Metal valve stems or rubber? Pro's and Con's

Hey there all. Went out today and found the rubber valve stems have dry rotted on two tires that have been sitting up on my E350 7.3 n/a van. Occasionally I have aired them up as needed while parked, now weather changed and tires swelled? FRONT tire have all metal valve stems and a nut, REAR have rubber stems. All metal valve stems on front havent ever caused me issues but the rubber on rear replaced twice in 6 years. Tires rated for 80psi cold. They are Cooper LT 245/75R16.

Question? In your experience,what makes this occur? Does the metal valve stem vs. the rubber make a difference for you, in longevity?

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I use metal on my farm tractor but the shortest rubber valve stem (HP) on the truck. If you are off-roading or get a chunk of something in the rim it could break the metal one where the rubber one would flex.

I have never lost a valve stem on my truck, ****! maybe I am now jinxed.

First thought
Tires are only good for 10 years!
Second
I always install new stems with new tires.

On the rockcrawler I run SHORT rubber ones so they flex NOT break off.
On the towpig and duallies I run metal.
Remember both have a pliable rubber seal that can degrade as you detailed above.

Clb said:

First thought
Tires are only good for 10 years!
Second
I always install new stems with new tires.

On the rockcrawler I run SHORT rubber ones so they flex NOT break off.
On the towpig and duallies I run metal.
Remember both have a pliable rubber seal that can degrade as you detailed above.

Click to expand...

I thumbs up that. Thanks for the input and details. Tires are 5 years old and stems were new when tires were installed. But I guess South Ga. weather and the fireball in the sky has a lot do do with it too. I never covered them while not using the vehicle.

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mblaney said:

I use metal on my farm tractor but the shortest rubber valve stem (HP) on the truck. If you are off-roading or get a chunk of something in the rim it could break the metal one where the rubber one would flex.

I have never lost a valve stem on my truck, ****! maybe I am now jinxed.

Click to expand...

Thx for the feedback bro. Good advice. Btw, No jinxing allowed, thoughts are things, what we put out we get back. Your gonna be fine [emoji4]

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I don't like to run the all metal ones. They seem to take a lot longer to air up your tires than the rubber ones do. I don't know if they do, but they sure seem to.

I've been transitioning to short metal ones on all my 4x4s because they seem to last longer in my rigs but my daily drivers I put the rubbers on

If you run the rubber valve stems get the stems designed for high pressure. There are two kinds.
One kind is for passenger cars (all black). The other is made for pressure 80psi or above. (rubber with a visible brass stem)
Both will be flexible.

Oledirtypearl86 said:

I've been transitioning to short metal ones on all my 4x4s because they seem to last longer in my rigs but my daily drivers I put the rubbers on

Click to expand...

Thanks for your input.

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IDIBRONCO said:

I don't like to run the all metal ones. They seem to take a lot longer to air up your tires than the rubber ones do. I don't know if they do, but they sure seem to.

Click to expand...

Hmmm? Never gave it a thought until you just brought it up. Come to think about it, the metal valve stems do seem to have a smaller inside valve that is more air restrictive, Ive noticed a difference in air flow rate on fill up. Anyone else?

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@8gitmusik1 any time

YJMike92 said:

If you run the rubber valve stems get the stems designed for high pressure. There are two kinds.
One kind is for passenger cars (all black). The other is made for pressure 80psi or above. (rubber with a visible brass stem)
Both will be flexible.

Click to expand...

This. Your normal all rubber valve stems are a number 413. You need to use a number 600hp stem which is good to 80 psi. anything more then a standard 44psi tire should use the 600hp stem.

Booyah
you may be able to answer this...

on my rock crawlers, we deflate town under 10 psi from highway pressures for traction.
i have noticed some stems are very restrictive, I asked America's tire (who I use) if there was a high flow valve all I got was a blank stare and crickets in the distance.
is there a high flow short rubber stem for 17" aluminum street wheels? These are beadlocks.
thanx cb

I've never heard of a high flow valve stem. Your core is the restrictive part. Are you removing that to deflate to your tires?

For instance, the 413 stem that I mentioned has a hole in the rubber that is over 1/4". It then narrows down to an 1/8 inch hole in the brass. Your 415 which is all rubber but for a 5/8" rim hole is about the same. The 600hp has similar dimensions as well. The 416 which is all metal for a 1/2" inch rim hole has about a 3/16" center hole in the brass so that would deflate a little faster. But I wouldn't recommend running solid metal stems on a rock crawler.

But if you're not removing the core, most cores have a hole that is 1/16" with a 1/32" rod going through it. So you'll see a large increase by removing it when deflating.

In the 413 there looks to be a little bit of a lip in the brass that you could drill out, but I don't think I'd bother with it, I doubt you'll gain much.

They make large bore valve stems used on AG stuff(monster truck tires) that are like half an inch OD, but I wouldn't recommend using them because hardly anybody has a chuck to fill them.

Thank you sir
I have a set of air compressor drains for use as a dump valve mounted opposite the Schrader.
So drain down is quick, would like to air up quicker is all.