Good thing I did it at home

[Don-Wi]

Today was nice enough out that my son and I put the snow tires on the van. Part of doing that is checking the tire pressure, etc. One of the valve stem caps was stainless, the other 3 were plastic. Well, the one with a metal cap was corroded so badly,I ended up twisting the end of the stem off (had to get a pliers to try loosening the cap) and the Schroeder valve came with it.

Of course it was a tpms, so it cost me a bit. Son and I threw it in the van after we put the other tire back on, and went for a drive. Shop in town was open, so we swung in and he had a new one on the shelf. $78 later and we're back in business with the full set of snow tires on the van now. Still have to go back and pay, was near the end of the day and I forgot my wallet. If I had had that happen in town somewhere, that would have sucked...

Donovan from Wisconsin

 

[Duane WI]

Had a similar thing happen with a new car I bought 10 years ago. For all new cars the dealer filled the tires with nitrogen and installed metal valve stem caps. All of this was a ploy to get you to come back more often because they would top off your tires with nitrogen. I always just used air. After a couple of years one of the valve stem caps corroded onto the valve stem. I couldn't get it off and figured wrenching would tear up the entire valve stem and they had the TPS system on them. Took it back to the dealer still under warranty and got it fixed for free. I then removed all of the metal caps and installed plastic.

 

[CKain(MI)]

BTDT, I put shiny bright metal caps on my GXP valve stems. Weeks later tried to remove for pressure check, broke the soft
metal threaded part of the stem right off. Couldn't afford the senors ! Had to put black tape over the light !!

 

[John in Nebraska]

When I did some tire work in the garage found more than a few TPMS inside the tire, clamped to the rim with a large hose clamp. Or a large plastic zip tie, it just has to be inside the tire to send the message. Guess it worked ok. certainly cheaper

 

[Don-Wi]

My guy didn't seem too surprised when I said what happened. Asked what make and year the van was and went to his shelf. Not too upsetting. I bought these factory alloy rims last year for $200 if I remember, with the sensors in them, and another $150 or so for the used snow tires. Paid for mount/dismount and dispose of the old tires that were on the rims and I had right around $400 invested in a complete set w/rims.

Donovan from Wisconsin