Here's a long winded tale to raise awareness of something simple but important.

For those of us who opted to install blind valve stems on our Coy's wheels, this tid-bit of info saved a lot of paperwork and money too. I suppose this data works for anyone who installed these metal valve stems on any flavor of aluminum wheel. These stems are metal and removable. The valve core lives in the port.

Here's the port with the cap installed.



I have run my wheel/tire combo over 30K miles with no problems until recently. First I noticed the right front wheel was not holding air pressure as steady as it had been. The drivers rear had lost a few pounds too. Just added more air and wasn't too concerned.

Having the car tucked away during cold winter days but available for sunny day rides, I've been lax on checking the tires other than a cursory glance to see that they look normal. I check the engine oil level, coolant level, brake reservoir, and lights but tires? Meh...

On a recent outing, sitting at a stop light, this scruffy biker dude points at that right-side tire and motions that it's low. I acknowledged his observation with a thumbs up and found a parking lot to take a look. Yup, it was lower than expected. Explained why the steering felt a bit sluggish.

Thinking the obvious, I ran my hand all over the tire, feeling for a nail, screw, or hard object that had been picked up and causing the slow leak. None found. Decided to take the car home then and investigate.

I removed the wheel and gave it a good once-over. Nothing had penetrated the tire but it was obviously losing air. Knew that the valve stem was then suspect so I grabbed a spray bottle of water.

Sure enough, there were bubbles coming from the port.



Found my valve-stem tool and discovered that sucker was just a tad too loose. Removed the core to inspect for seal damage and reinstalled after none found.



Tightened it to spec and voila! No more leak. The drivers rear yielded the same result. Of course, I inspected the remaining two and gave them a little twist too.

I've really never thought about checking valve stem cores for tightness so I was frustrated that it took me this long to discover the root cause. Fortunately, there was no damage done to the wheel/tire combo but realizing the inconvenience at the least or what potential catastrophe could have been, at worst... well, you know.

So if you run these trick little pieces on your wheels, inspect them periodically to ensure they remain snug enough to keep the tire pressure at the manufacturer's suggested rate.

Good luck and hope this info helps us to stay safe.

 

thanks for that. Will remember to give them a check when I get the chance. Gotta love the coys

 

Thanks for the heads up. I have Coy's on mine but not on the road yet.

 

Thank you for sharing that info. I'm getting ready to purchase a set of coy's here in the near future and when I first saw this thread, My response was ok darn, here we go.
Also after reading this great tip for the valve stems, gave me the Idea to set a couple of new extra stems in the car for back up.
Thanks

 

Thanks for the information and warning.

I will be sure to check my tire pressures in the spring before the first drive.

Will probably go ahead and tighten the valve stems as well just to be sure they don't start leaking.

 

Thanks for the tip. I have Coys on mine and apparently need to check mine.

last month, when I started my 72 up I checked my tires. All were ok except the passenger front tire was around 5psi. I inflated it and didn't think much as it was only about 20 degrees out.

 

I finally got a warm day (in Cincinnati its been a cold one for us). I checked my rims and all my valves needed tightening. The one tire was completely flat. I didn't have a tool to tighten the valves the flush style mount. So I bought a normal one and cut off around the center part so it would reach down in the flush mount.

Original tool

Tool with surround cut off. (now it can reach down in the flush mount to tighten the valves)


Great post and thanks again as I wouldn't have thought to look for loose valves.

 

Great solution to the tool problem. Glad that worked out for you.

Even the smallest detail needs an occassional look.