Tyre monitoring sender units on tyres

I had external TPMS fitted on my old D-Max for over 10 years and had one rubber stem leak in all that time but then I never went off road.

Maybe you could fit metal stems instead of rubber.

On a trip like that... its precisely when you want Tyre Pressure Monitoring installed and working.

Grab some of those externally installable emergency valve stems - can be installed without breaking the tyre off the rim.

I've never had TPMS cause valve stem issues though.

We do lots of bush driving in all sorts of conditions.
I have metal valve stems and added extra valves that are further back for protection of the monitors.
They are mostly for the convenience of changing air pressure without removing the sensors, but it also adds extra protection.

Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

I fitted short lengths of firmish foam tube around the senders on my vehicle and van which prevented the valve stems from flexing,

Phil

Hi Geoff,
I have used TPMS for yonks. Initially internal sensors on the Troopy in order to observe temperatures accurately but later changed to external valve-mounted sensors. I was concerned that they may become damaged so fitted dedicated metal stems for bothe the sensors and the inflation valves. Not surprisingly they never gave any trouble and did alert me a couple of times to tyre punctures.
I did observe other users who had rubber stems that were causing marks on the rims from the centrifugal effect although no-one complained of failed rubber stems.

Moving on I fitted external sensors to the rubber stems of my Sprinter campervan and they initially worked OK but then I had an event of some concern. I received a low pressure alert and pulled over to deal with it but could find no nail etc in the tyre. At this point the leak stopped so I continued the journey only to observe that the leak started again. Further close inspection revealed that when the valve stem was pushed aside a strong leak issued from the base of the rubber stem which had a crack where it entered the rim and was opening from centrifugal force when driving.
Research revealed that there are normal grade and more rugged grades of rubber valve stems so you may well imagine what course I took.

There must be millions of cars running TPMS sensors on standard rubber stems and I may well have experienced a pre-damaged stem but if boing bush in a 4WD I would only use metal or heavy duty rubber stems with TPMS sensors

I've travelled over 400 000km with external sensors in the past 11 years, never had a problem with valve stems or anything else with the TPMS. That included Plenty Highway, Strezleki, PDR and many other long dirt roads.
The foam or drilled out champagne cork collars has frequently been mentioned as a solution to preventing damage to rims from valve stem flexing with sensors.
Tyre stems snapping undoubtedly does happen but what's the ratio of tyre punctures/leaks to valve stem issues ,.... million to one?

I've just switched in the last month to a new brand of TPMS, I noticed the new sensors are only half the weight of the original 11 year old ones.