devenh

Getting an extra set of wheels and need to decide on whether to install metal or rubber valve stems. Valves need to be suitable for sustained high speeds (130+ mph).

I planned to get metal since they are the same as OEM, but was told by competitionmotorsport.com that they had had several (5) metal valve failures.

After hearing this, I thought I would post here and get people's opinions.

Kobalt

I use these:

http://www.bavauto.com/fland.asp?par...source=VALVE01

The good part is that the stem can not cause any problems.

The "Bad" part is that you need to remove the cover of the valve and insert the stem to check pressure.

mlpor

If you use or keep TPMS, I don't think you have an option do you?
All the TPMS sensors I've seen have been metal stems.

Then there's stuff like https://rennlist.com/forums/993-foru...lve-stems.html
Suggestions that "metal" may be required in some run/race groups?
And the disparate metals, steel vs. aluminum etc., leading to either rust or some other form of electrical decomposition problem, i.e. disparate metal not playing well together.

TireRack's "White Paper" answer - http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete...jsp?techid=208

I can say from a recent personal experience, some one either "forgot" to order in, or overlooked getting replacement TPMS sensors w/metal stems and installed some rubber valve stems on a set of track wheels. Quite aside from worries about "flexing" fatigue &/or exceeding pop-in pressure limits/recommendations, I found the d$#! rubber stems too long, floppy & soft, PARTICULARLY after the wheels & brakes got hot to easily check and bleed off and set tire (adding would have also been annoying) pressures coming off the track. As I now think about it, the heat "softening" of the stems also has me asking what effect that might have on rubber snap/pop in retention & safe maximum recommended pressure limits for the rubber only setups.

CMS

Devenh- for track use you should use metal stems and change them annually to avoid any issues with corrosion. When we advised rubber stems we thought you were using the wheels on the street. Sorry for the confusion.
CMS

devenh

Okay, thanks!