bought the truck used and the previous owner had put metal caps on the valve stems. i never touched them cuz the tires for the past year looked good until last week i took a look at them and noticed driver front looked a little low. i went to unscrew the cap and it would not budge. i hit it with PB blaster (waited) then tried again and nothing. so out come the 3/8 wrench and needle nose pliers and still no luck. all four tires are like this. This has to be the dumbest problem i ever had. well now i guess i have to bring it to a tire shop to get this silly issue fixed. anybody have this happen to them and what was the bill. thank you for any input

 

I wonder if someone Loctited the metal caps on so they wouldn't be stolen or tampered with. You might want to try warming them up a bit with a heat gun before you take any drastic measures.

 

i was thinking of that but was nervous with the the rubber valve stem

 

I swear honey, the only fix is new rims/tires.

I'd be tempted to try a cordless drill to see if a quick blast of torque breaks it free.

 

You might want to try some heat and or vise grips with a shot of PB Blaster ! I know I have a nice set of metal caps and I always use VASELINE on them and I have never had a problem with coming off and they stay on nicely!

 

steelblitz lol. how great would that be. i think ill try the heat gun first. thanks for the input guys. ill try it this weekend. Como nice tip with the vasoline but when i get these off there going right in the trash and metal ones with plastic inserts are going on.

 

Rubber valve stem??? A little info on valve stems below. Take note of the pressure ratings. Rubber stems are only rated for 65 psi.

http://www.myerstiresupply.com/shop/...er+Tire+Valves


http://www.aa1car.com/library/tr20134.htm

 

I work at said "tire place" and all i do is use a fine hack saw blade to cut two sides, peel it off

 

totally rad whats ur point?? On my rim (factory) the base of the valve stem is rubber and i didnt know if a heat gun melt it. Torquefan if the heat gun doesnt work it looks like the hack saw is coming out. Thanks

 

The way you wrote it one would think the whole stem was rubber, like on a passenger car tire. If you can't turn the caps, even with pliers, I'd avoid the heat. The safest choice is to deflate the tire, break the bead and replace the stem. If you mark the tire and rim with a grease pencil and don't rotate the tire on the rim, there's no need to re-balance it when you're done. Just air it back up and you're good to go, good luck.

 

Oooo ic what u mean now. my bad i didnt mean it to sound like that. it just sucks cuz of how silly of a issue this is i just dont feel like paying an $80 bill cuz of labor with it just being a valve stem cap lol. o well thanks again every one.

 

The stems like you have stock install just like a regular full rubber one, they just pull through from the inside. You can buy an installation tool pretty cheap and the stems are usually an off the shelf item at NAPA. You could do it yourself and save about $40-50 but it's still a job.

Just had another thought. If you had a Dremel with a cut-off wheel......and were real careful....you might split the cap on one side and get to to release that way.

 

yeah im sure the stems are cheap and easily to get. but truck is to big to fit in the garage lol and its 20 degrees here so a nice driveway job is out of the question. like others have said about the heat gun im gunna try that but just being very careful.

 

That's a really good point. I have seen many technicians and professional tire shops replace the heavy duty brass/rubber valve stems with passenger stems. The biggest problem is that the maximum pressure information is actually really hard to find for valve stems. Some years ago, I had to go directly to the supplier for this info as no literature is ever included with a box of valve stems. Good job, T-Rad, for the heads-up.

 

You're welcome sir. I had to educate myself after a local tire store replaced mine as well.