Alert TPMS SENSORS ON RUBBER STEMS MAY CAUSE VALVE STEM FAILURE!

[CaptainGizmo]

DON'T GET A TOAD FLAT

THIS POST IS SPECIFICALLY TO ADDRESS USING TPMS SENSORS ON YOUR TOWED (TOAD) VEHICLE - NOT YOUR RV (hence the reason this is posted in the TOAD VEHICLES sub-forum)!​

MOUNTING TPMS SENSORS ON RUBBER VALVE STEMS CAN CAUSE THEM TO FAIL!​

IN FACT, MANY TOP MANUFACTURERS RECOMMEND USING METAL STEMS FOR THIS VERY REASON.​

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After hearing of yet another valve stem failure (third one in a year), I thought I'd put this out here.
The TPMS sensors weigh around 22 grams, and that is just too much centrifugal mass for the RUBBER valve stems to hold as the tire spins and bounces along the road...ESPECIALLY for you off-roaders! Eventually, the stem will fail, right at the base and you may not even notice it until the worse time; when you're driving.

If you're lucky, like we were, the failure happened on a 115º day parked just a few feet from a tire shop. If you're not lucky, you'll have a catastrophic event as you're towing down the road; far from help!
I have TWO RECOMMENDATIONS:

1. REPLACE YOUR STEMS WITH HIGH-QUALITY METAL ONES!
   Don't cheap out; my shop had these name-brands for $30. You'll need to find a model that's compatible with your factory sensors, if you have them, which mount to the base of the stem inside the wheel.
2. REMOVE YOUR SENSORS WHEN NOT TOWING!
   Yes, why cause battery drain and unneeded stress when the TPMS systems isn't being used? Instead take'em off and toss them into a bag. I use high-strength P-TOUCH labels to identify them...gotta be sure they go back on the correct wheel!

This happened just yesterday on a friend's Jeep. Fortunately, he found it while he was local and was able to take it to a tire shop.

 

[J&JD]

Two things about TPMS sensors:
1. Don’t use the flo-thrus.
2. Take off the anti theft shells and the sensors will be much smaller. My Jeep has run with the sensors installed without the theft shells for 120k of towing & driving with no problem.

 

[CaptainGizmo]

Two things about TPMS sensors:
1. Don’t use the flo-thrus.
2. Take off the anti theft shells and the sensors will be much smaller. My Jeep has run with the sensors installed without the theft shells for 120k of towing & driving with no problem.

Yeah, not a fan of the flow-throughs.
But this is all about the rubber stems. They're failing like crazy out there. I can cite 4 friends with recent failures; a couple of them happened twice!

So, when you say you've gone120k miles, I've got a gut-feeling that you've 1) replaced your stems with metal ones, or 2) have been very fortunate and/or have been routinely replacing your stems; not a common practice in many tire shops, ever since the advent of factory TPMS sensors requiring specialy stems.

 

[J&JD]

Still running original stems….guess I’m just lucky

 

[CaptainGizmo]

Head to Vegas...RIGHT NOW!!

But, before you go...get those stems replaced!!! You're time is up...you've been jinxed!

 

[Neal]

Flow thru's are heavy and it caused a problem hitting the rim on my coach in the dual tire drive axle on the extension. I changed those out, no problem since, FL also improved the grommets. On the toad I run flow-thru's and quite frankly would never buy flow thru's again, just a stupid purchase not knowing at the time. I actually remove them to air up as well! But the equation is more than just rubber valve stem, it depends on what it may impact, weight of your sensor, etc. I've also had no issue in 6 years of use but also my Colorado rim design doesn't interfere with the valve stem and it's not a sharp edge either.

Inspect and inspect often, be aware of any issues that may be creeping up on you with anything that moves like this.

 

[Lab00Rat]

Some - *SOME* - TPMS installed on your vehicle already have brass stems for the internal sensors. Have a professional after market TPMS installer check your stems to see if you need them replaced with brass-lined stems.

 

[docj]

Two things about TPMS sensors:
1. Don’t use the flo-thrus.
2. Take off the anti theft shells and the sensors will be much smaller. My Jeep has run with the sensors installed without the theft shells for 120k of towing & driving with no problem.

Agree with both points. My CR-V has 103k miles on it, all of which are with the TPMS sensors attached. The 2014 CR-V has a horrible OEM TPMS system so I use an after-market one all the time just so I can get accurate tire pressures.

 

[CaptainGizmo]

Guys, let me clarify, specifically, what I'm talking about here. My post is a bit out of context since I brought it over from the Newell group on Fakebook.

Numerous, and I'm talking more than a few have had a problem with the external TPMS sensors, by PressurePro in this case, causing the rubber valve stems to fatigue right at the base...and split. This is, most of the time, detected as the vehicle is driven yet not parked; because the split stem "heals" itself. If you were to bend the stem, you'd hear the leak. In my case, I had a complete failure on a nice, hot day.

So, now that you have the context...it's great that some of you have "never had" a failure. Consider many things regarding maintenance; just because you haven't had a problem, doesn't mean you won't.

I also want to keep this ON TRACK that I'm talking about EXTERNALLLY MOUNTED SENSORS. This has nothing to do with the internnal mounted, factory/OEM sensors.

The challenge is finding a good quality metal stem as a replacement, that IS compatible with the factory sensor.

Thanks all.

 

[Rich W.]

I’ll just add that changing to metal valve stems is a good idea and will solve the problem for the fronts (short stem) but for the rears, metal valve stem extensions, as @Neal noted, are not immune to wear problems. I haven’t seen rubber stems on a Newmar and I didn’t think they were used on heavier rigs so this specific issue is a bit of a surprise to me.

I’ve had two rear extensions wear though significantly, the second one so close to failure that the groove worn in it opened up while cleaning it for a photo. The grommets come out of their position on the wheel while driving and allow the metal extension to contact the rim.

Apparently repeated contact with forged aluminum beats the cheap metal in the extensions. The new wheel grommets Neal mentioned are supposed to fix this but as Neal mentioned, nothing replaces regular inspection. I secured my grommets in place with VHB tape on the mating surfaces and so far they’ve stayed in place. I also carry a set of new extensions in my spare parts kit.

The extension wear problem:

 

[sheridany]

I’m confused. Are we talking about toads or coaches or both? CG subject says toad flat. I can see a need to put metal stems on my toad for the reasons he mentioned if I can find them for mine that are compatible.

 

[FL-JOE]

My only two tire failures since 2011 (knocking on wood) has been due to rubber valve stem failure. One was on a long enclosed trailer tire being towed by my Newmar and the other was on an extended tow dolly a couple years later. One had a flow through TPMS sensor and one had the button type.

My conclusion is I don't run anything but metal valve stems on any of my RV applications.

 

[Neal]

Certainly a good warning for all to learn from and inspect - raise awareness! Thanks for the thread!

 

[CaptainGizmo]

GUYS!!!!!

I’M TALKING ABOUT THE TOAD’s VALVE STEMS!!!! That’s why I’ve posted this message in the TOADS sub-forum!!!!

Please, I’m simply trying to put a message out, accurately and relevant to a known problem…without distraction and/or side-tracking.

I even had a friend remind me that many of the leading TMPS manufactures will caution you not to mount their sensors on rubber stems.

 

[Rich W.]

GUYS!!!!!

I’M TALKING ABOUT THE TOAD’s VALVE STEMS!!!! That’s why I’ve posted this message in the TOADS sub-forum!!!!

Please, I’m simply trying to put a message out, accurately and relevant to a known problem…without distraction and/or side-tracking.

I even had a friend remind me that many of the leading TMPS manufactures will caution you not to mount their sensors on rubber stems.

Well that makes more sense. I couldn’t imagine a Newell with rubber valve stems. I don’t bother with TPMS on my toad. But this is good for awareness of any valve stem issues and a good reminder to inspect them regularly. They weren’t designed to have a little weight on the end of them. Probably has something to do with angular momentum.

 

[sheridany]

I went to a couple of tire shops today to see about metal stems on the toad. My 2015 Jeep Cherokee trailhawk has an on-board tpms in addition to the eez tire sensors I run on the toad valve stems for flat towing. To change out to a compatible stem for my vehicle was expensive. They (Big O) wanted $98 per stem and 30 per wheel to remove the tire change out the internal tpms and stems. I checked a couple of other shops and they were comparable. The stems and tpms had to be ordered so they will be here tomorrow. Since I bought my current vehicle tires from Big O I asked for a break and they cut the install to 15 per tire. Not bad but still expensive. It’s a good recommendation so I am going forward.

 

[CaptainGizmo]

I've been working with a few Jeep owners.

They've just bought a set of HUF Intellisense stems and sensors from my reference. The sensors are pre-programmed at the factory so you don't have to pay any extra fees at the tire shop (they love to nail you for that!). His cost was only $43 per wheel; $234 for a set of 5, with tax and shipping.

TPMS.com
www.tpms.com

 

[A-Texan]

DON'T GET A TOAD FLAT

THIS POST IS SPECIFICALLY TO ADDRESS USING TPMS SENSORS ON YOUR TOWED (TOAD) VEHICLE - NOT YOUR RV (hence the reason this is posted in the TOAD VEHICLES sub-forum)!​

MOUNTING TPMS SENSORS ON RUBBER VALVE STEMS CAN CAUSE THEM TO FAIL!​

IN FACT, MANY TOP MANUFACTURERS RECOMMEND USING METAL STEMS FOR THIS VERY REASON.​

View attachment 16577

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After hearing of yet another valve stem failure (third one in a year), I thought I'd put this out here.
The TPMS sensors weigh around 22 grams, and that is just too much centrifugal mass for the RUBBER valve stems to hold as the tire spins and bounces along the road...ESPECIALLY for you off-roaders! Eventually, the stem will fail, right at the base and you may not even notice it until the worse time; when you're driving.

If you're lucky, like we were, the failure happened on a 115º day parked just a few feet from a tire shop. If you're not lucky, you'll have a catastrophic event as you're towing down the road; far from help!
I have TWO RECOMMENDATIONS:

1. REPLACE YOUR STEMS WITH HIGH-QUALITY METAL ONES!
   Don't cheap out; my shop had these name-brands for $30. You'll need to find a model that's compatible with your factory sensors, if you have them, which mount to the base of the stem inside the wheel.
2. REMOVE YOUR SENSORS WHEN NOT TOWING!
   Yes, why cause battery drain and unneeded stress when the TPMS systems isn't being used? Instead take'em off and toss them into a bag. I use high-strength P-TOUCH labels to identify them...gotta be sure they go back on the correct wheel!

This happened just yesterday on a friend's Jeep. FortI justunately, he found it while he was local and was able to take it to a tire shop.

View attachment 16578

I just want to say thanks for posting this, I was unaware. The last travel trailer I happened to buy that we use now just has a single axle rather than 2 axles, so I decided to invest in one of these add on tire pressure monitors, considering we only had two tires, I wanted to make sure they maintained good pressure while driving and be warned if there were a change before anything catastrophic happened. I went ahead and ordered a set of steel valve stems to have installed.

Thanks,
A-Texan

 

[CaptainGizmo]

Excellent job, @A-Texan; really happy to hear it helped you!!