So I was discussing adding tire pressure monitors to my RT-SE5 and the guy I was chatting with said that if I have rubber valve stems it was risky and it would shred the valve stems. What are my options?
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So I was discussing adding tire pressure monitors to my RT-SE5 and the guy I was chatting with said that if I have rubber valve stems it was risky and it would shred the valve stems. What are my options?
Ignore people like that who really have NFI!! :banghead: Did you ask if HE'd had a valve stem shredded due to a Sensor being too heavy?? Have you asked any of the sensor manufacturers if they've ever found that this is something you should worry about? Has anyone you personally know who runs TPMS sensors ever had their rubber valve stems shredded due to the sensors flapping in the breeze? Has anyone ever come across a verifiable & indisputable case of this occurring? I'd hazard a guess that the answer to all those questions is most likely to be a resounding NO!
The TPMS sensor caps are pretty much within the same weight ball park as 'normal' standard metal valve caps, & probably somewhat lighter than some of the large decorative metal caps you can buy/use with impunity if you so desire; so for most, running TPMS sensors instead of metal or plastic valve caps is no more likely to damage the valve stems than running those 'normal' caps is!! Have you ever actually heard of anyone verifiably shredding a valve stem due to their TPMS sensors?? I haven't, but I have travelled many MANY hundreds of thousands of miles with TPMS sensors capping rubber valve stems of varying lengths on my tires and the tires/vehicles I've been testing, and I've yet to damage or see damaged a valve stem due to the cap/sensor flapping in the breeze as the tire rotates!! However, I have damaged a few of the sensors themselves due to a variety of other unrelated reasons, but I've never seen a valve stem damaged by anything like that mentioned!.... :shocked:
Don't listen to the party poopers who don't have the guts to run these things themselves & just go ahead with running TPMS sensors as & how you see fit. :thumbup:
We ran valve cap TPMS sensors on our 5th wheel and tow rig all around the country for a year. Rubber valve stems and all. No problems whatsoever. A friend had metal 90 degree valve stems on his motorcycle at the race track, and wondered why his tires were losing air after a lap or two. It all depends on the weight you're hanging off them and how severe your acceleration / deceleration. I'd go ahead and run them, but replace old dried valve stems with new ones beforehand; good practice in any case.