Inner tire inflation???

[stripperguy]

Hey guys and gals, remember me, stripperguy?
I resurrected my 2007 Damon Tuscany 4072 over the last couple of years.
Here's how it looks now.







In preparation for a longer trip next week, I want to be sure my tire pressures are where they should be.


I've crawled under and around the rear wheels and cannot find the valve stems for the inner rear wheels.
I've looked between the wheels from the outside, between the wheels from, well, in between, and inside the the rear wheels from underneath.
Nada...

Other M/H's I've owned always had extension hoses for the inner tires.


Is there possible some inner/outer connection that I'm missing?
Surely, some others here have the same model.


Again, for reference, it's a 2007 Damon Tuscany 4072 on a Freightliner chassis with a Cat C7.


Thanks in advance.

[jerichorick]

Originally Posted by stripperguy

Hey guys and gals, remember me, stripperguy?
I resurrected my 2007 Damon Tuscany 4072 over the last couple of years.
Here's how it looks now.







In preparation for a longer trip next week, I want to be sure my tire pressures are where they should be.


I've crawled under and around the rear wheels and cannot find the valve stems for the inner rear wheels.
I've looked between the wheels from the outside, between the wheels from, well, in between, and inside the the rear wheels from underneath.
Nada...

Other M/H's I've owned always had extension hoses for the inner tires.


Is there possible some inner/outer connection that I'm missing?
Surely, some others here have the same model.


Again, for reference, it's a 2007 Damon Tuscany 4072 on a Freightliner chassis with a Cat C7.


Thanks in advance.

It seems you may have misses the obvious. Find the outer valve and look 180* on the rim for one protruding out. It should have a rubber cushion around it mounted in the rim slot.

[stripperguy]

Jericho,
You would think so, right??


Here's the passenger side outer wheel and tire.





OK, I have the rubber plug of which you speak (not at 180 degrees though) but no other valve stem.


Here's a closer look at that rubber plug location.





Trust me, there's no valve stem back there. I did slide my finger in every slot, to feel for another stem...nothing in there.


And to add insult to my injury, here's the driver side wheel and tire.
What sort of idiot would install the valve stem in that direction?
Oh, and no rubber plug either.




As I said upthread, I looked at the inside of the inside wheel too...

[DaddyRV779]

You may have to dismount the outer tire, and rotate it a lug stud or two until you can reach the inner valve stem...

Had to have my tire shop do just that after I pointed out the issue on my one ton DRW SIERRA, and I couldn't reach the inner valve stem.

[jerichorick]

Originally Posted by stripperguy

Jericho,
You would think so, right??


Here's the passenger side outer wheel and tire.





OK, I have the rubber plug of which you speak (not at 180 degrees though) but no other valve stem.


Here's a closer look at that rubber plug location.





Trust me, there's no valve stem back there. I did slide my finger in every slot, to feel for another stem...nothing in there.


And to add insult to my injury, here's the driver side wheel and tire.
What sort of idiot would install the valve stem in that direction?
Oh, and no rubber plug either.




As I said upthread, I looked at the inside of the inside wheel too...

How old are your tires? I suggest going to a tire shop and replacing them if they need it. But the main reason is to get the correct valve stems installed. Someone did you a disservice by removing them.
Did you try looking in the slot with the rubber plug with a flashlight? You may have to do this in the dark because the outside light may prevent you from seeing in clearly.
I know I can remove my valve stem extensions. I have had to replace them in the past. I think that is what is missing and you just have not been able to see or feel the stem in the rim.

[stripperguy]

These tires were installed by the previous owner in 2019, literally hours before it was wrecked. Total miles on the tires is less than 1,500 miles.
No idea what shop installed the tires, but agreed, it looks like I'm gonna have to pop the tires off to reorient the inner/outer relation.

[stripperguy]

Just to tie up loose threads (see what I did there?), I found the inner tire valve stems.
Clearly, I was looking in the wrong place, near to the inner wheel rim.
The valve was actually hiding all along at about the centerline of the wheel, waaay back in there.


I bought a straight inflation chuck to reach it, maybe I'll get some valve extensions in the future, but for now I'm all set.

[WileyOne]

Once you get all those issues worked out, do yourself a favor and get the Crossfire system.

Since I added Crossfire to my rig, I have a single easy point of inflation for both tires, the pressure is always equal, and I get a visual indicator of the pressure without picking up a tire gauge.

[ArtJoyce]

Has some rotated the tires??? I would expect the valve stem on the front to be found on the rear inter. So could the valve stem on the rear inter, be the valve stem I expect to find on the front??

You need a tire shop to look at it? Why would you rotate the tire like that? Is there a date issue? Bad tires taken off the front and put to the rear, etc...??? Was somebody hiding an issue???

[stripperguy]

I'll have to research that Crossfire set up, I like the idea of always having equal inner and outer pressures.


Interestingly, my S-I-L just unmounted, removed balance beads, remounted and rebalanced all six of his tires. The next day, he had a low outside rear tire pressure.

With no time to mess with it further, he inflated the tire and drove 200 some miles to the Thousand Islands.
He commented that his tire was low, I asked if he was gonna top it off that night (a Thursday). Nope, he said he'll look at it in the morning. Next morning, and another morning yet, it's still losing air...



On the morning we were leaving, it was off the bead. If any of you here have ever lost a bead on these tires, you know they're not at all like car tires.
His tire was off the bead on both sides of the tire!! He tried to get any road service, without luck. So my nephew heads out and buys some starter fluid, I stood by with a hose, and WHOOMP!! the tires back on the bead.
As it turns out, the valve extensions were leaking.
I would suggest that anyone with older valve extensions (rubber hose inside braided stainless) check them before the next outing. They do not last forever.


Another tidbit...when I scoffed at the backwards facing valve stem, I never imagined it was oriented that way to allow use of those flexible valve extensions.