Valve Stems Hankook Tires

[KyEdge]

2007 Edge SE AWD with Hankook Dynapro tires. At 42,000 miles, I replaced the 2 front tires with the same Hankooks that came from the factory. Had the dealer install and rotate the other two tires to the back. A month later, a valve stem cracked on one of the new tires and had to be replaced. Now, 30 days later, a valve stem has cracked on one of the two back tires and I have another flat. I have been driving for 30 years and have never had a problem with a valve stem. Now it has happened twice in 30 days--once on a new tire and once on a factory old one. Any thoughts on this?

[bbf2530]

2007 Edge SE AWD with Hankook Dynapro tires. At 42,000 miles, I replaced the 2 front tires with the same Hankooks that came from the factory. Had the dealer install and rotate the other two tires to the back. A month later, a valve stem cracked on one of the new tires and had to be replaced. Now, 30 days later, a valve stem has cracked on one of the two back tires and I have another flat. I have been driving for 30 years and have never had a problem with a valve stem. Now it has happened twice in 30 days--once on a new tire and once on a factory old one. Any thoughts on this?

 

 

Hi KyEdge. :D Valve stems are a generic item that are not vehicle or even auto-manufacturer specific.

 

There was a widely publicized problem with defective valve stems (sourced from China). I believe it was early last year. While the problem was not Ford specific, Ford was one of many automakers to get a bunch of the defective valve stems. Ford sent out a letter to owners concerning how to inspect them and what to do if an owner had a problem with a cracked valve stem.

 

Check with your Dealer to see if this problem applied to your vehicle. Either way, you should certainly address this with the Dealer who installed the tires.

 

Also, concerning where those two new tires should have been installed, you may want to read here: LINK: Tire Rack

or here: LINK: Michelin

or here: LINK: BF Goodrich

or here: LINK: Discount Tire

or any other tire manufacturer website or source of expert tire information.

 

Keep us updated.

 

Good luck. :beerchug:

Edited January 21, 2010 by bbf2530

[KyEdge]

Hi KyEdge. :D Valve stems are a generic item that are not vehicle or even auto-manufacturer specific.

 

There was a widely publicized problem with defective valve stems (sourced from China). I believe it was early last year. While the problem was not Ford specific, Ford was one of many automakers to get a bunch of the defective valve stems. Ford sent out a letter to owners concerning how to inspect them and what to do if an owner had a problem with a cracked valve stem.

 

Check with your Dealer to see if this problem applied to your vehicle. Either way, you should certainly address this with the Dealer who installed the tires.

 

Also, concerning where those two new tires should have been installed, you may want to read here: LINK: Tire Rack

or here: LINK: Michelin

or here: LINK: BF Goodrich

or here: LINK: Discount Tire

or any other tire manufacturer website or source of expert tire information.

 

Keep us updated.

 

Good luck. :beerchug:

[KyEdge]

Interesting. I learned something new tonight!

 

Thanks!

[MKX2007]

There was a warning a while back about millions of defective valve stems made in China.

 

http://blogs.consumerreports.org/safety/2008/06/valve-stem-reca.html

[Grey]

Ford didn't actually install the China tire stems but some dealers and aftermarket tire stores use them. So, Ford sent the notification to owners to check them, just in case their vehicle had tire work done after initial vehicle assembly. For example, a wheel damaged in transit might have had a bad tire valve installed on the replacement wheel before the vehicle sale. Ford has specific specifications for their tire valves used in production, unfortunately, tire installers treated valve stems as generic commodities and got whatever was cheapest. Who looses? The customer!.

[droppinbombs]

Customers in the USA are sourcing tens of millions of tires a year from china, if they cant make a valve stem who wants to drive next to a guy on the freeway with chinese tires!!!