Replacing valve stems on rear dually wheels

[Ozzie D Odyssey]

I put on a set of the woven stainless steel valve extenders on the rear duallies and they seemed to work fine all summer. Now all of a sudden it seems that they're leaking as the weather gets colder (I'm in central New Hampshire). I put air in them about two weeks ago up to 80psi. I went back out today and a couple were down to 30psi and the others in the mid 50psi range. I had the same extenders on my previous rig and never had a problem with them, they never leaked. When I replaced the tires on the old rig last year I had the tire shop mount one piece brass extended valve stems. I'm thinking that I may have to bite the bullet and order the valve stems for this rig as I don't want to have to run out and pump up the tires every week. But, with the OEM TPMS system I don't know if I can even do that. I'm trying to find out if I remove the OEM stems with the TPMS senders on them will my dash be permanently lit up with low pressure warnings or will it do nothing as it's not getting a signal from the sensors? Any of you done the same thing on wheels that have OEM TPMS sensors and if so, how did you handle it?

 

[JimD]

I have had those stainless braded extenders for over 30 years (2 different rigs) and the only time I ever had one leak is when I didn't fully tighten it on the wheel stem when I installed it. After that I would always use pliers of some sort to tighten it the last little bit.

Good old soapy water sprayed on the connections may indicate where you are leaking.

 

[Ozzie D Odyssey]

OK, went out today...the weather was above freezing and the wind was only blowing 20mph....fall in NH! I took off both outside rear wheels - one at a time - and tightened the valve extensions on the valves. I'd like to smack whoever designed them in the head. The one for the outer wheel, the short one, has a 7/16" "nut" built into the part that thread onto the tire valve so it can be tightened with an open end wrench. However....the one for the inner tire is just round so I had to tighten it with pliers and hope I got it tight enough. Why the h&ll couldn't they put the 7/16" fitting on the inner one?



I have a set of TST TPMS sensors on the ends of the extensions. I used them on my previous RV and due to the cost of those systems, I moved it to my new RV this spring. While I had everything apart I replaced the little rubber gaskets inside the sensors. I don't think I've ever done that before so between tightening the extensions on to the valve stems and replacing the little O ring gaskets it will solve the leaking problem.



It was definitely a learning experience. I've owned Class C RVs since 1986 and I've never gotten a flat, had to change a tire or remove one of the dual wheels off any of my 3 rigs....until today. As I said, it was a learning experience. I'm 70 years old so if I get a flat tire on the road (I do carry a mounted spare) I learned that I'm calling road service. I have a 12 ton bottle jack and it struggled to get the wheels off the ground. I'll let someone younger do the heavy lifting from here on!

 

[sidekick-JAY]

As I also use external sensors on my TMPS system, I have bought several products in an attempt to avoid leaking inner dual wheels. This has been a very aggravating problem on several occasions. Finally, I have found a one piece inner over the road truck dual valve stem which goes thru the outer wheel allowing the TMPS sensor attachment. This was ordered by my tire dealer thru the chain Southern Tire Mart. The part number for the 5in valve stem is SDTR574. The stem's rubber seal looks too large for the wheel hole but it does fit if installed by wrenching the stems into the hole.I have used these for the past 7 months without any leaking. These valve stems are a very inexpensive (5.00 ea.) solution to this problem.

 

[Ozzie D Odyssey]

As I also use external sensors on my TMPS system, I have bought several products in an attempt to avoid leaking inner dual wheels. This has been a very aggravating problem on several occasions. Finally, I have found a one piece inner over the road truck dual valve stem which goes thru the outer wheel allowing the TMPS sensor attachment. This was ordered by my tire dealer thru the chain Southern Tire Mart. The part number for the 5in valve stem is SDTR574. The stem's rubber seal looks too large for the wheel hole but it does fit if installed by wrenching the stems into the hole.I have used these for the past 7 months without any leaking. These valve stems are a very inexpensive (5.00 ea.) solution to this problem.

I had one piece brass valve stems put on my last class C when I bought new tires last year. The full set wasn't cheap - like $120 for the four valves. But they were heavy duty and never leaked. I'm waiting to see if my tightening the extensions work.

 

[DonC757]

I went on Alcoa’s website, entered exactly the dualies I have and ordered their extension kit for my rear Wheels. They did not fit as the valve stems came out at some angle far different from what they were designed for. Ended up sending them back. What I do now is use some temporary flexible, rubber, extenders, and my TireMinder TPMS system. I still have to get down on the ground and remove the TPMS sensor, twist on the 1 foot long rubber valve stem extender (through the hole in the outside wheel) and then it’s very easy to check or add air to those inner rear tires. I then remove the extender and reinstall the TPMS sender. The good news is I find I have to add air maybe a couple of times per year. My rig is now going on six years old and I’m amazed at how well the tires hold air. Michelin tires. 2019 34G Class A purchased new.

 

[DonC757]

I went on Alcoa’s website, entered exactly the dualies I have and ordered their extension kit for my rear Wheels. They did not fit as the valve stems came out at some angle far different from what they were designed for. Ended up sending them back. What I do now is use some temporary flexible, rubber, extenders, and my TireMinder TPMS system. I still have to get down on the ground and remove the TPMS sensor, twist on the 1 foot long rubber valve stem extender (through the hole in the outside wheel) and then it’s very easy to check or add air to those inner rear tires. I then remove the extender and reinstall the TPMS sender. The good news is I find I have to add air maybe a couple of times per year. My rig is now going on six years old and I’m amazed at how well the tires hold air. Michelin tires. 2019 34G Class A purchased new.

 

[Big1]

I thought about putting those on my dually but I just took it to Discount Tires and they just reposition them so I can air them up.

 

[Johnynorthland]

I had the Phoenix extenders on my dually tires since 2018 and they worked great. I just replaced all my tires last week and the shop put on the ones that they used, which work fine with the custom brackets I attached to my simulators. My buddy had an issue with his extenders that were put on at the dealership when new. It seems they attached his extenders right to his rims, (he doesn’t have simulators), and the loop of the extenders were so long that over time they rubbed against the side wall and wore the rubber down to the steel on the inside between the 2 dually tires! Very alarming! I ran out and checked mine, my loop isn’t that long, thank goodness! So if someone has this type of setup, check your tires!

Here are the photos of his issue and here is a photo of the custom brackets I made for mine.

 

[SteveB99]

OK, went out today...the weather was above freezing and the wind was only blowing 20mph....fall in NH! I took off both outside rear wheels - one at a time - and tightened the valve extensions on the valves. I'd like to smack whoever designed them in the head. The one for the outer wheel, the short one, has a 7/16" "nut" built into the part that thread onto the tire valve so it can be tightened with an open end wrench. However....the one for the inner tire is just round so I had to tighten it with pliers and hope I got it tight enough. Why the h&ll couldn't they put the 7/16" fitting on the inner one?



I have a set of TST TPMS sensors on the ends of the extensions. I used them on my previous RV and due to the cost of those systems, I moved it to my new RV this spring. While I had everything apart I replaced the little rubber gaskets inside the sensors. I don't think I've ever done that before so between tightening the extensions on to the valve stems and replacing the little O ring gaskets it will solve the leaking problem.



It was definitely a learning experience. I've owned Class C RVs since 1986 and I've never gotten a flat, had to change a tire or remove one of the dual wheels off any of my 3 rigs....until today. As I said, it was a learning experience. I'm 70 years old so if I get a flat tire on the road (I do carry a mounted spare) I learned that I'm calling road service. I have a 12 ton bottle jack and it struggled to get the wheels off the ground. I'll let someone younger do the heavy lifting from here on!

If your inner dually is anything like my Melbourne on a Sprinter chassis, the spacing on the inner wheel is too small to accept a valve stem with an external nut. The stem design with an internal nut allows for the installation of long stems which avoids leak prone extensions. The stem must be tighteged from inside the tire. Using pliers to turn the stem may actually exacerbate the leak.

 

[Ozzie D Odyssey]

If your inner dually is anything like my Melbourne on a Sprinter chassis, the spacing on the inner wheel is too small to accept a valve stem with an external nut. The stem design with an internal nut allows for the installation of long stems which avoids leak prone extensions. The stem must be tighteged from inside the tire. Using pliers to turn the stem may actually exacerbate the leak.

On the 16" steel wheels the valve stem is metal...it's just short and there is an external nut on it. The part I had to tighten with pliers was the extension that goes on it. The valve stem didn't move when I tightened the extension.

 

[CAG-JAY]

I put on a set of the woven stainless steel valve extenders on the rear duallies and they seemed to work fine all summer. Now all of a sudden it seems that they're leaking as the weather gets colder (I'm in central New Hampshire). I put air in them about two weeks ago up to 80psi. I went back out today and a couple were down to 30psi and the others in the mid 50psi range. I had the same extenders on my previous rig and never had a problem with them, they never leaked. When I replaced the tires on the old rig last year I had the tire shop mount one piece brass extended valve stems. I'm thinking that I may have to bite the bullet and order the valve stems for this rig as I don't want to have to run out and pump up the tires every week. But, with the OEM TPMS system I don't know if I can even do that. I'm trying to find out if I remove the OEM stems with the TPMS senders on them will my dash be permanently lit up with low pressure warnings or will it do nothing as it's not getting a signal from the sensors? Any of you done the same thing on wheels that have OEM TPMS sensors and if so, how did you handle it?

Without reading through this entire thread I will simply say there are other threads on this topic and the general view from most tire manufactures was "don't use the floppy threaded lines" they will leak and cause damage.

Do further research into what else is available. I used the solid lines and never had a leak or other issue.