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The Pain of Servicing Duals

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I bought my dually more because I got a great deal rather than for the necessity that I had for dual rear wheels.  At first I wasn't sure I liked the wider back end but I have come to terms with it and really don't mind the extra pair of tires at all...except when it comes to checking air pressure and servicing the back tires.  What a pain in the butt!  I have stock wheels so in order to access the valve stem on either the inside or outside tire I have to remove the chrome beauty ring and coerce my 11 year old to help me remove the valve stem caps.  My hands are too big to fit through the holes in the rims and removing the outside tires isn't practical.  I am convinced that neither my air chuck or air gauge (both are the type meant for duals) are long enough so I am in the process of procuring a gauge and chuck that are longer to reach both stems.  I have seen different products on the internet such as valve stem extenders, but I have also seen reviews of them leaking.   Does anyone have great success stories of a product of technique that will make servicing rear wheels easier?

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Camping world has the extenders. There is only one positive about a dually. Extra stability and carrying capacity. The rest is negative. Never again for me. I never rotated tires. Just run em till bald and flat across.

I have stem extenders on mine and use a 2 headed truck type chuck and have little problems. The above suggestion is the easiest though.

I have the same as dave, as long as I line the valves stems up with each other they are simple but I do have extenders on mine too with no problems.

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    • Owner

    I've used them in the past just make sure to check tire pressure. I've seen where the extender will leak over time a hose or seal gives up and you end up with a inner dual flat.

    • Author
      On 10/24/2014 at 10:45 AM, 98whitelightnin said:

    I have the same as dave, as long as I line the valves stems up with each other they are simple but I do have extenders on mine too with no problems.

    Have you hadany issues with your extenders leaking?

    • Owner

    In my case I had the old 1976 Dodge motorhome for better than 10 years and the day I decided to trade it in both the hoses where leaking and neither would hold air. Same problem a PITA to get your hand into the inner duals to air them up. Grrrr!

    When I had duals, I'd just go where I bought tires and have them air them up. Whatever it took, who cares.

    • Owner
      On 10/27/2014 at 1:32 AM, joecool911 said:

    When I had duals, I'd just go where I bought tires and have them air them up. Whatever it took, who cares.

     

    That's hard for me. It's only 125 miles one way to my tire dealer... :wow:

    This is what I use every day at work to check pressures and air tires up on semi trucks and trailers. It's a valve pal for taking the valve caps off, then a 7" air chuck, and a long pressure gauge.

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    I like them and would get a set but the hubcap type simulators I have there isn't a place to mount them. Now if I ever run across a steal on a set of alcoa's I would ****** up a set real quick. I'll keep that link for future use.

    As far as valve stem cap I have a pair of long handle needle nose pliers with 90 bend. And I just put up with the simulators, you can pull both cap and simulator off at the same time. Or get you a welding rod and put you a sharp bend on the end and make a handle out of the other end and pull cap off first. I usually check air about every 3 months. Between that time I just use the old thump stick or hammer and bump them, you will know right away when one is low.

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