For those who haven't already become aware of it... . If you had tires installed in the timeframe of July 2006 to a year or more later, you may be at risk of unexpected tire deflation due to defective valve stems. This issue was first posted to CleanMPG in Dec 2007, a fairly extensive page was created about it, and more recently it's gotten the attention of some pretty high-powered safety watchdogs. Read the whole CleanMPG thread and follow the links for details. . Channel 5 Boston is coming to interview me about this tomorrow. eep. . _H*
well, i just had 2 flat tires in 2 consecutive days due to valve stem failure. DH installed the tires back in 3/2007 using whatever the dealership had. i just got off the phone with them, their supplier is bullock and does not appear to be involved in any recalls. so i guess i'm out $40 for that, but DH is replacing the other 2 stems when he's home next to be safe. just thought i'd bump the topic for others- check your valve stems!
I'm glad you did. I put a properly quoted entry over in GreenHybrid.com pointing to Hobbit's article. Since I'm just putting four, new 175/70R14s on my NHW11 and getting 'perfect alignment,' I might as well have the valve stems replaced with either the off-road or truck versions. No need to go looking for trouble. Bob Wilson ps. Just ordered a set of 'clamp-in' valve stems from Ebay, $9 with shipping, and will let my local tire store install, balance and remount the tires. Since I've already got the life-time alignment service, this should be about as good as it gets.
third valve stem went today, that's 3 in 10 days. had to have it replaced tonight. got ahold of the supplier and found out their valve stems ARE part of the recall. i will be reimbursed for my expenses to date, they will arrange to pay for the 4th one. they are also going to replace 2 of my tires that had sidewall damage, which is good because i didn't feel all that great about running around on those. will report back on how the reimbursement and future work goes... so far the supplier has been very professional and seems like a really nice guy. the service department at the dealership had no clue what i was talking about, of course. but they did squeeze me in before they closed up for the weekend.
story of my life: i'm getting royally f*cked over. there's no record of my tires being installed at the dealership- because DH did the labor on his time. so the dealership and their valve stem distributor washed their hands of me, leaving me $110 in the hole. $80 for the 4 valve stem replacements, and $30 for breaking down and inspecting 2 tires. oh, plus the cost of the tires that i no longer trust. now i have to seek some type of reimbursement from the tire distributor, but i have no record of the tires being installed there either so... wish me luck. i think i'm just out the money DESPITE the recall. i'll find out tomorrow morning. i'm just nauseated. that's a lot of money on our tight budget.
i did not know that it costs a lot of money to replace $2 valve stems carefuly weigh your options... check your receipts, and take them to small claims court! make sure to ask the judge for the filing fee + process server fee if you win!! maybe your case will be dismissed and you will be on judge judy
More-direct links: Recall Results : ODI - Office of Defects Investigation http://nhthqnwws111.odi.nhtsa.dot.g...s/Public/Recalls/2008/T/RCDNN-08T018-8189.pdf
the cost was labor to break down the tire and remount and rebalance. the guy who does it has to get paid, nobody works for free. i'm weighing my options, have a few directions to consider. can't do much about it tonight.
Ripped off I'd say. You only have to break the outside bead to replace the valve stem. If you have rim clamped weights you just replace the weight back in the same spot. No need to rebalance. We do it at our shop all the time. Rod
Can the affected stems be identified when they are in place (before they fail, I mean)? The recall notice states that the affected stems have a triangle shape on the base, but it's not clear whether the base is inside the rim and thus hidden when installed.
Check out Hobbit's write-up. I believe they are inside. However, it may be possible to have someone take some micrometer readings and post the values of the bad ones. Bob Wilson
the triangle design is inside the rim. just check the base of the valve stem (where it meets the rim) for cracking and drying- signs of premature aging. mine were obviously in poor shape. i have directly contacted the manufacturer of the valve stems, wish me luck.
I wish you good luck. You've already had a lot of bad luck: the recall states that much less than 1% of the six million stems made from July through November 2006 should be defective. Time to buy one lottery ticket, maybe :_>
Discount Tire notified me of this I got mail today from the company from which I bought replacement tires for my Audi A4 late in 2006, Discount Tire. The letter mentioned the car for which I bought the tires, and said that valve stems they had installed on my car might be defective, mentioning Dill Air Controls as the troubled supplier. I was urged to schedule an appointment for free replacement of the questionable valve stems. I was guided to a special web site set up to facilitate scheduling appointments for this service. As it happens, I'm slightly over 12,000 miles on the tires and don't have a log of having had them rotated, so I'll collect (already available) free balancing and rotation on the same visit.
