Tyre Valve - Metal or Plastic?

[the_raul]

Hi Everyone,

This might seem very trivial but I was wondering which type of tyre valve is better or what should I fit?

I recently took my 3200 to have a puncture repaired and the garage said that normally they only use plastic tyre valves, this is standard for almost every car nowadays.
However my wheels had metal tyre valves and they had to replace one with a plastic one.
He said I can order the metal from Maserati and they can fit them next time.

So now I'm changing my tyres to new wheels, so should I get the metal valves (From Maserati) or just stick with the plastic ones?

Also he mentioned that they only need to seals to be able to reuse the existing metal tyre valves. Are these available?

Cheers,
The_Raul

 

[the_raul]

So after some investigating I cant find a definitive answer, but I did find the something on etyres website mentioning that the metal valves are usual for high performance wheels/tyres.
Not sure if it really make any difference?

http://www.etyres.co.uk/glossary-tyre-terms?term=valve

 

[hodroyd]

I think most of the valves now are rubber coated. Check what's inside though, brass is far better than the aluminium which are naff and don't last.

See this: http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/performance/valves-accessories for some options..??

 

[the_raul]

During a crazy road trip to collect some parts from Greg Smith (Premier Performance Car Parts) in Ireland, I asked him about the tyre valves and he responded always use the rubber ones because the metal ones can corrode the alloy around the tyre valve.

So based on this I think I'll go with the rubber ones.

 

[dunnah01]

I had metal ones one some lovely Enkei Tarmac wheels - bl**dy caps always seized on so was always a big job just to check tyre pressures. I'd never use them again for this reason alone.

 

[ZAM400209]

Perhaps it is possible to have both!!

few years back I was given these by Graypaul after they fitted some tyres for me...

 

[hodroyd]

Zam,
Are they metal, or aluminium..??
Cheers
R

 

[ZAM400209]

Do you know?

I've never thought about that- and I've just given them away (the spare two in the picture) to a chap who is looking at my wheels!

But, I think from memory of weight, they've got to be aluminium... I don't know if they are still available, but I hope they are...

 

[hodroyd]

I have aluminium and they corrode, even to a rubber cap, so much so they eventually break off when you are trying to remove the cap. I think I would go for either metal, or brass, even if they are covered with rubber.

 

[BennyD]

I was told that metal ones are better as they can withstand the centrifugal forces better at high speed. Can't say I've had any problems with rubber ones though, even at very high speeds.

 

[Parisien]

even at very high speeds.

.....so that would be 69.9mph repeating Ian.....hhhmmmmmmmmmm





P

 

[BennyD]

Exactly. Kind of.

 

[Felonious Crud]

.....so that would be 69.9mph repeating Ian.....hhhmmmmmmmmmm
P

Are there any speeds higher than that? Surely not.

 

[ZAM400209]

Oh!

well that's me told then...

I'll have to defer to your experience- my car hasn't seen alot of miles since the two not in this picture (which were fitted, probably 2005, now I think about it) went on.

And they still appear fine!

 

[hodroyd]

If you have aluminium, a good tip is to smear a little grease around the cap thread so that corrosion is at a minimum, then they should last longer.

Benny, you should really have something like Titanium on yours, just so they can cope with the heat and not melt...!!!

 

[Contigo]

i ran into this today. Went for a tyre swap on all 4 and three of the 4 metal valves had corroded and were leaking hence why my tyres needed topping up from 15Psi every week! They were shot so they had to replace them with brand new rubber/plastic ones which at first didn't look quite right but with the alloy dust caps I bought awhile back you don't really notice! The metal one I kept and think it is a genuine Maserati part!