Just a little story to share about my tires today. Back in early August when completing an in town errand I noticed my right rear passenger tire was quite deflated when I had reached home. I slapped on the spare and drove to the tire shop - dropped off the tire expecting for them to find a nail or something. On my return, the tire jockey told me it was a valve stem that needed replacing and which they fixed. Fast forward to this morning when I noticed my left rear passenger tire very deflated. I again slapped on my trusty spare and went to fill the troublesome tire with air and found the valve stem to be gushing air as I attempted to fill the tire. Thinking that I had two valve stem problems in a month's time, I figured I would inspect the other tires and sure enough both showed signs of splitting - one even released air if I pushed the stem sideways. I run stock rims without hub caps and my tires are about 2.5 years old and have maybe 20,000 km on them. After talking to a tire jockey #2 on the phone it was apparent that the stems were not replaced when I had the tires changed over. Anyway the old stems are longer than standard stems in order to stick out past the hub cap for filling access. Without the hub cap on - the old stems protrude ever so slightly out past the tire sidewall and according the tire jockey # 3 will rub against the curb and wear - this is possible but I think I would have pretty scuffed up sidewalls as evidence and this theory doesn't explain the weak stems on the driver's side of the van. I got everything fixed with new stems without a charge or a hassle as the Tireshop (where I bought the tires) knew deep down they should have replaced the stems. Anyway - before heading out on a trip or just as an inspection, double check the base of your valve stems to see whether they are worn or split. This will save you the hassle of a flat or worse a possible blow out like scenario. BT 86 Syncro Westfalia |
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