I've heard that if one plans to do extensive sand driving, its good to get stainless steel valve caps (and possibly valves). Just some questions on this:
1. Is it neccessary / a good idea?
2. Should you only get the valve caps or should you also replace the entire valve thingy with a stainless steel one?
3. My local tyre place does not stock these things - they recommended I get the Midas ones - are these sufficient / robust enough?
Affiliate Member
I had steel valve caps once. Never again.
Rusted on and I damaged the valve getting it off.
Rusted on and I damaged the valve getting it off.
8/12/2011
G-tuinvurk,
Die plastiek doppies is 100% en boonop verniet. Terwyl ek by enige bande plek is, tel ek altyd 'n paar ekstra doppies op vir ingeval een verloor of breek. Dink ook daaraan dat wanneer jy later (miskien?) 'n banddruk monitor stelsel gaan installeer jy die staal doppies sal moet weggooi.
Cloyd.
G-tuinvurk,
Die plastiek doppies is 100% en boonop verniet. Terwyl ek by enige bande plek is, tel ek altyd 'n paar ekstra doppies op vir ingeval een verloor of breek. Dink ook daaraan dat wanneer jy later (miskien?) 'n banddruk monitor stelsel gaan installeer jy die staal doppies sal moet weggooi.
Cloyd.
Seker waar! Sal vir eers bietjie terughou met hierdie idee.cloyd wrote:8/12/2011
Die plastiek doppies is 100% en boonop verniet. Terwyl ek by enige bande plek is, tel ek altyd 'n paar ekstra doppies op vir ingeval een verloor of breek. Dink ook daaraan dat wanneer jy later (miskien?) 'n banddruk monitor stelsel gaan installeer jy die staal doppies sal moet weggooi.
Dankie!
Karl
I asked about the steel valves and caps at my local tyre dealer and he mentioned that the steel valve is very ridgid and therefore prone to easy breakage especially in soft sand where the tyre tends to sink in. I have not heard of this but thought I will mention it.
Karl,
Steel valve caps are able to withold the pressure of the tyre in the event of a valve failure, while the plastic caps are not.
Kids with bicycles love the steel caps, so I stopped 'supplying' them (the kids) with a source to steal it from, by putting the old faithful plastic caps back. I have only ever heared of a valve failure on a truck.
As far as sand driving is concerned, I do not believe the caps will make a difference.
I recon you are more likely to pull a tyre off a rim than to break a valve? It will be interesting to see whether anyone on the forum ever lost a valve during off-road driving...
Anton
Steel valve caps are able to withold the pressure of the tyre in the event of a valve failure, while the plastic caps are not.
Kids with bicycles love the steel caps, so I stopped 'supplying' them (the kids) with a source to steal it from, by putting the old faithful plastic caps back. I have only ever heared of a valve failure on a truck.
As far as sand driving is concerned, I do not believe the caps will make a difference.
I recon you are more likely to pull a tyre off a rim than to break a valve? It will be interesting to see whether anyone on the forum ever lost a valve during off-road driving...
Anton
Affiliate Member
Had the bad Luck to have a valve fail last week on the Metalian. I had noticed that the tyre was not as hard as it should have been and when I removed the plastic cap at the filling station I heard it hiss at me. The plastic cap did its thing better than the three valve spanners that I had in the pajero 
I have three boys 
hopefully the new one will not desert on its own
I have three boys hopefully the new one will not desert on its ownHenk Bannink
Some people are wise, some people are otherwise
Some people are wise, some people are otherwise
Hi Karl,
Just a few fact about Tubeless Valves & Valve Caps. You get several types of rubber and steel tubeless vales. Normaly the steel tubeless valves are fitted to vehicles with high performance tyres/low profile tyres and last longer than your normal rubber t/l valve. In the rubber type you also get standard lenght, short and long valves. Also different diameter t/l valve are available. My recommendation to any person who intend to do sand driving or wish to install a TPMS on their valves is that they must have a short rubber valve installed. These valves are omly about 20 to 25mm long but they stay out of the way when you drive in the sand and do not have a lot of flex when used with the TPMS. With regards to caps, the plastic caps are designed to be a dust cap only and not to keep pressure in the tyre should the valve core fail. The heat generated by a tyre flexing is enough to heat up the steel tube inside the valve and melt the plastic cap. Steel caps is the only cap that can stop an air leak should the valve core fail. These are available in S/steel or brass and now even Teflon. (Reason for teflon is that fleet owners lost caps as a result of theft) These caps are more expensive than plastic but also more reliable. Hope my long story clears up any misunderstanding.
Harras
Just a few fact about Tubeless Valves & Valve Caps. You get several types of rubber and steel tubeless vales. Normaly the steel tubeless valves are fitted to vehicles with high performance tyres/low profile tyres and last longer than your normal rubber t/l valve. In the rubber type you also get standard lenght, short and long valves. Also different diameter t/l valve are available. My recommendation to any person who intend to do sand driving or wish to install a TPMS on their valves is that they must have a short rubber valve installed. These valves are omly about 20 to 25mm long but they stay out of the way when you drive in the sand and do not have a lot of flex when used with the TPMS. With regards to caps, the plastic caps are designed to be a dust cap only and not to keep pressure in the tyre should the valve core fail. The heat generated by a tyre flexing is enough to heat up the steel tube inside the valve and melt the plastic cap. Steel caps is the only cap that can stop an air leak should the valve core fail. These are available in S/steel or brass and now even Teflon. (Reason for teflon is that fleet owners lost caps as a result of theft) These caps are more expensive than plastic but also more reliable. Hope my long story clears up any misunderstanding.
Harras
Thanks for all the feedback guys!
Will hold off on getting any steel caps/tubes for now - just picked up a few extra plastic ones after rotation at tiger wheel & tyre.
Will hold off on getting any steel caps/tubes for now - just picked up a few extra plastic ones after rotation at tiger wheel & tyre.
Karl