Flat tire while driving on I-77 in NC

[jre1950]

I had something strange happen to me this past week while driving my RV to Florida for the winter. While driving on I-77 in NC my TPMS alerted me to a tire going flat (right side inner-dually). I immediately pulled over to check it out and could still hear air escaping from the tire.



I also noticed that the hubcap had shifted/spun on the rim of the outer tire (see attached pic). The TPMS sensor was pushed way off to the side. When I put the hubcaps on I made sure the holes in the hubcap aligned with the holes in the rim.



I removed the hubcap to check the sensor and valve and found the dually valve stem extender had cracked at the bottom of the stem. Only the base that screws onto the short valve stem on the rim remained (the only reason the extender and sensor were still there was it was held in place by a large piece of foam).



I removed the base, put on a shorter extension, filled the tire back up to 80 psi, and I was back on the road.


Has anyone else experienced this? What would make the hubcap spin on the rim to cause this?

 

[Mokurt]

Does the hubcap snap on?
Maybe weak retaining springs?

 

[Dakota EV]

On the way home from purchasing our used 2017 Sunseeker, we lost one of our rear wheel covers. So when we got home I just removed the other rear cover and now run without wheel covers. We do used a TPMS sensor on a valve extender and so far no problems with them. I plan to repaint the rims and not worry about the wheel covers. Happy Camping and Safe travels.

 

[kenandterry]

On the way home from purchasing our used 2017 Sunseeker, we lost one of our rear wheel covers. So when we got home I just removed the other rear cover and now run without wheel covers. We do used a TPMS sensor on a valve extender and so far no problems with them. I plan to repaint the rims and not worry about the wheel covers. Happy Camping and Safe travels.

How about some before and after photos of your wheels sans chrome?

 

[jre1950]

Does the hubcap snap on?
Maybe weak retaining springs?

No springs, just metal fingers that are supposed to hold it in place on the rim.

 

[TitanMike]

I had something strange happen to me this past week while driving my RV to Florida for the winter. While driving on I-77 in NC my TPMS alerted me to a tire going flat (right side inner-dually). I immediately pulled over to check it out and could still hear air escaping from the tire.



I also noticed that the hubcap had shifted/spun on the rim of the outer tire (see attached pic). The TPMS sensor was pushed way off to the side. When I put the hubcaps on I made sure the holes in the hubcap aligned with the holes in the rim.



I removed the hubcap to check the sensor and valve and found the dually valve stem extender had cracked at the bottom of the stem. Only the base that screws onto the short valve stem on the rim remained (the only reason the extender and sensor were still there was it was held in place by a large piece of foam).



I removed the base, put on a shorter extension, filled the tire back up to 80 psi, and I was back on the road.


Has anyone else experienced this? What would make the hubcap spin on the rim to cause this?

Steel wheels flex more than one might expect.

A similar issue occurred on steel wheels in the past when lug nuts were in-adequately torqued. Wheels flexed and the hub caps popped off frequently.

Other possible factors are rough roads, out of round condition of tire/wheel, or just plain defective retainers.

 

[jre1950]

Steel wheels flex more than one might expect.

A similar issue occurred on steel wheels in the past when lug nuts were in-adequately torqued. Wheels flexed and the hub caps popped off frequently.

Other possible factors are rough roads, out of round condition of tire/wheel, or just plain defective retainers.

Good info. I just added 'checking hub cap position on rim' to the things to check at every stop.