Valve stem leaks

[kdrickard]

I went to prep the tires tonight for our first trip of the season this weekend, and while filling the tire on the shady side (little/no sun exposure) had the valve stem blow and start to leak. Checked the other side (some sun but not all day) and found if I gently wiggled the valve stem it would leak a little.

The tires -- Goodyear Marathons -- are about 2 1/2 years old or less, but since I'll have to pull the tires to replace the valve stems I am thinking I might also replace the tires to avoid having to pull them again in a year or three for replacement due the the "hassle factor". What is irritating is that both stems are bad, and I can say they have only been touched to keep the tires at the proper inflation and have been handled with some care when filling and checking tire pressure.

The TM valve stems have always seemed a bit soft/wiggly compared to car tire stems, and I plan to ask if there is something better to replace these with as I get these repaired.

Any thoughts are appreciated as it looks like I need to get two repairs done over the next several days, and am wondering when I'll need to evaluate the spare.

Thanks,

Kevin

[Bill]

Where is the leak? Is it where the rubber stem penetrates the steel wheel? Or is it around the valve core? If it is where the stem comes out of the wheel, I don't know anything to do about it. If it is around the valve core, there are a couple things to try.
1. Depress the valve firmly and let a big whoosh of air escape. This may blow out a little piece of grit, which will let the valve seal.
2. Tighten the valve core, in case it is a bit loose. There are special valve core wrenches, but the easiest thing is to replace the valve caps with caps that have a built-in wrench. The "wrench" is actually a slotted "tower" on top of the valve cap. A pair costs about a buck at Wal Mart.
3. Replace the valve core - unscrew the old one, throw it away, and screw in a new one. Again, about a buck at Wal Mart. Of course you will do this when you are parked beside an air hose, since you will likely lose a lot of air while you do it.

Bill

[YWORRYDOG]

I had read somewhere before about a valve stem problem on recent TM's,(was it here?) I think that it is a “cheap” stem that was used for a while and it deteriorates

[ripp1202]

Try this http://www.trailmanorowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3579

[kdrickard]

Thanks. Yep, looks like cracked valve stems in the rubber seal near the hole in the wheel. Took one wheel in this morning to the local tire shop and got the valve replaced, still need to do the other wheel. Blows my mind that someone would try to save what has to be less than a buck per stem and use cheap parts when the part is so critical to safe operation of their product. Good news is it happened in the driveway and not on the road.



Kevin

[PopBeavers]

Well, I had the same problem 2 weeks ago on one of the stems to TV wheel. Cracked rubber very near the wheel.

I have a great mechanic. I have two kids so my mechanic keeps 4 cars on the road for me. We drive 80k miles per year combined. He doesn't waste his cashiers time charging me for little things like replacing valve stems.

[live2shopnc]

I had to replace mine last year and forgot about the spare tire. Before I went on my Christmas trip I checked the spare only to find the valve stem was was cracked all the way around and the tire flat.