New Valve stems needed....TPMS is part of

[WWNJ Stinger]

Hello All,

Well I stupidly bought aluminum air caps to enhance the look of my ride. My next act of stupidity was to make them extra tight so that no one would easily steal them. Less than 3 months and one of the valve stems split at the lowest thread on the stem, it didn't occur to me that it could have been my new caps....so 4 weeks later another valve stem did the same thing. This is when I connected the dots and quickly removed the remaining caps, now I have 2 wheels only revealing less than 3 threads on the stem itself. Needless to say, I can't even put plastic caps on them and I dont think I can even put air into the tire if needed. Major league stupid on my part....so lesson to anyone considering putting fancy metal caps on your valve stems ***DON'T DO IT*** as you too will likely end up damaging the valve stems. Now I have to replace the stems, which I have found out are part of the TPMS as its all one unit.

Anyone else experience this problem ? More importantly, does anyone have a resource for getting replacements on an individual basis. My tire shop tells me they can put in a generic unit that "should work"...trying to avoid the aggravation of having to replace them again if the generics don't work after installation. Quoting me a price of 120 per tire installed....thoughts and comments welcome

 

[SKStinger]

I don't use those caps for that reason as i've read stories of them fusing to the valve stem. You can buy the entire TPMS valve stem assembly here and by the part diagram it looks like you can just buy the stem. That would save you some money:

52933J5000 - Kia Parts Now

$120/tire seems high. I'd buy them online and just get a shop to install them for you. Call around but it's a simple standard thing and shouldn't cost much at all to get them installed.

You may want to grab the part number from the link above and try eBay as well and see if you can find a cheaper deal on the TPMS assembly/valve stems.

 

[G-974944]

Thank you for your reply, I’ve since done some due diligence and found that you can simply replace the valve stem’s only. My tire ship quoted me 7.99 per wheel plus 24.95 balancing fee. I questioned why balance if you simply mark the wheel and tire with chalk and put tire back on exactly in the same spot into the wheel. Of course he said all tires need rebalancing after they are removed from wheel (BS) but not worth arguing over $50 and ruining my relationship with them. Having 6 vehicles, he’s my guy and I understand he’s gotta make money

 

[Stinger GT SS]

Ok, I have not had any experience/exposure to TPMS until I bought this car.
Earlier this year I purchased new wheels & I purchased a second set of sensors.
These were fitted to my new wheels & then had to be removed to have my wheels colour corrected.
When they gave me my sensors to hang onto until the wheels came back they only gave me the rectangular pads...I was pissed. I was then informed that valve stems are damaged when they are removed & they will be replaced, when they put them back on with new stems they worked perfectly. The valve stems only hold the sensor so any good tyre shop should be able to replace the valve stems & fit the sensors to them & everything should work fine.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Aluminum valve stem caps: heh, I didn't know; I used stainless caps for years without any issues. I transferred them over to my Stinger for the first most of a year of her life. When I got the TSW Watkins wheels, I had to pay for new sensors. They were $75 apiece. $120 is a ripoff. My stainless caps did not fit the new TPMS stems because they are smaller and use a very minimalist cap. When I powder coated the OE wheels gloss black, the blingy stainless steel caps looked out of place, so, they are gone.