Tire Valve, Tire Valve Stem Cap and Your Tire Pressure

Together, tire valves and tire valve stem caps play very important role in helping to maintain the pressure of your tires. They are intricately linked to one of the four components of your tire maintenance.

There are primarily four important areas to your tire maintenance: Tire Pressure, Vehicle Alignment, Tire Rotation and Tire Tread.

This article focuses on tire pressure and the importance of having good tire valves and tire valve stem cap.

Tire Pressure  

Why and how does tire losses pressure?

Tire basically losses pressure through the lost of air. This is mainly through the air permeation both from the rubber body as well as natural leakages through various parts of the tires. The other factor that affects tire pressure is temperature - generally, a drop in temperature will result in 'lost' of pressure. As a rule of thumb, the tire losses 1 psi for every 5 degree Celsius drop in temperature.

How do you know the correct tire pressure for your car's tires?

*    The information is usually provided by your car manufacturer. You can usually find the information at the owner's manual, inside of your glove box, or at the doorjamb.

How to tell whether the tire pressure is at the correct level?

*    The best way to know if your tire pressure is at the correct level is by using a tire pressure gauge. There are digital tire pressure gauge available in the market that can be very handy and tells the tire pressure accurately. DO NOT not rely on visual inspection to gauge the tire pressure as it is often inaccurate.

How frequently should you check your tire pressure?

*   The recommended checking interval is once a month or earlier.

Tire Valve

The tire valve allows air to be pumped into the tire and the one way valve holds the air within the tire.

Tire valve is essentially a component that is supplied together with the tire by the tire manufacturer and generally made of rubber material. It can deteriorate over time and thus reduces its effectiveness in keeping the the air remain in the tire pressure. When the vehicle is going at high speed, a tire valve that is deteriorated can actually bend as a result of centrifugal force and thus resulted in poential air loss. For safety reason, it is recommended that they are replaced when new tires are bought.

Tire Valve Stem Cap

The tire valve stem cap is also an important component. High quality and properly designed tire valve stem cap usually comes with rubber seal that will help to hold the air pressure within the tires. They can be very critical especially in the event that the tire valve fail and the tire valve stem cap can double up as a leakage prevention backup system.  

The other main function of valve cap is that it can keeps out dirt and dust contaminants from the road, which could potentially affect the proper functioning of the tire valve and result in air loss. Air tight tire valve stem caps also keeps out water content and air moisture, which, during the cold season, could freeze and solidify and thereby pose a problem to the tire valve and causes air loss.

There are primarily four types of Tire Valve Stem Cap in the market, they are i) normal plastic material, ii) metal decorative type, iii) with built-in pressure gauge and lastly iv) anti-theft tire pressure valve caps. 

The important thing is to choose one that suits your needs - remember, safety always comes first.