2020 2800BH Metal Valve Stems/Balancing tires

[MikeG90]

I'm trying to source metal valve stems for my rig (2020 2800BH) to use with passthrough TPMS. I did some hunting around on the forum but came up empty. Discount tire said they do not stock metal valve stems but they would install them for free if I provide them (thats pretty awesome). Can anyone link me to some that will work with the wheels on these trailers?

Also I asked them about balancing and they said they don't recommend balancing trailer tires but will do it for me if I ask. Curious as to what the consensus is about balancing the tires.

Thanks!

[gbkims]

I'm trying to source metal valve stems for my rig (2020 2800BH) to use with passthrough TPMS. I did some hunting around on the forum but came up empty. Discount tire said they do not stock metal valve stems but they would install them for free if I provide them (thats pretty awesome). Can anyone link me to some that will work with the wheels on these trailers?

Also I asked them about balancing and they said they don't recommend balancing trailer tires but will do it for me if I ask. Curious as to what the consensus is about balancing the tires.

Thanks!

Sometimes O'Reilly has Xtra Seal 17-428 that fits the aluminum wheels with the small recessed valve stem hole.
https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/b.../17428/4870862

I had my tires balanced.

[howson]

Also I asked them about balancing and they said they don't recommend balancing trailer tires but will do it for me if I ask. Curious as to what the consensus is about balancing the tires.

Recent discussion on the topic of tire balancing (lots of good info!): https://gdrvowners.com/forum/operati...tire-balancing

[MikeG90]

gbkims

Sometimes O'Reilly has Xtra Seal 17-428 that fits the aluminum wheels with the small recessed valve stem hole.
https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/b.../17428/4870862

I had my tires balanced.

Thanks! I checked my local shop and they have a bunch in stock. Good price too.

howson thanks for the link, I'll do some reading.

[MikeG90]

gbkims I got the valve stems installed today at discount tire. When I screwed on my tst pass through sensors I noticed that once the sensor bottomed out on the threads that the whole valve stem was rotating. Is this normal for these metal stems? Checked with soap and water. Didn’t see any leaks. Just worried they didn’t tighten them enough.

[TucsonJim]

gbkims I got the valve stems installed today at discount tire. When I screwed on my tst pass through sensors I noticed that once the sensor bottomed out on the threads that the whole valve stem was rotating. Is this normal for these metal stems? Checked with soap and water. Didn’t see any leaks. Just worried they didn’t tighten them enough.

Those valve stems should not be rotating while just trying to screw on the sensors. They appear to be significantly under-torqued.

Jim

[MikeG90]

Those valve stems should not be rotating while just trying to screw on the sensors. They appear to be significantly under-torqued.

Jim

Thanks. I figured as much. Why can’t people do their job correctly!
Looks like I’ll be headed back to discount tire. Or maybe I’ll just torque them myself. It looks like this can be done without having access to the rear since there’s nothing to hold anyway.

[TucsonJim]

Thanks. I figured as much. Why can’t people do their job correctly!
Looks like I’ll be headed back to discount tire. Or maybe I’ll just torque them myself. It looks like this can be done without having access to the rear since there’s nothing to hold anyway.

I had the exact same thing happen with the metal stems installed by Discount. So this is Deja vu for me. It may not actually be their fault. Since there is a rubber grommet between the base and the rim, the torque can release as the grommet continues to compress. I was able to grab the valve stem with a pair of pliers, and get a wrench on the nut to snug it up.

Jim

[Cate&Rob]

Those valve stems should not be rotating while just trying to screw on the sensors. They appear to be significantly under-torqued.

Jim

For others considering changing to metal stems . . . I have run many thousands of miles across 6 years of towing with TireMinder sensors attached to the original (and replaced with the tires) rubber stems. Many more thousands of miles with the same sensors on rubber stems on the truck. No problems encountered. The "need" for metal stems is old news (in my opinion) . . . particularly when you hear of all the problems with poor quality and poorly installed metal stems. The tire shops do rubber stems day in and day out. Metal stems are relatively unknown to most of them. Some metal stems have the nut on the inside . . . so, tightening a loose stem requires removing the tire, or at least breaking the bead to service the valve stem.

Just another perspective . . .

Rob

[MikeG90]

For others considering changing to metal stems . . . I have run many thousands of miles across 6 years of towing with TireMinder sensors attached to the original (and replaced with the tires) rubber stems. Many more thousands of miles with the same sensors on rubber stems on the truck. No problems encountered. The "need" for metal stems is old news (in my opinion) . . . particularly when you hear of all the problems with poor quality and poorly installed metal stems. The tire shops do rubber stems day in and day out. Metal stems are relatively unknown to most of them. Some metal stems have the nut on the inside . . . so, tightening a loose stem requires removing the tire, or at least breaking the bead to service the valve stem.

Just another perspective . . .

Rob

I wanted to keep my rubber ones but I accidentally ordered the pass through tpms. I thought well I’ll just keep these since it will be less hassle to air up the tires. Seriously reconsidering my approach now. No such luck on snugging them up. Trying to grab the valve stem with pliers is tearing up the stem too much. Are you running pass throughs on rubber stems?

[MikeG90]

Well, payed a visit to discount and the tech said “somebody forgot to torque these”. They had a pretty cool specialty valve stem torque wrench. Torqued them within spec and they are nice and tight now. They took the tires off leak tested them as well. Today’s tech was much more thorough. Looks like I’m in business.

[TucsonJim]

Well, payed a visit to discount and the tech said “somebody forgot to torque these”. They had a pretty cool specialty valve stem torque wrench. Torqued them within spec and they are nice and tight now. They took the tires off leak tested them as well. Today’s tech was much more thorough. Looks like I’m in business.

Great news. Thanks for the follow up.

Jim

[Cate&Rob]

Are you running pass throughs on rubber stems?

I am not running pass through sensors. I never saw the value in this technology and a few years back, they were not very reliable. Removing a non pass through sensor is as easy as removing a valve cap and provides a test of the sensor which should trigger an alarm while I top up air pressure. Hopefully the latest generation pass through sensors are better than they used to be.

BTW . . . don’t get me wrong . . . I am not a big fan of the TireMinder hardware that I have. Lots of “loss of signal” warnings. Even so, over the years, the sensors have found two slow leaks, so have done their job. My comment was only WRT these sensors being OK on rubber stems (which TireMinder agrees with)

Rob

[Guest]

BTW . . . don’t get me wrong . . . I am not a big fan of the TireMinder hardware that I have. Lots of “loss of signal” warnings.

Ron,

I've been seeing these loss signal warnings on my left rear sensor. Replaced it with a spare and it repeated. My signal booster is furthest from this wheel so maybe there is something going on there but this just started this year. So maybe the booster is losing strength?

My booster is velcro'd to the right inside of the tongue.

Jim

[MikeG90]

Great news. Thanks for the follow up.

Jim

No problem. I’m glad it all worked out!