How tight should the valve stems be?

[Brian S]

I had a new problem yesterday. TPMS went off after bouncing over the crappy I70 roads around Denver and the mountain roads before. Said a leak. Pulled over and sure enough lost about 10#. Couldn’t see an obstruction so topped it up and cautiously carried on. Alarmed again. Pulled into a repair store, they were too busy to switch to my spare so asked for another top off. As I was measuring pressure I I’m heard air coming out from where the valve stem sits…problem solved. Tightened it up and all good! At the camp site checked all for stems and all were “slightly” loose. Tightened them. Question is, how tight should they be? I did a one, maybe two finger torque as I didn’t want to snap anything. Is that enough? And how to keep them tight? Thanks!!

[Foldbak]

Not only may valve-stem nuts be overtightened, but so can valve cores if the valve is overtightened. A valve core that has been subjected to excessive torque will be damaged, and a leak will result. Valve cores should be tightened to a torque of between 2 and 5 inch-pounds, which is practically hand-tight in nature.


I can't find a torque spec for the stem.


Here it is, just have to ask the right question.
If the valve stem is loose, the assembly leaks. If it is too tight, corrosion will begin to form around the valve stem and a leak will soon follow. The recommended torque for standard aluminum wheel valve stems is 7 to 11 ft/lbs or 80 to 125 in/lbs.


https://tirehungry.com/how-to-tighte...re-valve-stem/

[Brian S]

I’ll have to check if my torque wrench goes that low! I now fear I may have over tightened, even at at one to two finger pull…

[Foldbak]

Originally Posted by Brian S

I’ll have to check if my torque wrench goes that low! I now fear I may have over tightened, even at at one to two finger pull…

Make sure we're talking the same thing. The stem and the core have different torque specs. The core is finger tight. 2 to 5 inch pounds. The stem is 7 to 10 foot pounds.

[Mikendebbie]

What make is your TPMS and what type caps do you have (flow thru or non-flow thru?)

[Lee-CI]

Originally Posted by Foldbak

Make sure we're talking the same thing. The stem and the core have different torque specs. The core is finger tight. 2 to 5 inch pounds. The stem is 7 to 10 foot pounds.

Thanks for providing the info Tony. Been putting off procuring a low range torque wrench. Looks like I'll need to go shopping - again...

[Foldbak]

Originally Posted by Lee-CI

Thanks for providing the info Tony. Been putting off procuring a low range torque wrench. Looks like I'll need to go shopping - again...

Nah..use your torque elbow.

[DutchmenSport]

I never knew there was a way to "torque" the valve stem "core". I've had one of these for, probably, 50 years now and it's the only thing I've ever used to tighten my "cores".

This thing.

My stems are all rubber. When the tool gets the threaded valve "core" tightened and the rubber stem twists slightly, that's about as tight as mine have ever been. I do the same with bicycle inner tubes, yard carts with air tires, my John Deere yard tractor, the tires on my log splitter, my camper, and the utility trailer.

The only time I've ever had a leak was after having the tires serviced or tires replaced and the shop did not get those "cores" tight enough and they wiggled loose.

So, I personally, have no idea how one would "torque" those cores or what tool you'd use to do it.

As far as the little cap on the end, that's just finger tight. I've had them stolen before, so now I just keep the rubber black caps on all my tires now. It makes no sense why anyone would steal them, but I've had mine stolen before. I'll never get "designer" caps again!

[Brian S]

Originally Posted by Mikendebbie

What make is your TPMS and what type caps do you have (flow thru or non-flow thru?)

It’s a tire minder TPMS. I do not know what type of caps I have (don’t know the difference). They just seem “normal” to me, I screw them on the end of the stem and then tighten the nut against them

[Brian S]

What is the core? I’m referring to the stem (I think), the nit that tightens to the outside of the wheel.

[Theunz]

The stem is what protrudes from the wheel usually about 2 inches long. The core is inside the stem, it’s the small part that you can push down on and hear air escaping.

[Brian S]

Right! My lose issue was with the stem

[Foldbak]

Originally Posted by Brian S

Right! My lose issue was with the stem

This is the stem. Not all have nuts. The rubber ones just press in.

[Rhortie1]

I had the same problem when my unit was new 3 yrs ago. The valve stem nuts were never tightened at the factory. Luckily my TST TPMS caught the low pressure within the first 75 miles of my maiden voyage. I tightened them down with a deep socket, not super tight but tight enough. I haven’t had a problem in the last 3 yrs of full timing. That’s about 25,000 miles on those same sailun tires.

[rohrmann]

Don’t ever let a tire shop install the type of valve stem that has the nuts inside the wheel. When we changed over to the G614 tires ten years ago, Sailuns weren’t yet available, the only stems the shop had were those with the nuts inside the wheel. No way to get to the nuts on them. The best ones we have now have a wide flange with the gasket inside the wheel with the nut on the outside and haven’t had any issues with them. Never have seen any tire guy or girl use a torque wrench on a valve stem.

[CalandLinda]

The common standard for torque on steel valve stem nuts is 42in lbs.

[DmaxDually]

I mount and balance my own tires. I have had the metal Enkie valve stems with TST flow thru sensors on them on both my rv and tv for 10 years with no leaks. I have recently replaced my TST system with the Tire Minder system and installed internal sensors on all my wheels.
The Enkie valve stems that I have used for 10 years have 2 nuts on them. Both on the inside. It also has 2 rubber grommets one on the inside and one on the outside of the wheel. The first nut is to secure the valve stem to the wheel. The second nut is a lock nut to keep it tight. When I installed the first nut, per Enkie's installation instructions, I would torque it down to 30-35 in lbs. At that point you would see the grommet on the outside start to expand ( not deform) under the washer and you knew it was tight against the wheel. Then while holding the first nut with an open end wrench, to keep it from moving, I would install the second lock nut and tighten it against the first nut. I never had any come loose or leak from any of my wheels.
Not counting flats, all the tire and wheel issues I've had were caused by the tire shop employee's incompetents, not caring or knowing how to mount tires. I had 2 of my polished Aluminum wheel on my dually damaged by 2 different tire shops because of incompetents years ago. It was at that point I decided to purchase a Tire machine and wheel balancer off eBay to keep in my garage. I mount all my tire and fix all my flats. Beside the occasional flat, I have never had another tire, valve stem or slow leak issue from tire shop incompetents ever since.