Tire stem extenders

[Richard Cooper]

Is there something made which makes it a lot more convenient or easier to fill up air in tires especially the inside rear tires?  Give me sources too.  Will Amazon have it?  

Can you use with extenders  remote stem caps that tell you at the divers seat what your pressure is?

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Richard,
I don't trust the extenders for long term use. If they develop a leak, your inner goes flat. However, I do use them to check and fill  the inners as I just screw them on for the service and then put them back in the tool box.
If you are going to use them permanently I don't see any reason the remote stem cap wouldn't work.
Steve

[Jay and Raylene Todd]

Richard,

I use stem extenders for my inside tires (the solid metal kind, not the flexible ones) and thread on the sensors for my TPMS. Works just fine and I don't get any leaks. If I did, the TPMS would let me know.

A bit of additional information. NEVER use the lead bead style tire balancing stuff that they put inside your tires. It can get into your valve stems and cause the valve to stick open when checking tire pressure. The tire goes flat and the lead then gets into the bead area. When you re inflate the tire you get a slow leak. They can't find it in the water tank at the tire store because there is no weight on the tire but put it back on your rig and presto, the leak is back. Only cure is to completely dismount the tires with the lead beads, completely clean them out on the inside and the rims and replace the valve stems after completely cleaning out the stem tube.

Been there, done that.

[Joel Ashley]

When I got tired of fishing for the inside valve, I put the metal sleeved ones on our old gas coach and had no problems for nearly 20 years, other than the clamps scratched the rims where they mounted.  Our Beaver came with metal extenders, and I would not buy the cheaper rubber ones;  sun and age will eventually get to them and they'll crack, and metal ones are less susceptible to road debris.  

Ours actually feed solid metal tubes from the inside and outside wheels that both pass to the space between the tires, connect to metal sleeved ones that can flex, pass through to the outside, and that then mount to built-in brackets on either side of the chrome wheel hub.  Older coaches may not have that option.  I'd consider having a pro do the mounting, since tube routing and stabilization is critical to safe operation.  Once the tube ends/valves are well outside the wheel core and exposed, I see no reason remote sensors can't be used.

Examples:   http://www.campingworld.com/category/wheel-accessories/133

and yes, you can get them on Amazon, but deciding which one ain't so easy, which is another reason to let a pro do it.

Joel

[Bill Sprague]

I have valve stems that are bent to about 90 degrees and extend from the inner wheel through the outer wheel.  Les Schawb in Junction City, OR put them on to replace the flexible extenders when I bought new tires.  Works well for me.

[Mandy Canales]

Alcoa makes a valve extender kit which consists of straight metal tube from the inner dual through a rubber grommet stabilizer on the outer wheel and it stays solid.  I have used them for the past 20 years and they have never failed me so far.  Check them out on the website;  www.alcoawheels.com   You'll need to check North America on the map then click on the Products.  On the left hand column click on "Heavy duty valve stem kit". You'll see several then decide which will fit your wheel.     Alcoa will ship them to you from their Cleveland store.

[Norm Green]

I too have used the Alcoa style valve stem on a '99 Contessa I owned.  They worked great.  In fact, I removed them when I traded the coach for an '04 Thunder but found that the wheel on the new coach had a different hole size for the rubber stabalizer.  I now have an '08 Thunder and if I could determine which rubber stabalizer to use, I would use these valve extensions again.

[Jim Skatzka]

borg dually vavles.  these are not extenders they are a replacement for your existing valves, they are one piece and have a rubber stabilizer that presses into the grab hole to stabilize the long stem coming through the outer wheel.  i believe they will sell you the rubber grommet/stabilizer separately so that you can use them with extenders.   jim