Bought a new set of rims that I found through a website's configurator, which means they are supposed to fit my car flawlessly, right? Not really.. Well, these rims have the valve stem in the dead center of the wheel barrel, and Since my car is the sport version with the big bakes, the valve stem interferes perfectly with the calipers. The back wheels are fine since the calipers are a bit smaller, but the front wheels are an issue. Luckily I had a set of 15mm spacers on hand that moved the wheel out enough to give about 3mm of clearance. Normally I wouldn't be too upset about this, but the wheels are now almost perfectly flush which means over the slightest bumps, the tire rubs the inside of the front fenders.

Typically the solution would be to just buy a short valve stem, but I can't find a short valve stem that is TPMS compatible. Does anyone know of a shorty valve stem that is TPMS compatible or a flush valve stem?

I've purchased a set of shorty non-TPMS valve stems and I'm just considering fabricating a bracket of some sort in the shop here at work. Aside from that there are some adapters out there, but I'm not sure they would work as they are for a stem that is mounted 90 degrees to the rim. Mine is not. So, I'm asking for ideas that hopefully don't include banding the TPMS to the rim, or storing the TPMS's in a pressurized vessel in my glove box.

Thanks!

 

Well, I made a solution myself.

 

Thats a creative and elegant solution...do the TPMS still work the same? I have no idea how a TPMS sensor works internally, just curious if it reads the same (i.e. is triggered at a particular low pressure) and doesn't cause the light to go on on the dash with this solution

 

Thanks,
I'm pretty sure it'll work the same. If not I'll report back.

 

Perfect example of necessity being the mother of invention!

Nice work, DMG!