BREWCO
Heart of Georgia
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Kick the tires: Faulty valve stems may leave you flat
By Colin Gustafson Staff Writer
Article Launched: 09/29/2008 02:35:55 AM EDT
Defective valve stems made in China and distributed in the United States could allow tires to deflate at high speeds, safety advocates said.
With a federal investigation under way, state authorities are beginning to look into the sale and distribution of the suspect devices, a brand of replacement rubber valve stem linked in a lawsuit to a fatal rollover crash in Orlando, Fla.
State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said his office is considering an investigation into potentially millions of the faulty rubber valve stems.
"The concerns are profoundly serious because they involve the fundamental safety and well-being of drivers," Blumenthal said. "There's no more important part in any car in terms of drivers and their families" than safe tires.
The devices in question are the TR413 model, a 1.25-inch valve stem made by Shanghai Baolong Industries Co. Ltd. in China. Installed in replacement tires by a supplier or service attendant, they can develop cracks that lead to loss of air pressure.
Some drivers have reported a gradual loss of tire pressure, but others reported an abrupt deflation, often while traveling at high speeds.
"Not only has there been one death attributed to these valve stems," said Don Mays of Greenwich, senior director of product safety and technical policy for Consumer Reports in Yonkers, N.Y. "But every time someone gets a flat tire, you have to be skilled enough to get the car to the side of the road."
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launched an investigation into the devices in May after the Chinese company's U.S. branch, Dill Air Control Products, reported that the family of a fatal crash victim, Robert Monk of Orlando, was suing the company. The suit alleges that a faulty Dill valve stem caused a rapid leak in
Monk's tire, resulting in a fatal accident in November 2007. After gathering information for four months from U.S. tire distributors, the federal agency last week upgraded its investigation to n "engineering analysis," which allows safety officials to inspect and test the product. If warranted, the next step would be a recall.
Federal officials said about 23 million potentially defective valve stems are believed to have been manufactured from July to mid-November 2006. It is unclear how many were sold or installed in Fairfield County.
Most consumer complaints filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration come from states such as Florida and Texas that have warm weather and high concentrations of ozone, a toxic gas created by air pollution and ultraviolet rays, which can speed the deterioration of rubber.
A few complaints have come from Connecticut and the New York area, said Chris Lash, the group's safety assurance officer who is leading the investigation.
One motorist who filed a complaint said he had three tires rapidly go flat in two months while commuting on Interstate 95 in Fairfield County. The tires were purchased in December 2006 at Sears Automotive in Milford. A check of one of the tires found that it was equipped with a TR413 valve stem that was cracked.
Sears Automotive was one of a half-dozen companies that the safety administration recently ordered to provide detailed information about its use of Dill valve stems and reports of failure.
Officials from Sears Automotive and Dill Air Control Products did not return messages seeking comment.
Other companies include Myers Tire Supply, retail chains Tire Kingdom and Discount Tire, and manufacturer and supplier Mohawk Rubber, which has more than 300 retail customers in Connecticut.
Small repair shops and retailers also may be supplied with Dill valve stems, safety advocates said.
Shortly after the fatal Florida crash, another importer of the product, Tech International in Ohio, recalled 6 million valve stems that were made by the same Chinese company.
In July, Discount Tire, a co-defendant in the suit against Dill, sent letters to customers warning them of the safety
risks.
Dill has urged retailers to inspect all vehicles equipped with valve stems from September 2006 to June 2007, and to return suspicious items for reimbursement. The company posted information on its Web site about how to file
a claim.
For months, the safety administration has been trying to determine the scope of the problem, but that's difficult because there's no reliable way to track valve stems, Lash said. Some are labeled Dill but many others are not marked, Lash said.
Retailers and technicians often replace valve stems for free without checking for markers, said Sean Kane, a consultant with Safety Research and Strategies in Rehoboth, Mass.
"This is not on folks' radar screens," Kane said.
Auto mechanics and tire retailers agreed.
"I've never once in my career thought to check closely to see the name and make" of a valve stem, said Chris Canavan, president of Greenwich Automotive Services.
"You get a box of about 500, and don't think to check which ones are bad," said Peter Fetzer, founder of Fetzer Tire Corp. in the Southport section of Fairfield. "It would be like buying hundreds of boxes of spinach and trying to find out which one has salmonella."
Safety advocates urge motorists to check their tires.
"People need to wake up to this," Canavan said. "We cannot bring the car in for them."
- Staff Writer Colin Gustafson can be reached at 625-4428 or colin.gustafson@scni.com.
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rockhillmanor
On the Road
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Joined: 12/06/2003
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6 new tires, rubber valve stems installed by tire store.....one blow out, 2 flats on one trip in southern states. The valve stems were melting in half and or cracking in half then melting from the heat.
I had all of them replaced with stainless steel valve stems.
Check your RV and see if they have rubber valve stems or even the harder plastic ones and do yourself a favor and have them changed to brass or steel.
IMHO, JMHO there is a good percent of blow outs on RV's that are not due to tire brand but a result of faulty stems that slowly leak and then are running low while traveling and then if not noticed blow out.
Thanks for the heads up on faulty stems.
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Beaux Duke
Southeast La
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I have metal on my 5'er but I didn't see any identification on the stems. I'm assuming the tire has to be broken down to see the TR413 ID on the bottom of the valve stem.
01 Silverado 2500HD, 8.1, Allison, 4.10
05 Sierra 305 RLW 5er
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ezrider6298
Conyers, Ga. Rockdale
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All of mine, including the spare, cracked at the base of the stem. The spare had always had a cover on it and not subject to the sun. At the time, it was no big deal with me, as I simply replaced 'em all with metal stems. Wish I had known about this then, and I would have saved the old ones.
E.C. & Sandra Walker, (aka She Who Must Be Obeyed), and Baby, the "children cat" (non-camping), 1999 Ford F250 CC 4WD Powerstroke, 29' Wildcat RLBS 5ver.
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bowebow
full time could be anyware
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We had a 2005 wildcat from July 07 to May 08 all valve stems were cracked and 1 failed flat tire. These would probly be older than
Than complant. They were the 413 ones.
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Moose10
displaced Alaskan
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When I got back from my last deployment in July, one of the tires on my old KZ was flat. I thought I'd just air it back up...well the valve stem was cracked right near the rim about 3/4 of the way around. So I checked the tire behind it....went to unscrew the cap to check pressure, and that stem let loose, hahaha....scared the **** out of me & my 3y.o. son  Well the next day I took them up to the shop, and ended up replacing three of 'em...they were the 413's. Now the new TH has steel stems and the nice M-8008 Maxxis 10 plys
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Dennis Bham
Alabama
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Y'all keep an eye on your metal stems too ...
I was checking the air pressure in one of my tires/wheels that had metal stems, and when I pressed the pressure gauge to the stem, I noticed a slight hissing noise. Further investigation revealed that applying any slight sideways pressure released air. It turned out that that metal stem was loose ... it had backed off it's internal nut (some have nuts inside, some outside) ... I was lucky in that the internal nut was not freewheeling, and I was able to retighten the stem from the outside without having to remove the tire from the wheel ...
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cpaulsen
California
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These bad valve stems have been around for at least 2 years.
cpaulsen
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SlickWillie
East Texas
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When we purchased our unit in November 06, I kept having to add air to the tires. Wife walked by when I was checking the tires, and told me she could hear a leak. Turned out it was the valve stems. I removed all the tires, including the spare, and took them and had metal stems installed. I proceeded to call Keystone, and of course they wanted to pass the buck to the Chinese. When I finally raised enough he11, they told me to take the invoice to my dealer and they would mail me a check. I look for it in the mail everyday, but it sure is taking them a long time to get it here! You don't suppose it's that old line about the "check being in the mail" do you?
Will
2004 GMC EXT/C D/A 2500HD 4X4
2006 Montana Mountaineer 303RLD
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sirdrakejr
Las Vegas, Nevada
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Moved from 5th wheels to Gen'l RVing Issues.
Frank
RV.net blog
For those of you looking for expert advice, here ya go!
Frank
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