Battersea
Turbocharged
I'm collecting my newly painted wheels tomorrow, at last. Anyway, whilst cleaning and inspecting the valves bodies ready to refit I found a potential safety issue and thought anyone with a Rocket should be aware of it.
When I collected the wheels after tyre removal the tech mentioned about the 'crap' that was inside - some kind of puncture sealant, horrible stuff - black and sticky. He mentioned that it was quite corrosive and can ruin alloy wheels over time. There was the beginnings of corrosion on the bead diameters but luckily not too bad as they cleaned up with wire wool. More of a concern was the alloy nut that retains valve body (picture below), it was almost corroded through. Worse was a hairline crack at the thinnest section going right through the threads.
From the outset I was surprised that the valve body is fed in from outside and retained by a nut, if the threads fail the body blows out and the tyre decompresses rapidly. All other bolt-in valve bodies I've come across go from the inside out - then even if the retaining nut comes loose the pressure maintains the seal, at least for a while.
By my reckoning the crack was caused by the pressure forcing the nut to start splitting at the corroded section. How long it would have been before the nut expanded enough to let the body go, is anyones guess.
Moral of the story is - watch what you put inside your tyres and check them nuts when new tyres are fitted. I actually found some hex nuts from inner tubes - they are nickel plated brass, much better idea.
When I collected the wheels after tyre removal the tech mentioned about the 'crap' that was inside - some kind of puncture sealant, horrible stuff - black and sticky. He mentioned that it was quite corrosive and can ruin alloy wheels over time. There was the beginnings of corrosion on the bead diameters but luckily not too bad as they cleaned up with wire wool. More of a concern was the alloy nut that retains valve body (picture below), it was almost corroded through. Worse was a hairline crack at the thinnest section going right through the threads.
From the outset I was surprised that the valve body is fed in from outside and retained by a nut, if the threads fail the body blows out and the tyre decompresses rapidly. All other bolt-in valve bodies I've come across go from the inside out - then even if the retaining nut comes loose the pressure maintains the seal, at least for a while.
By my reckoning the crack was caused by the pressure forcing the nut to start splitting at the corroded section. How long it would have been before the nut expanded enough to let the body go, is anyones guess.
Moral of the story is - watch what you put inside your tyres and check them nuts when new tyres are fitted. I actually found some hex nuts from inner tubes - they are nickel plated brass, much better idea.
