Just purchased 4-new 17.5 tires and rims

[ralphp]

On May 22 I purchased 4 goodyear tires and vision rims from Discount tire
17.5 G-114 and vision rims 71-7781HD. I traveled about 1 mile and park trailer at house. Yesterday I was checking trailer for upcoming trip and found 2- flat tires on off door side and 1 tire with 40 lbs of air on door side and remaining tire with 115 lbs of air. When I went to pick up trailer they had installed rubber tire valves and told them it was not acceptable so they found some metal tire valves to match rims. I called Discount tire and the person that sold me the tires said he would call me right back and still waiting on call. I still had old tires and rims and have placed 2 back on trailer. The 2 tires that lost all air also bead was broke so could not air tires back up. My question? Would you ask for return of money and start over or get them to use valve stems that hold air. Any body out there have trouble with valve stems on conversion to 17.5 tires?
Please your input.
Ralph

[john]

Since I purchased my 2006 M/S with 17 1/2 tires I have had to replace all val stems.....no problems since......Knock on wood.

[Motor31]

Who made the rims you bought? If it is an American manufactured rim there should be a flat spot to seat the stem gasket internally for metal stems. Do not accept a rubber stem as the highest pressure stems in the Discount tire supply is only 100 PSI and the 17.5" tires take 125 PSI cold. The working pressure will be about 140 PSI when hot.

Ours were the OEM's from the factory when we ordered the trailer. They turned out to be a chinese brand, Vision. The location of the stems is in a bad spot on the inside of the rim in a curved location and requires a very thick gasket. The stem hole is also too narrow for the larger style "top hat" gaskets to seal around the stem. I ended up using a smaller "top hat" gasket on the outside and reusing the old gaskets on the inside after spending more than a day trying to find proper replacement gaskets from American suppliers. The Vision folks just said to use a rubber stem, but that is only rated for 100 PSI. A bad idea.

[47hook]

Get your money back. Or get all new tires at a minimum. Those tires that went flat or had less than the pressure needed for the weight they are supporting are damaged. They should be destroyed and not resold, either. Don't know about vision wheels, but you may want to do a search for wheels; I believe there have been several posts that list sites that sell US made aluminum wheels (Alcoa?) /GY tires in that size...mounted and balanced with the proper valve stems.

Whatever you do, don't use any of the underinflated or flat tires, even for a spare...Good Luck.

[bstark]

Ralph; you might want to make the Goodyear service agent for your area aware of your problem ahead of time for three reasons:

1/ to get a 'piece of mind' confirmation that your tires should be replaced and the rep should tell Discount to do it at their expense as they installed the tires with the incorrect stems.

2/ the argument over steel stems versus rubber with Discount will cease the moment that Goodyear rep discovers Discount tire is installing those tires in the WRONG manner. His question to them will be "how many of our tires have we paid for warranty replacement due to your use of the incorrect stems?"

3/ the debate with them over replacement of the tires will also go better if that rep is involved from the get-go and he is on your side with replacement being suggested.