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Old 02-27-2005, 03:34 AM   #1
jackw87
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Metal Valve Stems

I was trasveling on I40 when someone called me on the CB and told me that I had a flat on the montana when I stopped I found that the Rubber valve stem had blown out I was lucky that it did no damage to the tire As soon as I got to a tire repair shop I had Metal stems installed in all 5 tires have not had that problem again
 
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Old 02-27-2005, 07:03 AM   #2
Glenn and Lorraine
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The only way the rubber valve stem can blow out is if it wasn't installed properly in the first place. If they are not seated properly in the wheel they will blow out. In all my years in the tire business I can only think of 3 situations where the valve stem came out of the wheel.

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Old 02-27-2005, 11:40 AM   #3
jackw87
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everyone can't be an expert but dot requires metal stems if tire preasure is over 60psi
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Old 02-27-2005, 12:11 PM   #4
Glenn and Lorraine
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That I didn't know. Must be a recent change. Would like to pass this onto my brother and a couple other friends that are still in the tire business. As they are very skeptical over anything that comes over the internet could you give me a link to that particular DOT regulation?

TIA
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Old 02-27-2005, 01:42 PM   #5
sreigle
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Glenn, I have one for you that might be the 4th situation! I had one melt out of the hole.
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Old 02-27-2005, 02:36 PM   #6
jackw87
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I don't have a link I was informed by my father that ran hot shot trailers hauling steel in Indiana and Ohio and had to stop on all scales and Dot checks I weas only telling about the fact that I had one blow out what you do with the info is up to you I will have metal stems in my montana Ialso sent a email to the Dot and requested info from them will let youknow what they say when I get a answer
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Old 03-02-2005, 06:15 PM   #7
Trailer Trash 2
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by jackw87

everyone can't be an expert but dot requires metal stems if tire preasure is over 60psi
jackw87 if what you are saying about DOT and tire pressure over 60 lbs. then Montana has been selling all there trailers with impropper valve stems because my tires take 80 lbs if I'm not mistaking, I dont have it here to read the tires air ratings but I'm prity sure.

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Old 03-03-2005, 04:16 AM   #8
sreigle
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Most Montanas have Load Range E tires with max psi at 80. Some have Load Range D, with max at 65.

I also am not aware of any requirement for steel stems although I do prefer those also. I suspect if there's a DOT requirement here it might be for commercial vehicles as opposed to private vehicles. But I really don't know either way. Just wanted to add the possibility about it being for commercial vehicles.
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Old 03-03-2005, 05:52 AM   #9
Glenn and Lorraine
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I have searched the USDOT and I find nothing.

I have spoken to my brother and he is not aware of any such regulation. At least not in the truck and trailer tires that we encounter in the RV's and TV's that we are all using. He felt there may be some regs when you get into the larger tubeless truck tire sizes ranging in size from 19.5" to 24.5".
I also inquired at the local Tire Kingdom and they made pretty much the same comment as my brother.
Quote:
quote:Glenn, I have one for you that might be the 4th situation! I had one melt out of the hole.
How in the world did that happen? Most of heated up a bearing or the brakes were dragging.

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Old 03-03-2005, 04:14 PM   #10
sreigle
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by Glenn and Lorraine

Quote:
quote:Glenn, I have one for you that might be the 4th situation! I had one melt out of the hole.
How in the world did that happen? Most of heated up a bearing or the brakes were dragging.

Very close, Glenn. I used to tow a 19' bass boat behind a 25' fifthwheel. Because of Kansas winds and my desire to keep this thing from swaying I had two friction sway bars on the boat trailer. The boat trailer had surge brakes. One time I cranked those sway bars down a wee bit too much and after the first stop the surge brakes did not release, or at least not fully. About 75 miles later I pulled into a parking lot, got out and saw smoke coming out of the boat trailer wheels. That black smoke went probably 75 feet in the air. Sure wish I had a camera with me. I'd swear they were on fire but I saw no flames. I unhitched the boat trailer and got clear across the parking lot until the smoke stopped. It melted the valve stems so they were just laying there. The tires were totally flat, of course. Strange thing was I had a number of pretty steep hills on the way home and never noticed anything amiss. Didn't seem to tow any harder or anything. And I couldn't see the boat trailer back there except on turns. So I had no clue until I stopped in that parking lot.
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Old 03-04-2005, 03:04 AM   #11
Thunderman
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My 2955rl has rubber stems with a metal collar around the stem. It is held in place by the stem cap. Cheap....

My old 5er made by Thor also had E wheels and tires but it came with all metal stems. Have a good day!
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Old 03-04-2005, 09:02 AM   #12
Rex & Mary
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I'm a full-timer and spend the winters (7 months/yr.) on the lower desert at Bullhead City, AZ. After three seasons I feel the power of the sun and the dry climate cracked and rotted my rubber valve stems. You guessed it, wasn't paying attention, and last summer at Lake Tahoe ended up with two flat tires on the same side. I couldn't even get the door to latch. The solution for me was new stainless steel valve stems. Bought my second Montana in December and this thread reminded me that my stainless steel valve stems went with the old Montana.
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Old 03-05-2005, 04:06 PM   #13
Jim B
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The rubber valve stems with the metal collor are an authorized replacement for the all steel ones. They also came on my one ton dodge dully. My previous Th wheel (Jayco) had steel valve stems. My 2001 Dodge dully also had the rubber valve stems and I never had any problems with them, had it for 3 years. Happy traveling.
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Old 03-06-2005, 05:05 AM   #14
sreigle
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Even on the metal valve stems the part that goes through the hole in the rim is rubber. So what is the collar part all about? Does that cover the exposed rubber where it seats in the rim?
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Old 03-06-2005, 06:37 AM   #15
Searchers
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I think the metal collar is for cosmetic purposes only. I had a problem with the rubber stems on the Montana last summer, fortunately while parked in the driveway. Shortly after washing the rig I noticed a low tire and as I approched it heard a slow hissing sound. Wiggled the valve stem gently and determined it was cracked near the base . Dropped the never used spare, gently wiggled that valve stem and it broke off completely. Immediately had all of them replaced with solid metal that have a nut securing them to the rim. No rubber exposed to the elements.
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Old 03-06-2005, 10:09 AM   #16
jackw87
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the metal valve stems that I was talking about were the solid metal ones with a nut and a rubber seal that was in side the wheel I was only trying to give sume advice to not blow a tire because of a stem blowing out or dry rotting and causing problems while you are on the road not to get into a big argument about if they were required I rea ly don't care if you do not want to use them but at 5 dollars a wheel to me the peace of mind is worth it
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Old 03-06-2005, 10:14 AM   #17
Broome101
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One thing to keep in mind if nobody has already mentioned it is no matter which you wish to use they all must be high pressure value stems. Running 80 PSI requires a high pressure stem. they come in both metal stems as JackW87 was saying and rubber stems.
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Old 03-06-2005, 01:14 PM   #18
sreigle
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Thanks, Jackw87 and Searchers. I've never seen a stem that had no rubber other than a seal so that's new to me.
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Old 03-09-2005, 05:17 AM   #19
Bill Hill
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We had several blow outs on our old TT and only knew it because someone pulled along side and motioned to us. We got the Doran Pressue Pro Tire Monitor and it works great, in fact a little too good. It lets you know when the pressure drops in each tire below the set point. Since I filled all the tires on the truck and rig during a relatively warm day (high 60s)with the tires cool, we've had the alarm go off in the early mornings in below 40* temps because the cooler temps reduce the pressure. At least we know the unit is working. The monitor gives a lot of piece of mind because you'll know that a tire is loosing air through a leak before it goes flat. With a relatively large rig like a Montana it seems you'd be less likely to feel a tiring going out.

The best price we found for the monitor was at www.rvcams.com

I suppose you could also try www.froogle.com to compare prices.
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Old 03-14-2005, 04:25 AM   #20
Glenn and Lorraine
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The valve stems on my Monty and yours are infact HI-Pressure metal valve stems.

After some additional research we found the answer....

The below are your basic RUBBER valve stems found in low pressure passenger, light truck and some lite RV trailer tires. The are rated for up to 60 PSI...


This is the Hi Pressure METAL valve stem

This is the same stem found in our Montanas and are rated up to 100 PSI

What appears to be a "metal collar" is actually the metal tube part which passes through the rim and has a brass flang like base. Picture it as an inverted "T". The rubber part merely forms the air tight seal at the rim.
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