Tire Trouble, sort of.

[usedgeo]

This winter weather has been really hard on my mileage. Last time I drove the car home it started dragging to the left and the mileage was horrible. Actually the valve stem had failed. I was a bit surprised. It was pretty old but I think that 60 psi may have been a factor too. The tire ran low but not long enough to get hot. I will run it a while before going all the way back up to the pressure where I normally run it. Just a bit peculiar.

[kamesama980]

I take it you got it repaired?

Most likely you contributed by running something over unknowingy.

the extra flexing of the sidewall will damage more than the heat itself. the heat will also manifest only at higher speeds especially in the winter.

[trebuchet03]

Those tire stems can take a lot... A LOT! I use them on pneumatic cannons all the time at pressures of 130psi and beyond

That said, I too have had a tire stem fail - that was before I pumped my tires up though. Fatigue eventually kills them - which is why most places change them when your tires are changed

[GasSavers_Red]

How'd your tire stem fail? I've subjected my current set to a fair amount of off pavement abuse and they are still fine

[trebuchet03]

Originally Posted by Red

How'd your tire stem fail? I've subjected my current set to a fair amount of off pavement abuse and they are still fine

Mine cracked where the stem left the rim... It sorta held pressure - but if I put any transverse pressure on it - it'd let air out faster... It was just enough time to get to a tire place (sams) to have it changed Don't know any specifics of what caused it to fail though (it didn't have any crazy valve cover caps or anything)....

[usedgeo]

Originally Posted by trebuchet03

Mine cracked where the stem left the rim... It sorta held pressure - but if I put any transverse pressure on it - it'd let air out faster... It was just enough time to get to a tire place (sams) to have it changed Don't know any specifics of what caused it to fail though (it didn't have any crazy valve cover caps or anything)....

Mine failed pretty much the same as trebuchet03's did. Just a short distance from the rim. Sure it looked old and cracked but these were NOT brand name tires and I would bet the stem was new with the tires. They came on the car. These tires are rated 80,000 miles.

[GasSavers_Red]

Weird, some kind of dry rot on the stem? Strange place for it to crack and break off with normal use. When you guys had the stems replaced was there a lot of water inside the rim? Maybe some kind of deterioration from the inside out?

[trebuchet03]

Originally Posted by Red

Weird, some kind of dry rot on the stem? Strange place for it to crack and break off with normal use. When you guys had the stems replaced was there a lot of water inside the rim? Maybe some kind of deterioration from the inside out?

I didn't see any liquid water in there.... My tires were newish (new within about two years).

It's really not too strange of a place to fail -- it's failing at the area of highest angular deflection (while spinning ). Mind was def. leaking due to cracked steel.

I expect some number per 10000 (or whatever) stems to be defective and not last as long as it should Things would be incredibly expensive if everything was six sigma for quality control :/