valve stems?

[Pookapotamus]

i have a new set of rims that i have all cleaned up and waiting for tires to go on to my jeep but i am wondering what i should use for valve stems? i have seen the screw in metal shaft kind but dont really know if i need to use them. also what about length of the stem?

what does everyone use? and what benifits or disadvantages are there?

[BlackYJ]

Go talk to Dean at National.  He wanted to install these flush or almost flush stems on my tires when I had them mounted but he could not get them in time, so they installed some stubby rubber ones

[specialk]

National put some pretty chrome stems and caps.  They look nice, but I barely got them off when I went to air down.  Looks like they were starting to corrode.   Stay with rubber ones. 

[Joel]

Go talk to Dean at National.  He wanted to install these flush or almost flush stems on my tires when I had them mounted but he could not get them in time, so they installed some stubby rubber ones

Do NOT install the flush mounted ones.  These are great if you only wheel in Rocks and typically dry places, as the stems are protected.  They suck big time for the weather up here, good luck finding the flush mounted stems when it's time too air up, when your rim is covered in mud/snow.  They installed these on my beadlocks a while back and they were a huge pita.  Your always fumbling around for the Allen key, was a pain too air down/ air up as you'll need a special set of extended valve stem to hook up to an air hose.  I'm surprised they're still pushing too sell these.

I would go with the rubber ones or the stems that have a bend on them so they're easier to air up.

[w squared]

I'm going to go with the crowd here and reccomend the plain vanilla rubber stems. My wheels came from the factory with TPMS and metal stems...and they are more susceptible to damage and a bigger PITA than rubber stems.

[Zombie]

TPMS stems tend to crack very easily.

rubber valve stems are cheap, but can rip out when in the mud and leave you with a tire full of mud that you can't air up because the stem has ripped off.
I went with metal ones because they will usually bend a bit before they break and are stronger so they wont rip out.

I have the metal ones at costco for cheap, something like 50-75 cents a stem.

[BlackYJ]

Do NOT install the flush mounted ones.  These are great if you only wheel in Rocks and typically dry places, as the stems are protected.  They suck big time for the weather up here, good luck finding the flush mounted stems when it's time too air up, when your rim is covered in mud/snow.  They installed these on my beadlocks a while back and they were a huge pita.  Your always fumbling around for the Allen key, was a pain too air down/ air up as you'll need a special set of extended valve stem to hook up to an air hose.  I'm surprised they're still pushing too sell these.

I would go with the rubber ones or the stems that have a bend on them so they're easier to air up.

Easy there Joel, this was like 3 years ago now, but good to know for the future

[cLAY]

I run stubby metal ones as well. I mangled one enough that it leaked so we aired it up and then hammered a chunk of wood into the stem and it held for the rest of the day.

I carry a few spares as well. Pretty easy to both a new one in if you've got a highlift to break the bead.

[hps4evr]

if you know the right people, you can get super short rubber stems. they use them on lawn tractor wheels. i use them on my wheels. id say maybe an inch long total. but, ya gotta know where to get them. i got mine from my shops tire repair supplier guy.
X2 on flush mounted stems, major PITA! dont use the high pressure metal stems either, they are meant for major psi. the high pressure is what holds them in for the most part.

[Zombie]

dont use the high pressure metal stems either, they are meant for major psi. the high pressure is what holds them in for the most part.

not really, you bolt them in, they should be good for low pressures too.

[hps4evr]

sorry, i meant the regular pull throughs. not the bolt ins. bolt in style would work allright.

[Zombie]

got it,