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Before you drive away.....

JMartin

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Hey helpful community. Wanted to be of assistance. I took my truck to discount tire today to have my wheels and tires installed. Everything finished, truck looked badass, hell yeah. I got home and parked and all four tires were deflating rapidly. It was the sound of an air compressor spraying air. A few minutes later sitting on $1500 worth of flat tires. My wheels have an inside valve stem that rubbed repeatedly on the hub/brake components until it was completely chewed away. I am sharing my learning experience. Im sitting here waiting for a flat bed staring at a pretty sweet lookin truck with 4 flats. So, Before you drive away or settle on wheels and tires, make sure this will not be an issue for you.
 

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JF19Longhorn

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I've never seen inside valve stems. :unsure:

Would this be on the installer to check for fitment and test drive the truck after install?
 

JMartin

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I am unable to answer those questions. Apparently there is a valve stem that comes out and makes a right angle for applications with fitment issues but that is hindsight at this point after talking with DT. I dont blame them or myself. I have NO experience with this and they too seemed baffled on first call.
 

Ellisstrong

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A lot of aftermarket wheels have an interior valve stem.
On mine that is where the tpms goes.
 

Ellisstrong

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They also make shorter valve stems that would help with that clearance issue as well.
 

JMartin

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So here was the remedy. There was no valve stem short enough to clear out of several options. These were installed and bent to clear. Im nervous as hell because the clearance is like a half inch. But. Shes home and theres air in the tires. Hope it holds up.
 

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Ellisstrong

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So here was the remedy. There was no valve stem short enough to clear out of several options. These were installed and bent to clear. Im nervous as hell because the clearance is like a half inch. But. Shes home and theres air in the tires. Hope it holds up.
Are those 18’s or something?
 

PowerJrod

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Hey helpful community. Wanted to be of assistance. I took my truck to discount tire today to have my wheels and tires installed. Everything finished, truck looked badass, hell yeah. I got home and parked and all four tires were deflating rapidly. It was the sound of an air compressor spraying air. A few minutes later sitting on $1500 worth of flat tires. My wheels have an inside valve stem that rubbed repeatedly on the hub/brake components until it was completely chewed away. I am sharing my learning experience. Im sitting here waiting for a flat bed staring at a pretty sweet lookin truck with 4 flats. So, Before you drive away or settle on wheels and tires, make sure this will not be an issue for you.
I don't know which part is more surprising...this actually happening...or the fact that discount tire let it happen. They're usually pretty good but sometimes they do have incompetent people from time to time...like any other business.
 
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I don't know which part is more surprising...this actually happening...or the fact that discount tire let it happen. They're usually pretty good but sometimes they do have incompetent people from time to time...like any other business.
They installed "new" 2.5 -3.5 year old tires on our expedition. I checked the goodyear AT tires before the wife drove home to make sure they were the correct ones and the had date codes from early 2016 and 2017. To their credit they did make it right, somehow they didn't have any newer tires in their warehouses, so we asked to be upgraded to BFG KO2 that where in stock and current year.
 

PorBoy

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As someone who managed a tire shop back when tires were wooden lol, we experienced “ older “ tires often. Since we purchased in bulk, tire distributor’s would mix in older tires with newer ones in hopes that we wouldn’t catch that. Unless you have a huge check in team it is easy to miss and majority of folks don’t know how to read the dates of tires. As far as the OP and your situation, a lot of my performance wheels all have inside valve stems which prevented me from going with certain sizes. Glad to hear thy made it right, but making something work will only benefit them. If you are away and the next shop that works on your vehicle is not able to do this fix, what happens then ?

Maybe list which wheels they are or contact the manufacturer of them and see if they have specific valve stems to prevent this from happening? Either way good luck and I’m glad you’re loving the look. :)
 

Zoompastu

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I don't know which part is more surprising...this actually happening...or the fact that discount tire let it happen. They're usually pretty good but sometimes they do have incompetent people from time to time...like any other business.
I agree but in this case I would give them the benefit of the doubt. These ram trucks are new and have the largest breaks in the industry. 18 inch wheels barely fit with less than a quarter inch clearance. Some 18s will hit the brake calipers. That’s insane… Never thought I would see an 18 inch wheel fitting over the brake caliper like a spare tire donut.

20’s sadly in my opinion are the best wheel diameter option for most.
 

PowerJrod

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I agree but in this case I would give them the benefit of the doubt. These ram trucks are new and have the largest breaks in the industry. 18 inch wheels barely fit with less than a quarter inch clearance. Some 18s will hit the brake calipers. That’s insane… Never thought I would see an 18 inch wheel fitting over the brake caliper like a spare tire donut.

20’s sadly in my opinion are the best wheel diameter option for most.
For sure, it must be due to EPA regulations regarding gas mileage. Smaller tires and rims yield best mpg lol.
 

2020GCM

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Glad you got a solution...you don't have any choice but to add air looks to be a PIA..lol

I had a similar experience when I had purchased 18" wheels for winter use. The shop used stick-on weights and the ones stuck to the inboard edge did rub the caliper. This shop does not drive customer vehicles, you drive your own in and out. On this forum I read about issues with some 18" wheel fitments so when they were done, I drove a lap around the shop and could feel and hear something rubbing so I drove right back in the shop door and they were great about it, changed the style of weights on all 4 wheels so future tire rotations would not be an issue.
 

JMartin

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They look good. Those are on my list of possible wheels.
I liked the wheel but what got me is them being proper directional. I have extreme ocd and you dont appreciate proper directional wheels until you look for it on a truck that has them and isnt. Two face one way, two face the other. That small extra detail scratches my ocd itch.
 

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