Hi All!
I replaced my tires and I did not replace the valve stems... I used to do the tires and stems myself, but that 160/70B17 79V is a killer with a set of tire spoons, so I took the wheels and tires to a local bike shop and they said they didn't have replacement valve stems so don't worry about them!
Well, I rode the bike after I got the tires home and mounted for about ten minutes and then parked the bike in the garage.
When I went to take it out today, as usual I check the tire pressure.
The front one was fine, the rear tire was flat!
I filled the rear tire up and sprayed a little Simple Green around the valve stem and it started bubbling up on the side.
Oh, well.
My question is... I looked through some threads for replacement stems and all the threads were old.
Some people in this forum mentioned KurveyGirl.com but they are out of the short stems.
Any suggestions on where to buy valve stems? Or... what size are they?
I thought I wrote it down somewhere, but I am not having any luck finding it.
Thank you!
I went to metal valve stems years ago and never look back as they just don't ever go bad. You can find them at your local Pep Boys, Autozone, Advance, etc.
Yes, you need to flatten the rim. I use German rubber valve stems. Buy them from Wunderlich. Don't buy Asian. The standard BMW hole is 15mm. These stems will work in smaller holes also. I change them every other set of tires. I also write the date of change inside the rim by the valve butt. Like everything else they have gotten more expensive. I'm wondering why your stem is leaking, generally even an old one is okay unless disturbed.
Hi Beech - Thanks for the info.
I have no idea why the stem is leaking. The indie shop that installed the tires for me didn't charge me to mount the tires because I shot some photos for the owner. I have always mounted mine in the past and changed the stems out every other tire change myself. He said he didn't have valves stems that would fit.
I think I have to go back to doing them myself!
Hi All!
I replaced my tires and I did not replace the valve stems... I used to do the tires and stems myself, but that 160/70B17 79V is a killer with a set of tire spoons, so I took the wheels and tires to a local bike shop and they said they didn't have replacement valve stems so don't worry about them!
Well, I rode the bike after I got the tires home and mounted for about ten minutes and then parked the bike in the garage.
When I went to take it out today, as usual I check the tire pressure.
The front one was fine, the rear tire was flat!
I filled the rear tire up and sprayed a little Simple Green around the valve stem and it started bubbling up on the side.
Oh, well.
My question is... I looked through some threads for replacement stems and all the threads were old.
Some people in this forum mentioned KurveyGirl.com but they are out of the short stems.
Any suggestions on where to buy valve stems? Or... what size are they?
I thought I wrote it down somewhere, but I am not having any luck finding it.
Thank you!
Too bad the Kurvey Girl short stems are sold out. I’ve had great luck with them for the last dozen years or so and being short they make checking pressure easier.
Yeah... I took John's advice and took a ride over to the local Autozone and picked up the metal stems sold under the Slime brand. $5.50 out the door! I can't believe how much BMW wants for their replacement stems!
I have metal 90's on my LT but I have them at about a 45 degree angle to the rim. It depends on how tall the ones you get are if they would stick up far enough to hit the calipers if you rotated them all the way out to the side. I think my rear was OK but the front was not so I keep them more towards the center of the rim and not pointed out to the side. They are great and no leaks. Yes, with the ones I used, I had to grind down the center bead a bit to get the washer to sit flat.
On the rear no issue, on the front I have to feed my hand through the disc to get the cap off and I use a talking air pressure gage because I cannot see the readout. No problem with standard air chucks and on the road I have onboard air with a locking chuck.
I have an old gauge that I am not sure is available anymore. It has a head angled 90 degrees with a fairly long neck. Works great on motorcycles with short straight stems.
Shop Amazon for Accu-Gage RA60X (5-60 PSI) Right Angle Chuck Dial Tire Pressure Gauge with Hose, Standard Valve and find millions of items, delivered faster than ever.
Here is what I did. I purchased these steel T stems and the Fobo Bike 2 TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring System). The app installs on my phone which I mount on a Quad-Lock holder where the GPS used to be. You can see your tire pressures and temperatures in real-time. Did you realize that your tires can gain +/-10lbs of pressure when it's hot out? You can set warnings with alarms for min/max pressure alerts. The T stems allow you to add air/nitrogen without removing the TPMS. It is a very slick, convenient setup. I also run ceramic balance beads which work perfectly.
Actually from the start of any ride my tires on the LT gain as much as 8 lbs as they get hot riding with the same outside temperature. My rear gets to 165 and the fronts to 135 F. but my Smartire system compensates for that and gives me a delta P from cold.
My problem is to check the tire pressure. I have a very good gauge but the tip is at 45 degrees and there is not enough room. I solved the problem by buying a set of 90 degrees tire valve extender. I put 2 together for the front wheel. They are only (cad)$11.00 for a set of 4. This is just to check the pressure and they don't stay on the rim when I ride. Check them on Amazon
I use the T-valves from FOBO (but use an Amazon TPMS product that doesn't require a phone to display tire pressure). No modification is necessary and pressure is easy to check without removing the TPMS sensor.
After 1k miles the metal valve stems, Slime TR416 suggested by John Z. work great!
I did have to give the wheel a slight shave along the upraised lip which travels across the stem centers.
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