Forum Discussion

BillHoughton's avatar
BillHoughton
Explorer II
Sep 13, 2018

Filling inside rear tires

I've tried a couple of different types of valve extensions on my 2007 Itasca Navion. The rigid extensions that were on it when we bought it in 2014 were vibrating against the outer wheel where they came through the wheel vents/handholds, and one wore almost through (caught it before a trip instead of ON the trip, yay!).

I've got flex extensions on it now, but, when I checked today, two months after our last trip, one side was down to 30 pounds, and the other down to 40; so they're both slowly leaking down. They held fine during the trip, so maybe I need to be content with checking and topping up the inner rear tires monthly, and checking diligently while on the road.

One mechanic at our local tire center says all extensions are bad, and recommends getting rid of them. But then, says I to myself, how will I check and fill the inner tires? I can't quite fit my hand into the wheel vents, and am having trouble understanding how I'd accurately fit a tire gauge and then an air hose in there.

If I had a grandchild with smaller hands and good dexterity, I'd just take her/him along to do that...but, lacking that, am stumped.

Ideas will be appreciated.