[Chrysler300] Flat tire related to valve stem failure?

["rob kern" <robkern@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello 300'ly to all!
    Today I went to get Mopsy from the storage garage to go for a drive and fill the tank with the 110/91 octane combo (since premium unleaded dropped below $3/gallon this weekend....and with the price of oil at $83 per barrel!? go figure). Anyway, the right front tire was flat.  First flat I've experienced with these Coker radials in 4.5 years of ownership. I couldn't see any puncture area or nails/screws in the tire anywhere since driving her about 70 miles in the past week. I removed the wheelcover.  Prior to removing the wheelcover I noticed that it had crept some and the valve stem was pushed over.  I have been watching for wheelcover creep ever since this topic surfaced and Tony Rinaldi came up with the new 14" rim solution. Before I jacked the car  I decided to inflate the tire to see if I could hear any air leak.  I used my portable inflator and inflated the tire to 35 psi and could not hear any leak! I drove it to the local gas station and rechecked the inflation and it was still at 35 and added another pound to 36 and made sure the rest of the tires were all at 36 psi which I normally have these Cokers inflated. I jiggled the valve stem and heard air rush out when the stem was deflected about 45 degrees.  I left the wheel cover off for several hours, drove about 20 miles to get gas and run errands and no problem with the inflation of the tire occurred. I noticed that some of the metal tines of the wheelcover were not bent out as far as the majority so I bent them out and replaced the wheelcover and it went on without causing any deflection of the valve stem. So am I safe to assume that valve stem failure from deflection was the source of the leak?  Can a creeping wheelcover cause the stem to fail?  The stem is only 9 months old since I had new rubber stems placed when I had the tires dismounted and remounted for the RoadForce balancing procedure performed. I will monitor the wheelcover to see if the tine bending remedied the situation.  Would installing metal valve stems prevent failure at this low psi and with a slight wheelcover creep?  Is the installation of metal valve stems the action that most people take that have experienced rubber stem failure from creeping wheelcovers? What about the new wheels that are available?  Was the valve stem failure the problem that served as an impetus for the bump wheels to be designed?  Thanks for your input regarding this matter.  ROB KERN

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