Found out just now that 1 of my tire in the front is flat... not all the way but at 20psi for some reason... Can my valve stems go bad??? they are the metal valve stem not the rubber kind. there's no nails,lumps or bumps, any ideas?

 

i believe they have rubber garments that separate them from the barrel of the rim and the valve stem. it is possible that they are bad.

just pump the tire up and spray soapy water on them to see if they leak.. if you see bubbles then they leak.. if not then start spraying the rim lip n see if its leaking on the bead. if not then iono lol try the tread surface??

 

Yes they can go bad.

 

Yup. They can break down over time and they can be defective too. Take some soapy water in a spray bottle and spray the valve stem. If it is leaking it will start to bubble. You may have to move it around a little to get it to leak and bubble. You can also get slow leaks from the bead.

 

well do it right after work

 

the medal valve stems tend to not last as long as rubber ones. But it depends what you lookin for i had them leak on me a few weeks ago i junked them.

 

yup, if ur tire is leaking air, its 1 of 3 things.

1) nail or cut tire
2) beed is not sealed right to the rim
3) valve stem.


valve stems are relatively cheap, unless you have one of those aftermarket ones, even then, the only things that fails on those are the valve stem insert OR the rubber seal on the valve stem itself. either way, they are usually replaced each time u get new tires. its safer bet that way.

 

I checked every thing... nothings leaking WTF ill check back in next week to see if the PSI changes

 

what kinda coating do u have on the rims?

if they are chrome, and on the older side, the chrome can peel where the tire bead touches it, thus causing a gap that air can leak through. the same can happen to wheels that have a clear coat or a coat of paint on them.

simple check, get a spray bottle of soapy water, and pump up ur tire, spray the bead, spray the valve stem. you may have to take the wheel off to see if the inner bead is leaking. even something like oem wheels that use a "clip on" weight, can cause a small leak by how the clip is attached to the wheel lip.

 

UPDATE: took it to three different shop and pumped the hell outta it to 60 PSI and still no bubbles under water???????????????? whats next

seems to me like all my tires are leaking somewhat... i dink im going crazy haha i swore i pumped all them to 40 and now their sitting at like 35-37 after a week but as for the other one is down to 25

 

you should check with Mario Andretti.

 

Clean the bead and replace the valve stem and then hope for the best. Some shops, and me, use a adhesive around the bead on slow leaking tires. In many cases like mine it did the trick.

 

where can i get the 90 degree angle chrome valve stems at or can i just replace the ruber seal?? ill try to get them dismount and remount and see