Valve stem extenders and wheel balance

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I have searched for this a bit and have not seen an answer. How do you compensate for balancing the tires when you add valve stem extenders to your duallies?

I am going to have to get new tires probably sometime next year. So at the same time, I am going to at least get metal valve stems - but also whatever I need to make my life easier when checking the tire pressure on the dual's. But I dont want to break things at the same time.

[bka0721]

I always struggled with the duals on my Ford Truck, trying to get in that limited space for a check or adding air. Rather than add something to my tire stem valves, I just made my air gauge chuck longer and angled right to work. This was for filling the tires, or on the air gauge. Like many others, I didn't want to have something flailing around or add weight.

b

[Raften]

Pretty much the way I think big toe. I did make the mistake of putting on too short metal stems. Makes getting a big head gauge in harder with a big head gauge. Half inch or so longer when I get new tires. Be awhile for that as these Ribs last a long time.

[BigToe]

Everything has been said in the first three posts.

On the last post, I've had a situation where I needed to use an inside dual on the front, due to an unexpected blow out of an unused tire on the steer axis, and the spare was unavailable that day.

So even though as a rule, I do not routinely rotate drive tire pairs with the steer axle, on this day, for this incident, I needed to mount that inside dual on the front steer axle to make it home.

While I have often wanted those longer solid metal valve stems on the inside rears, I was very thankful that all of the (semi) permanently attached valve stems were the same type and length, which permitted the interchangeability of tires and wheels in all 7 positions.

[Raften]

I have been running the hose extenders on my 01 since new and can't say I have noticed balance issues. Over the years I have had air leak problems but in retrospect I think I may have caused some of those.

A word of caution, do not buy the extenders that allow the hose to remain under pressure in use, good chance for a slow leak. Twice for me till I figured it, yea I'm slow. Taking off tires to get to a inner stem in desert sand is no fun. Get extra o rings for the extensions and change them any time you have the wheels off and you should avoid leaks. No one I know has ever had a hose come off and whip around.

The metal stems are appealing but I wonder if you have to switch them around among the wheels if you rotate tires.

[eubank]

Get the tires, have them balanced, and purchase Centramatics to mount behind the wheels. That will also compensate for imbalances in the remaining running gear.

http://centramatic.com/Home.aspx

🙂
Lynn

[IAMICHABOD]

The last thing you want to do is put those flexible extenders on your valve stems. They have a tendency to leak and if they get loose from the anchoring point they can flop around and not only do damage to your wheel but suddenly deflate the tire.

What is needed is a extended valve stem that will let you quickly check your tire pressure. They add no extra weight like the Extenders would and balancing is no problem.
The best on the market is The Tire Man
Chuck is the original designer of these an he has been around for years. If you have any questions just give him a call, he is always happy to help.

I and a lot of others on the Class C forum have used them for years with no problems and we can check the pressure if our Duallys in minutes with ease.