Valve Stems

When I went to put the snow tires on my car over the weekend I noticed the valve stems had serious dry rot type cracks in them! This could easily result in a tire blowout.

I believe these have only been in the wheels for 1 year, and only used during the Winter. I store them in a cool corner of the garage for the Summer, so really they only have about 6 months use which is amazing. Since I have a tire machine, I personally mounted the snow tires on the rims, and changed the valve stems when I put the tires on. Typically I try to use steel valve stems to avoid rubber defects, but these particular rims could not accommodate the steel valve stems. It is the first time I had an issue with a rubber valve stem, but reaffirms my belief in metal valve stems, and the need to change them frequently and check them often!

Whenever I do tires, I do stems.

There was a recall on rubber valve stems a while back. Maybe couple years or more. Check with a good tire dealer. The stems did what happened to yours. Discount Tire replaced a couple sets for me, although they weren't the brand that was failing, just because they were installed in that time frame.

Yeah, these ones I bought at the local auto parts store. They were Slime brand. Since I installed them myself, they were not part of the big recall several years ago. Either way, good idea to keep an eye on them.

got these today at Oriellys, about 9.00 for 4.

OReilly never used to carry metal stems. I have always had to buy them online. Identical product for about the same price. Good to know you can buy them locally now.

Just finished putting them on the wheels, I used a good bit of silicon on the inside and around the gasket just to be sure. Put some blue Loctite on the nut too.