[DeTomaso] Rubber based valve stems - Lessons learned and passed on

[John McKee]

I searched high and low for a couple of weeks trying to find metal stems 
that would fit in my 17" wheels.
Finally found a nice product at Americas Tire store (also known as Discount 
tire).
http://www.discounttire.com
They get them in bulk and they have the markings, 'DILL  VS-902'
There are several styles out there and this one seemed to work the best.
Your mileage may vary.

John
4488


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Thomas" <mbefthomas at comcast.net>
To: <detomaso at realbig.com>
Sent: Wednesday, May 21, 2008 6:48 PM
Subject: [DeTomaso] Rubber based valve stems - Lessons learned and passed on


> Many if not most of you are probably aware, but for those who aren't 
> (which
> included me until a week ago), rubber valve stems can be a liability on 
> our
> cars at high speed.
>
> I have a set of 17" Campy clones which were put together with rubber-based
> metal valve stems.  I had a low tire issue on a club event this last 
> weekend
> that almost left me stranded.  I had to limp between gas stations for 
> about
> 10 miles until I could get to a tire store to have the stem replaced.  The
> rubber base of one rear valve stem had started to tear out toward the 
> inside
> of the wheel.  After talking to one of our members, it seems that the
> centrifugal force put on a rubber-based metal stem at high speed can 
> damage
> the seal over time.  The faster the wheel turns, the more the stem wants 
> to
> bend to the outside.  With the fancy metal valve stem caps, it's even 
> worse,
> as there is more weight at the outer end of the stem.
>
> Solution, as I am told, is to have metal-based valve stems installed. 
> They
> should only need to break the bead on the tire at the stem, and shouldn't
> need to rebalance the tire, as the weight difference between rubber and
> metal stems is minimal.
>
> Just my .02, hope it helps someone.
>
> Mike Thomas
> Panteras Northwest
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> Detomaso Forum Managed by POCA
>
> Archive Search Engine Now Available at http://www.realbig.com/detomaso/
>
> DeTomaso mailing list
> DeTomaso at list.realbig.com
> http://list.realbig.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso
>