Anyone running metal valve stems on 40 steelies mounted on your FJ60? (1 Viewer)

[meatloaf]

I’ve had four valve stems leak/break on the 40 steelies mounted on my FJ 60. I am running 33 x 10 50 x 15 BF Goodrich all-terrains. Wondering if there’s a good quality metal valve stem that you all running and recommend? I had the tires mounted at a local Indy shop tire shop. not sure if they got a bad batch of valve stems but I don’t want to get stranded because of this issue.

Thanks!

 

[Spook50]

Did the stems fail where they mount to the wheel? Back when I worked at a tire shop about 25 years ago we'd smear a bit of soapy water on them before pulling them through the wheel and mounting the tire. Helped them slip into place much easier without overly stressing the rubber from pulling/rubbing. We'd also check the valve cores inside because it was common for them to be loose and cause leakage. They're easy to replace if the leak is coming from there.

I like the look of the metal valve stems, but they're usually easier to straight break off if something strikes them (like in my case a 9 y/o boy stepping onto the wheel to hike himself up into the back seat ), so for practicality purposes the rubber valve stems are still the better option.

 

[CruiserTrash]

Following. I picked up a set of used (but newish) 40 wheels for my 60 earlier this year and had a neighborhood tire shop mount my tires. Same BFG KO2s, 33x10.5x15. One of them is leaking at the valve stem.

The lug nuts are also continually coming loose. I've cleaned all 6 beveled openings for the studs on every wheel - there was some leftover powder coat boogers. I keep the stud threads clean. I torque in the correct pattern up to 95ft-lb of torque. When the shop installed the wheels they slammed them home with an air gun. When I got back home I checked and all the lug nuts were on at north of 130ft-lb. Maybe they wallowed out the bevels on the wheels so 95ft-lb doesn't tighten them down anymore. In any case when I got back and check them every few days, the lugs are often at 40-60ft-lb. Repeatedly bringing them back to 85-95 never stops the issue.

 

[meatloaf]

Did the stems fail where they mount to the wheel? Back when I worked at a tire shop about 25 years ago we'd smear a bit of soapy water on them before pulling them through the wheel and mounting the tire. Helped them slip into place much easier without overly stressing the rubber from pulling/rubbing. We'd also check the valve cores inside because it was common for them to be loose and cause leakage. They're easy to replace if the leak is coming from there.

I like the look of the metal valve stems, but they're usually easier to straight break off if something strikes them (like in my case a 9 y/o boy stepping onto the wheel to hike himself up into the back seat ), so for practicality purposes the rubber valve stems are still the better option.

Thanks for the reply @Spook50 ! When the stems were installed, they did use some soapy water to slide them through. When tires, go flat, valve stems are usually slit.

 

[desmocruiser]

@meatloaf

Out of curiosity, where/how (clean break because of getting caught on something, developed a split, or just leaking internally) are the questionable valve stems compromised ?

 

[desmocruiser]

Following. I picked up a set of used (but newish) 40 wheels for my 60 earlier this year and had a neighborhood tire shop mount my tires. Same BFG KO2s, 33x10.5x15. One of them is leaking at the valve stem.

The lug nuts are also continually coming loose. I've cleaned all 6 beveled openings for the studs on every wheel - there was some leftover powder coat boogers. I keep the stud threads clean. I torque in the correct pattern up to 95ft-lb of torque. When the shop installed the wheels they slammed them home with an air gun. When I got back home I checked and all the lug nuts were on at north of 130ft-lb. Maybe they wallowed out the bevels on the wheels so 95ft-lb doesn't tighten them down anymore. In any case when I got back and check them every few days, the lugs are often at 40-60ft-lb. Repeatedly bringing them back to 85-95 never stops the issue.

What type/style lug nuts are you using?

 

[CruiserTrash]

What type/style lug nuts are you using?

OEM

 

[Godwin]

When the shop installed the wheels they slammed them home with an air gun. When I got back home I checked and all the lug nuts were on at north of 130ft-lb.

This is why I will dismount old tire/wheel combination and take them in loose to the shop with the new tires to be mounted. I lost trust in local tire shops years ago because of the idiocy of over torquing lug nuts.