macira
bullhead city,Az
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Joined: 02/28/2002
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I recently purchased a 1995 Tioga Walkabout on a ford E350 chassis. The outer duals have a short straight valve stem making it nearly impossible to check or inflate them. I tryed a set of 135 degree extensions, one of them loosened and deflated the tire. Does anyone know of a curved stem that can be used?
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bldrbuck
one or the other
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Joined: 02/11/2001
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Any tire shop should be able to install valve stems that are easier to use. Metal ones seem to be the best. With the correct stems you don't really need extenders. The do require a truck type guage and filler. I realize you are looking for an easy fix that does not require removing the tires to install new stems but in the long run it's the best way. Good luck.
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richmondmj
St. Cloud, Fl , USA
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Joined: 07/05/2001
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There is a company in Ca called The Tireman that has brass stems for the Ford wheels similar to the type on trucks. Many people have had them installed and swear by them. Other than that extenders are the way to go. If put on correctly to begin with they rarely loosen and cause the tire to deflate. If you don't tighten them up well to begin with you can have problems. Chafing can also be a problem though there are ways to avoid that with rubber or vinyl tubing. There are also "airless" or zero pressure extenders that don't have any air pressure in them until you add or remove air from the tire. They use a spring actuator that pushes in the original stem actuator valve rather than transferring that function to the extenders valve.
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jennybaby
placentia ca.
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Joined: 04/25/2002
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can you tell me where i can find the tire man?
I'm in southern ca. by disneyland.
robertjenny@mindspring.com
thanks
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macira
bullhead city,Az
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Joined: 02/28/2002
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Camping world had a sale (sort of) on Wheelmasters hose sets, so I bought em and installed em. Not too bad unless you count the 90 plus weather and hi humidity. $44.00 plus change. I did have to pull the outer duals to do it.
Hope this ends the deal.
Mac USAF retired
2001 Seaview 32 ft model 8311
Ford f53
2007 HHR
Brake buddy
Falcon2 Towbar
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older_fossil
USA (fulltiming)
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Joined: 12/15/2001
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The Tire Man:
STORE LOCATION: 517 W. Inyokern Rd. - Ridgecrest,CA 93555
STORE HOURS: Monday-Friday 8:00am-6:00pm, Saturday 9:00am-3:00pm
PHONE: (760) 446-3546
E-MAIL: tire-man@ridgecrest.ca.us
I highly recommend them. We went from Santa Barbara to get them installed. He prefers to do these installs on Saturdays. You can overnight in front of his shop (he has a 30A RV outlet).
Art
*This Message was edited on 06-Jun-02 11:30 AM by older_fossil*
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HiTech
Texas
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Joined: 03/22/2002
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BE CAREFUL WITH EXTENDERS. Most of them state very clearly on the package they are not to be used with the rubber and brass valve stems supplied by most OEMs including Ford.
-Jim
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older_fossil
USA (fulltiming)
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The Tire Man does not install extenders! They are custom one-piece brass valve stems that are bent to fit the Ford duallies. Both are easily accessible from the outside. What was once nearly impossible with the OEM rubber valve stems is now simple.
Art
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ClarkP
Sequim, Washington
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Joined: 02/22/2002
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I was wondering if anybody has tried the ZIP Airless valve extenders that CW sells. I talked to them about installation and they will not install them unless the tires have steel type valve stems.
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BillC
Colorado
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Joined: 04/29/2002
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The Zip airless type valve extenders seem like a good idea on the surface since they eliminate the potential for a leak between the extender and the valve stem. Also, although unlikely, if a leak would occur in the extender line, the tire would not deflate. These extenders use a flexible shaft to open the valve in the valve stem while the standard type uses a second valve at the top of the extender and holds the valve in the valve stem open continuously. The problem with the airless type extender is that adjustment is critical. If the flexible shaft is too far from the valve, it will not open the valve. If it is too close to the valve, the valve may be held open slightly resulting is a continuous slow leak. My motorhome is on a Ford E-450 Super Duty chassis with the standard 16” wheels and Wheel Masters wheel liners. Due to the small diameter of the 16” wheel, the extender has to go through sharp angles to get from the valve stem to the mounting bracket on the liner. Because of this, Camping World was able to install the Zip airless extenders successfully on three of the wheels, but could not get the fourth adjusted to where it would work properly. It would either leak or they could not get it to depress the valve far enough to add air. Under these circumstances, I felt safer with the standard type valve extenders and had them installed instead. They work fine and have been holding air for nearly two months now without any air loss. The braided stainless steel extender is a far better choice than the rubber extender. Whenever any type of valve extender is installed, it is imperative that the flexible rubber and brass valve stems be replaced with solid metal ones. This is because the rubber ones flex and the added weight of the extender hanging on it can cause it to rupture from repeated flexing. Camping World does not install the metal valve stems in the wheels, only the extenders, so you need to have the metal valve stems installed first by a tire service center. This requires that the wheels be removed. The long metal valve stems are necessary. The short metal valve stems do not have adequate clearance beyond the wheel hole to allow the extenders with the 90 degree fitting to fit. It is a good idea to bring the extenders with you when you have the metal valve stems installed to make sure they will fit properly.
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