Hubcap and extenders

[jojoshort]

Hi all, we are pretty new to this forum. We are new owners of 2401R 2017 MBS and just had CW put on valve extenders to be used with our TireMinder Smart system. Well, about a mile down the road, off goes the rear hubcap (which is lost) . Minimal damage to the "fender". Stems seem fine.

As I read your posts, I see some of you have put on the tie wraps to secure the hubcaps to the wheels. He is debating doing this as he gazes at the ugly wheel on his pretty camper.

1. Anyone have issues with the ties not securing the covers securely?
2. Did you have to secure the part of the stem that sticks out of the wheel cover with a rubber grommet or other means? (The extenders are secured by a rubber grommet on the wheel itself, but of course there will be wobble going down the road with the extensions)

thanks for any words of wisdom..

[Sunseeker24]

Originally Posted by jojoshort

Hi all, we are pretty new to this forum. We are new owners of 2401R 2017 MBS and just had CW put on valve extenders to be used with our TireMinder Smart system. Well, about a mile down the road, off goes the rear hubcap (which is lost) .

thanks for any words of wisdom..

Did you by chance go straight back to CW and tell them what happened. Obviously they failed to install the wheel cover properly. We have about 5000 miles on our MBS 2400WS, which has the identical wheel covers and haven't have a problem, BUT, I purchased a STEELMAN Hubcap remover/installer
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and check my wheel covers prior to each trip.

BTW, you should be checking your tire pressure prior to each outing.

[DaveJordan]

I installed the dually metal valve stems. I secure my hub caps with cable ties. And I enlarged the holes in the hubcaps where the valve stems poke through to limit the likelihood that the hubcaps will rub against the stems.

Dave

[JLeising]

Here is a link to a LONG thread in the Solera section:
http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...out-15493.html
Pedrodasdas has identified a weakness in the wheel simulators ("hubcaps") on our older Sprinter based Motorhomes (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, ...). Not sure if the same problem is present on current Sprinters. The rivets holding the spring clips to the simulators break, releasing the simulators. Mine did the same (at 88,000 miles). I have been in the "tie them on securely with cable ties" group for several years now, and the cable ties were all that kept my simulator on when the rivets failed.
I slip 1/2 inch "drip" irrigation hose over my valve stem extenders and cable tie them to the simulators (simulators cable tied to the wheels). The irrigation hose prevents the simulators from chafing the valve stem extenders.
Check Dicor's site for a replacement simulator. Also Amazon. Possibly:
https://www.amazon.com/FREIGHTLINER-...SX1PPWHGD7707G

Regards,
Jim

[SSmbs]

I started using zip ties after I lost a front hubcap. The lost hub cap had been in place for 20,000 miles.

[jojoshort]

We have been reading all your comments with interest and actually have an appointment with MB tomorrow for an airbag recall. I think we'll see what they have to say about those covers while we're there.

We will heed your advice and cable tie them onto the wheels. I take it most of you also cable tie your extenders to the covers to prevent "play" in the extenders while the wheels are turning. That is assuming that the covers themselves are also cable tied to the wheels (or else bye-bye valve stems...)

He went to CW today to report the issue but they weren't particularly helpful or committed to replacing the cover. Our CW has known service issues, so this seems to be par for the course here...

[Mikegjax]

Originally Posted by jojoshort

We have been reading all your comments with interest and actually have an appointment with MB tomorrow for an airbag recall. I think we'll see what they have to say about those covers while we're there.

.

The wheel covers are an after market item installed by FR and I am sure MB won't do anything except maybe sell you some other covers.

If the covers are installed with the clips forced over the wheel balance weights they will certainly cause a failure in that clip. Care should be taken when installing the covers to insure that does not happen. Like most I tie mine with plastic wire ties and that has kept them on. I have also replaced the rivets in the clips, but that does not always make for a long lasting repair.
The clips themselves are very brittle and break easily.

The best solution is the bolt on covers if you don't want to deal with the clips and repairs.

Hope this helps!

[Sunseeker24]

Originally Posted by jojoshort

I take it most of you also cable tie your extenders to the covers to prevent "play" in the extenders while the wheels are turning. That is assuming that the covers themselves are also cable tied to the wheels (or else bye-bye valve stems...)

I have the stock rubber valve stems with 1 1/4" straight steel extensions on the front tires and 2" long 45 degree steel extensions on the rear dual's. The extensions are short enough that they do not flop in the breeze so no need to cable tie them. When the stock wheel covers are properly installed they don't come loose, of course unless you hit a high enough curb to dislodge them, so I found no need to cable tie them either.
6000 miles on our 2017 MBS Sunseeker 2400WS without any wheel cover or valve stem related issues.

My philosophy has always been, if it AIN'T BROKE, DON'T TRY TO FIX IT.

[Rich.M]

Originally Posted by Sunseeker24

I have the stock rubber valve stems with 1 1/4" straight steel extensions on the front tires and 2" long 45 degree steel extensions on the rear dual's. The extensions are short enough that they do not flop in the breeze so no need to cable tie them. When the stock wheel covers are properly installed they don't come loose, of course unless you hit a high enough curb to dislodge them, so I found no need to cable tie them either.
6000 miles on our 2017 MBS Sunseeker 2400WS without any wheel cover or valve stem related issues.

My philosophy has always been, if it AIN'T BROKE, DON'T TRY TO FIX IT.

The stock rubber stems with the brass cores eventually leak. The weight of the extenders causes the stem to vibrate and eventually the rim cuts thru the rubber to the brass core . I had one tire go down and another leak at the valve when pushed to either side between 7500 and 10000 miles. Others have had the same problem hence the metal valve stem threads. I'm sure the weight of tpms caps would cause a failure sooner. You may want to proactively decide on which metal valves and replace at your first service and avoid problems on a long trip.

I also zip tie my rims

[Sunseeker24]

6000 miles. 15 months and the only pressure changes i have ever found when checking my tire pressure, which BTW in on my list of TO DO things, before every trip, is due to outside temperature changes and atmospheric pressure.

Actually reading a guage is far more accurate than any electronic thingamajig. With a TPMS if your actual pressure is 65.51 psi the monitor will tell you your pressure is 66 psi and if your pressure is 65.49 psi your momitor will tell you the pressure is 65 psi.

[Mikegjax]

Tmps aren't for checking actual pressure. They are to let you know if you have a leak rapid loss or over temp conditon.
The wheel covers are not normally a problem until they have been removed and reinstalled. That is when the failures are likely to, but not always occur. Each must do what makes sense to them.

[jojoshort]

So he took the camper to Mercedes for the SRS system for some minor warranty issues.

He bought the camper mid April and here it is mid July but CW had not even notified MB that the unit was in service yet! MB couldn't repair the warranty fix until CW actually put in the paperwork to MB. Yikes, what a mess.

Anyhow, on the tires, here's some interesting notes from the visit to MB today:

The ride down to MB on the highway showed a substantial shimmy in the wheel.
MB checked the road force and balance on the 6 wheels, where he found all 4 rear wheels out of balance and here's the numbers:

Front Left: 30 lbs
Front Right 27 lbs
Left Rear outside 29 lbs
Left Rear Inside 12 lbs
Right Rear Outside 56 lbs
Right Rear Inside 47 lbs

A note reads: "Right rear has high road force."

then:

"Hub cabs and after-market TPM valve extensions can cause tires to become unbalanced. Set tire pressures to 65 psi front and 80 psi rear due to vehicle weight. Test drive after balance and road force appears to be slightly better but still present. Vehicle characteristics may cause permanent vibration. Can try tire bags and check alignment"

So CW installed the extensions and then never checked to see if the tires were then out of balance or even if the tire pressures were set correctly. No wonder we lost a hubcap on that right rear.

In addition to being more than annoyed at CW right now, we are still wondering whether having the extensions and TPMS is worth it, but we keep coming back to "how do we check the pressure on those inside tires"? I guess we could just leave the hubcaps off and go back to not using the TPMS, but with all new vehicles having this marvelous safety feature, we certainly would like to be able to have it.

Once CW actually registers our MB with MB we can go back, but since all the tire stuff is after market, it's not a warranty item, unless they find the rims have gone out of round from sitting on the CW lot before the sale to us.

[JLeising]

"Aftermarket tire stuff" should be covered by Forest River one year warranty. Suggest you call Forest River for prior approval, get it fixed at a good shop, and send copies of the bills to Forest River requesting reimbursement. In my experience, that is the best way to use the Forest River warranty.

[jojoshort]

and it looks as if MB overinflated our tires, too. Sheesh. Thanks to all your posts I was able to look up proper tire inflation and yes, the door placard inflation is fine for our vehicle axle weights (as weighed recently by us). We will have to let air out of the tires tomorrow to get it back down to the recommended 61 on the door.

[Rkloud9]

We have had more problems with the dually tire's than anything else on the vehicle. Our SunSeeker 2017 MBS 2400w came with plastic extenders, and were difficult, if not impossible, to get accurate readings. I took the Beast in to the dealer, who replaced them with another type of plastic extender. With those, I could read the pressures, which were all 80 or more psi. Set the pressures to 61 cold, which made a real difference in the ride. Then one of the extenders leaked (roadside service flat tire). We then switched to steel stems from YourTireSupply... probably a great solution if they are installed correctly, but both of the inside stems leaked, then 5000 miles later both of the outside ones did the same. During all this excitement we installed a TST 507 TPM system, which really created peace of mind. Note that they are always within 1 psi of my gauge, which is close enough for me.

I had a good old boy out in the Nebraska plains redo all the rear tire valves with new seals, replacing the long inner stems with short steel stems and flexible steel hose type extenders, and we have been OK since.

Regarding the wheel covers, they were off and on so much that they probably got a little loose, and we lost one on a rough road somewhere in Louisiana... fortunately, I don't think anyone was killed, and none of the stems got ripped off. I took the other cover off, and have painted the Sprinter rear wheels black... much less trouble! Fronts have been trouble free.

Happy travels!

Bob & Cynthia
2017 SunSeeker MBS 2400W
150 days and 24000 miles since April, 2016.

[retrieve]

Those Sprinter hubcaps are after market, as I learned from Mercedes when they said they only have the flat Mercedes hubcaps. I found the parts, including the logo decal to match, at a dealer and also at terri@grwrv.com. The part numbers FR gave me
Re:
C01265131 Rear hub cover for 2014 Coachmen Prism
C01265132 SCREWS for Rear hub cover
C01230791 2” DECAL

A previous post gave the Amazon link that works also, cheaper .... so you can buy just the decal alone to match the wheels. Sadly, only the cap is not sold, just the whole wheel simulator.

I also want a metal valve for the front tires to hold a TPMS on it .... can anyone provide a good link for that ? TIA.

[DaveJordan]

Originally Posted by retrieve

I also want a metal valve for the front tires to hold a TPMS on it .... can anyone provide a good link for that ? TIA.

This is a link to a set of 6 metal stems. I believe you can order the front stems separately.

DL1SP13FR Chrome Duallyvalve Kit W/ Front Stems

Dave

[Blue Ridge]

I spoke with a Tire Minders tech last week, and she told me to make sure all the valve stems on my 2015 MBS Sprinter were metal, not rubber. Said Tire Minders had had some problems with leaks from the rubber valves, and recommended changing all to metal. I can't tell what the front tire valves are -- looks to my old eyes like they are rubber-covered metal, while the duallies have metal extenders on them. Anyone have a thought on that? Thanks

[Rich.M]

Rubber over metal are oem stems, they are no good. Metal valve stems will be all metal .

[MNtraveler]

Originally Posted by jojoshort

So he took the camper to Mercedes for the SRS system for some minor warranty issues.



He bought the camper mid April and here it is mid July but CW had not even notified MB that the unit was in service yet! MB couldn't repair the warranty fix until CW actually put in the paperwork to MB. Yikes, what a mess.



Anyhow, on the tires, here's some interesting notes from the visit to MB today:



The ride down to MB on the highway showed a substantial shimmy in the wheel.

MB checked the road force and balance on the 6 wheels, where he found all 4 rear wheels out of balance and here's the numbers:



Front Left: 30 lbs

Front Right 27 lbs

Left Rear outside 29 lbs

Left Rear Inside 12 lbs

Right Rear Outside 56 lbs

Right Rear Inside 47 lbs



A note reads: "Right rear has high road force."



then:



"Hub cabs and after-market TPM valve extensions can cause tires to become unbalanced. Set tire pressures to 65 psi front and 80 psi rear due to vehicle weight. Test drive after balance and road force appears to be slightly better but still present. Vehicle characteristics may cause permanent vibration. Can try tire bags and check alignment"



So CW installed the extensions and then never checked to see if the tires were then out of balance or even if the tire pressures were set correctly. No wonder we lost a hubcap on that right rear.



In addition to being more than annoyed at CW right now, we are still wondering whether having the extensions and TPMS is worth it, but we keep coming back to "how do we check the pressure on those inside tires"? I guess we could just leave the hubcaps off and go back to not using the TPMS, but with all new vehicles having this marvelous safety feature, we certainly would like to be able to have it.



Once CW actually registers our MB with MB we can go back, but since all the tire stuff is after market, it's not a warranty item, unless they find the rims have gone out of round from sitting on the CW lot before the sale to us.

In what way are those "tire balance" numbers? They read like tire pressure readings and look like a recipe for disaster. What am I missing?