Tire shop owner Rick Bogardus explained that if your tire is leaking air your car will pull to the left or the right. He suggests making a simple phone call if you're not sure what kind of tire valves you have. "Just call your shop where you have your tires installed and ask them do you use those valve stems and if so have them changed out."
The recalled tire valves were manufactured between August and November of 2006 and were sent to tire shops all over North America. Bill Rider has had more than 130 customers come in to his Petaluma tire shop in the last month complaining about their tires leaking air. He was told, "They didn't put the UV protection in the valve stems so the sunlight is making them deteriorate way too fast."
The only way to check if you have a defective valve is to take the tire off the rim. Here's a comparison the stem on the left is in good shape with no cracks but when you bend the one on the right it comes apart and that's where air leaks out.
Faith Broussard, a Clovis resident said, "That's very scary. I had no idea I didn't know anything about them." She and her husband Joe just bought four new tires and were glad to find out about the valve recall. Joe said, "I guess I'll have to research and find out if my car has one of those and get it fixed right away."
Mike Arreola of Factory Tire in Fresno just found out he was carrying some of the valve stems that are being recalled. "Well now I'm going to make sure that those are not the ones I'm buying."
The valves in question were made in China by Tech International for an American company called Dill. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating claims of a defect after a Florida man died in a rollover accident being linked to the Dill tire valves.
Dill tire valve model numbers:
TR-413
TR-413CH
TR-414
TR-415
TR-418
TR-423
Drill Air Controls: How to inspect snap-in valves for cracks
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