Valve stem extenders

[sheridany]

I have a friend who has bad valve stem extensions on the inside drive wheel and needs to replace them. Any recommendations I can give them?

 

[Kevin D Pem]

Yah!!! When I had a MH, they called them go flat hoses. At the time the recommendation was "don't use them".

 

[redbaron]

I’m with Kevin on this. I had longer stems put on the inside wheel and do not use extenders.

 

[Joe Hogan]

Something like this from Milton industries . Bend it to go thru rim hole. You can get longer ones if needed.

Tire Valves

Milton® Industries Inc. | Tire Gauges, Inflators & Pneumatic Accessories

miltonindustries.com

 

[sheridany]

I respect the opinion that extenders are not great but this is an older couple and being able to check their tire pressure and adjust is biggest reason to have them. They are not able to physically get on the ground and deal with a standard valve stem. So how do you check the inside drive tire in this scenario? I am imagining having to lay on the ground and go behind the tire?

 

[punkinhead]

Just use a long dual head air chuck and reach through an opening in the outside tire, but that only works if you install flow through valve caps. Both my class B (Ford Transit) and class A dualies have flow through caps. You can also install valve cap style TPMS sensors and eliminate the need to check pressure manually. The downside is if you need to add air the sensors on the inside dualies are a bear to remove. I've never used flow through sensors but they're supposed to be safe with metal valve stems.

 

[Rich W.]

I bought mine from Amazon and they have been trouble free but it’s vital that they have good rubber isolators in the wheel to hold them in place and prevent damage.

This is what happens if the rubber isolators fail or get out of position:


This is what I use:

Haltec H-2248 Inner Dual Tire Valve Stem Extension Stabilizer for Freightliner Alcoa Wheels But all this depends on his wheel type.

I also had one isolator that kept coming out of the slot in the wheel even after I replaced it with a new one, so I formed a strip of VHB tape along the contact edge of the opening in the wheel to adhere the isolator in place and it solved the problem. I still inspect them before driving because I’ve had this happen twice and if allowed to wear any more it would have caused the tire to deflated. It would probably be slow enough to allow the TPMS to alert me in time to pull over, but I really don’t want to test that. I also carry spare isolators and extensions.

 

[redbaron]

I respect the opinion that extenders are not great but this is an older couple and being able to check their tire pressure and adjust is biggest reason to have them. They are not able to physically get on the ground and deal with a standard valve stem. So how do you check the inside drive tire in this scenario? I am imagining having to lay on the ground and go behind the tire?

With proper installation, the valve stem is 180degrees from the outside wheel stem and accessible just as easily as the outside rim from the side of the Rv. No reaching behind etc.

You can get them bent properly too if you desire. I personally use a rubber isolation in the spoke and have it sticking out approx 3/4” beyond the isolater.

 

[MemoriesByTheMile]

We have some simple extenders - but found that they need to be checked regularly for tightness. Regularly = every week of traveling.
Just a simple twist to be sure they are still snug.
Like the idea of the rubber stabilizer as a safety measure.

 

[Joe Hogan]

When properly installed they look like this.