. That rubber gasket can degrade, just like any other rubber can.
As yet another poster illustrated above, the nut on the all metal clamp in stem can loosen over time, causing air leaks which could potentially ruin a 19.5 tire in one trip, due to the steel belted sidewalls flexing too much, suffering rapid fatigue failure from over cycling like bending a coke can back and forth repeatedly. It suddenly severs, leading to zipper failure around the sidewall of the tire. So much for the more "durable" 19.5 tire expense.
Catch 22 though... if you tighten the metal nut on the clamp-in stem too much, you'll split crack that rubber gasket inside. It won't leak right away, though... not until the crack that started along the outer diameter of the rubber ring (from being squeezed down too tightly) propagates toward the inside diameter, leading to a full split that provides an escape path. Getting the correct torque on the clamp in valve stem is important.
Which is one reason why the OEM's came up with that TR600HP, which can be snapped in by a robot with more reliability and less process time than a metal stem can be fitted, aligned, nutted, and torqued by a more complex robot.
Still, I'd pay money to get all the TR600HPs on my truck switched out to the all metal clamp in style. One must first take care to learn about the specs of their wheels, to make sure the metal stem has the right hole diameter and rim land diameter for the stem, gasket, and nut.
