18" valve stem issue....
 

Last week I had a flat which was attributed to a bad valve stem, and possibly a problem with the car wash track having torn it. No big deal stuff does happen...However..My Mustang is not my DD and has been covered up since the day it happened and was fixed. My husband went out to clear the snow yesterday and took a look at the repair... it was fine, however... all 3 other stems are showing the same rips and tears around the base of the valve stem!!! Certainly not a healthy way to be driving.
SO I called the dealer today and made an appointment. Obviously the rest will need replacing, which will have to be done whether it is under warranty (which i will fight for) or not. Never heard of such a thing happening with tires.
Has anyone else had a similar issue with the LONG valve stems that FORD used on their 18" polished Aluminum bulletts? Mine really seem to be extra long.
Now I have to check my Dad's Stang as well. He has the stock rims. He uses the carwash all the time ( he is 73) and although I only use it once it awhile I cannot see any other way that this could have happened.

I have the stock 18'' polished Bullits and I haven't had any problems with them breaking in car washes.

you dont have TPMS for your car? i though your year car came with the sensors instead of regular rubber stems. go for the shorter stems, they wont get in the way and are a far less hassle. i have no idea how many cars came into my dealership(lexus) with ripped off stems, with half the stem still in the tire and you could tell very well it was one of those extra long stems.

plus try hand wash your car!! less swirl marks!! i do not like automatic car washes at all, plus my 2005 gt is black lol.

what state you live in? the reason i ask is cause does it snow alot near you? do they salt the roads and do you drive in the salt? maybe the salt is reacting to the rubber, other than that i dont know.

I must admit, I was looking forward to pics of 18" long valve stems. I was figuring on quite the site, if they were mounted on 17" rims. :)

There is still a recall in effect for bad valve stems, perhaps this is your issue. It's fleet wide, all makes, all models, pretty much:

http://www.dtccares.com/

Otherwise, I dunno.

FYI.
The sensors on the newer cars are not the valve stem type.

As Houtex said, coule be:

http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com...-Million-Cars/

I will try to get some pics tomorrow. the rims are my original rims from when the car came from the factory... the 18" bullitts. Original tires as well.

im well aware of that and i service them everyday, i said that i thought his year car came with sensors INSTEAD of the regular valve stems.

Correct But Guess What they are Back in 10 on the Stangs! Also the 09 F150 have gone to The Valve Stem Type.
http://forums.bradbarnett.net/showth...47#post5617947

FYI,

KC

I hope they work.

Car wash! That was your first mistake...the old family car, the one with all the miles on it and the one with faded paint goes through a car wash...but not your beautiful Mustang...if you must use the hand held high pressure sprayer that you feed quarters to...but to put your baby through a car wash is inexcusable!!
Oh, wait a minute...I forgot you live in New Jersey where you can't pump your own gas...rest assure that no gas pump jockey will ever pump gas into any of my cars. I can just see those rocket scientists being careful with the fuel nozzle and making sure they don't scratch the fuel door area or anything else. On my way to Connecticut (to see the relatives) I always fill up in Delaware and then I don't get gas until I get into New York!

Who is the manufacturer? It should be on the bottom of the stem. I cant recall the manufactuer but there is a chinese made stem on recall (it should be on the NHSTA site)

Yes I live in NJ. I hardly ever use the auto car washes as my car is "pretty much" not driven in the snow , rain or anything like that. However I got caught out in brief snow squall and they dumped salt all over the place.. .and my car got crusted up. It looked white. Had no choice to either take it to the car wash or leave it crusty -- which was not happening. Too cold here to use one of those do it yourself blaster pressure washers too. I wish we had some of those car washes like some places have that you drive in to and it moves around the car instead of pulling the car through on a track. --
And yes, it is illegal to pump your own gas here. Most of the guys are very careful when I come in to get gas. I stand outside the car and watch them do it, so they are more cautious. It has never been a real problem for me. Maybe they see a girl get out of a GT and don't want to mess with me!
I will be going to the dealer to see about this problem with the stems on Friday. Either way you slice it they will need to be changed. The one tire that did have the flat does have a smaller stem in place now since the repair. The TPMS I have on my '07 is the bands, nothing with the valve stems as far as I know.
Will let you know how it works out.

Slightly off-topic, but I'm curious as to why...