Rubber vs Metal Valve Stems on RV Tires with TPMS Sensors 

Just had my second valve stem failure with the exact TPMS sensors in the video. Dr Dave I came to the same answer after careful thought. The flex is causing either a valve stem displacement of a shearing of the base. I spoke to the same company and was told they haven’t heard of it. However, I was recommended to get the metal stems, hmmm. I just arrived in Florida for a winter stay with the airstream and will not be leaving without those metal stems. Ironic how the very system that is supposed to alert you of a tire issue is actually causing it. Thank you Dr Dave for validating my thoughts exactly. Respectfully Dave RN.

In the past year I've had 3 valve stem failures using external TPMS. My initial thought was, wow, I'm glad I have this TPMS to warn me of the leaks, preventing a complete blowout and ruining a tire. But I've since learned, as you have, the TPMS on rubber valve stems was causing the leaks. I'm currently shopping for the clamp in metal valve stems to have installed on my RV. It's probably more common that we realize.

We suffered through this problem with our first fifth wheel coach decades ago. Our solution was to cut a small piece of pool noodle to hold the TPMS away from the wheel. Since then I have always used metal valve stems, but the pool noodle hack worked for three years. Thanks for a great video.

I'm currently looking at getting the TST 770 TPMS. With as many others that have experienced the same issue with TPMS sensors on rubber valve stems, you would think the company would be aware of it. However, I do see that they do state the flow through sensors must have metal valve stems. This makes sense as they are larger and heavier sensors, which leads to believe they would cause rubber valve stem damage. Sounds to me your best to just going with metal valve stems regardless which sensors you're using. I am soon exchanging my 5th wheel tires. This was good information as I will request they put in metal valve stems.

I had this happen last week on my utility trailer. The valve stem had weakened and the tire would stay inflated while stationary but would slowly loose air while in motion. It was the weight of the TPMS sensor causing the valve stem to stretch and loose air as it rotated. I installed metal valve stems yesterday and I am sure my problem is solved. Thanks for your video, safe travels.

Good evening from Godley Texas, I never would have thought about this. I'll check my 10 ply tires tomorrow. Thanks😎 Stay safe and happy travels 😎

Learn something new every day...

One caution with metal stems - if you over tighten the TPMS you can damage the valve. When I took my TPMS off the valve was leaking air. A gasketed cap or putting the TPMS back on will hold the air until you can insert a new valve inside the stem. I never had this over tightening problem with my stock rubber stems.

Great video. We also had 3 stem failures on our 2007 PW Excel TS while on our Alaska road trip. Yep, we had a TPMS and rubber stems. Thanks to Les Schwab Tires in Vancouver, WA who changed them to steel at no charge. I think they felt sorry for us after having 3 failures.😉

Hey Dr Dave, thanks for sharing that information. I got five weeks before retirement..

I’ve had two valve stem failures on tires less than three years old with my TPMS. Both had tears at the base and I’ve been careful not to twist the stem when taking the sensors off to add air. I’m ready to try metal valve stems. Thanks for putting your thoughts into a video.

Ok….let me explain my identical situation as it may actually add some clarity to why this happened to you, as it can happen with metal valve stems also. I installed my TST pass thru sensors on my 5th wheel and a week later one valve stem was leaking. I pulled the tire and had a tire shop replace the stem and reinstalled. A week later….another valve metal stem started leaking after I aired up the tire a few lbs. What caused it was the twisting of the valve stem while installing or removing the TPMS sensors. In my case it ripped the rubber gasket on the backside of the stem and with the rubber stem, it’s easy to “break the seal” by the twisting while loosening or tightening the TPMS. My tire shop recommended pull thru metal stems (not the gasket type) and I have never had another issue.

I have the. Identical wheel on my e350 ford van bought it new n it came with the metal stems so I don’t know what happened in your case.

I talked to a friend who designs valve stems for the car and trucking industry. He said that rubber and snap in valves are NOT designed to hold TPMS sensors. He recommends metal bolt on valves or buy an internal TPMS system. Our cast aluminum wheels cannot accommodate a bolt on valve so we ditched our TST system and went with Schrader’s retrofit kit. At $110.00, it cost less than half of TST’s and cost to install it was about the same as swapping out the valves. We actually like the Schrader display much better. We ended up wasting $250 on the TST so I wish we had just purchased the Schrader system to begin with. 😢

I just had both inner duallys sale at the valve stem too. I've never had a valve stem fail never. I agree with you it's the TPMS that is flexing the rubber valve stems. These have been on for 3 and 1/2 years. On our way back from Florida TPMS goes off on one and then goes off on the other I'm thinking this cannot be true. It is. Now I'm researching for metal valve stems.

I was just at a tire shop yesterday shopping for new tires for my Leisure Travel Van motorhome. I mentioned to the salesman that I was thinking about adding a TPMS system and asked his opinion about metal valve stems. He said do not install metal stems because I will constantly be battling corrosion issues. He recommended rubber even though I am adding sensors. I was shocked by his recommendation because most other LTV owners are switching to metal stems when they get their after market TPMS.

I believe the weight of the sensor changes the harmonic frequency of the valve stem. The tire rotation speed matches the new harmonic frequency of the valve stem, the valve stem swings wildly at the new harmonic frequency and eventually fails. I have seen heavy steel pipelines suspended in air fail when wind induced forces match the harmonic frequency of the suspended pipe. Different situation same principle.

Metal 100%! I've been using them on my motorcycles for decades since I'm not carrying a spare and can't just replace a flat caused by a broken valve stem. I had a rubber one fail and it cost me the rest of my trip - getting a tow, etc. at 2AM in the middle of nowhere isn't fun. Been using metal ever since. Almost everyone I know in the long-distance endurance motorcycle community use them as well (that's where I learned about them). They'll be going on my RV regardless of the TPMS system. It's just one less thing to have to worry about.

Thanks!

In only 1 year, my sensors have worn spots where they are rubbing against the rim. When parked, the sensor is a half inch from the rims, that’s how far mine are spinning out from centrifugal force. I just had my second tire stem fail in the last 2 trips (8 hours of driving). The guy where I bought the tires replaced the first one free, but the new one is just like the ones that failed. I’m ordering metal stems from the jungle store and having those installed before my next trip.

Dr. Dave if you look on the IRV and Class A sites we have been using them for years especially on sprinter vans with duallies.

This is another example, proving "The RV Dummy" is not so dumb

We had two tires go down, first one was the valve stem. Second one, we don't know because the stem and sensor were both gone. The theory is that the sensor is too heavy. It was with new tires.

Lost two valve stems using TPMS in a two week period. Having metal stems installed next week.

Heavy Metal cool !!!