DRW tire filling

porthole

Retired
The Ford Rear DRW wheels are tough to fill. The holes in the wheels are barely big enough to get my hand in.
I have tried a variety of ways to fill the tires.

Had left over parts from my truck's air supply and made up this pigtail. The brass coupler was a NAPA auto parts item that slips on and locks to the valve stem. It releases like a standard air coupling. Worked great the other night to air up before our Dover trip.
 

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MTPockets

Well-known member
Originally, my valve stems were straight across from each other, and the outer wheel stem was in the way of my hand to get to the inner wheel stem. I removed the outer wheels and remounted so the stem was 180 degrees. I can reach the inner easily now with my fill nozzle.
 

porthole

Retired
I rotated the wheels right away. The angle of the inner stem has made it a chore to air up. None of my long stem inflators would work.
 

Nabo

Southeast Region Director-Retired
Our dealership swapped out the inside tires' short valve stem for longer ones, making it ez'r to service all tires. Tomorrow they are swapping out all 6 tires because the new tires shipped from the factory were bad. WOW 6 new tires.
 

JohnDar

Prolifically Gabby Member
Whenever I have the tires rotated or serviced, I instruct the tech to put the rears on so the valves are either lined up or at least the inner not blocked by a "spoke" on the outer wheel. All of my tires have gated caps, so I don't have to remove them. The long, 2-headed brass chuck I have reaches them easily. Not enough room to get my hand to the inner tire, but if the valves are positioned correctly, it's not necessary.
 

porthole

Retired
The ford inner wheels have the valve mounted at an angle so that the standard air chuck will not seal. I was using flexible extensions through the hole but removed them once I started using the TPMS.
 

JohnDar

Prolifically Gabby Member
The ford inner wheels have the valve mounted at an angle so that the standard air chuck will not seal. I was using flexible extensions through the hole but removed them once I started using the TPMS.

The valves on mine are at an angle, but the air chuck (and presure gage) seems to work no matter. The openings in the wheels are large enough to allow some angling of the pipe to get onto the inner stem. And they're still rubber, not metal, so they can flex a bit.
 

MrRvGypsy

Active Member
I have a 2-head long chuck and a 2-head long pressure gauge that reaches both inner and outer wheel bolt in rigid stems on my Ford DRW. Not sure why the OP would have an issue unless the wheels had been installed with a outer rim blocking access to the inner stem.
 

scottyb

Well-known member
Not the OP, but I also have those items. It's just not as convenient to check pressure and add air as I would like. I don't understand why DRW's don't have TPMS's. Well, I know why, because it is not mandated by the Feds. You would at least think that it would be an option or be standard on the high end trucks. On my last truck I grew to trust the readings after many miles and many comparison checks. It was nice to have the information in front of you at the touch of a button, w/o having to manually check the pressure. It even let me know before I drove away, when the tire guys erroneously filled a new set of tires. I know you can add on an aftermarket TPMS, but it is not the same as a one that is integrated into the DIC. That was a huge disappointment when I started looking at DRW's.

I can't find a PSI reading for the TPMS on my wife's F250. My Chevy gave you the actual PSI instead of just a warning when one gets too low.
 

sengli

Well-known member
I just test drove a 2014 RAM 3500 DRW, and it did have TPMS on all six tires! Wow what a great thing to do. I too find checking and filling the inner rear tire to be a chore. I installed some of those stainless braided extender lines on them.
 

Bohemian

Well-known member
Caution on value extenders:.

I purchased premium valve extenders from CW. Then, I took them to my local RV dealer to have them installed withy new metal HP values. They installed them and all appeared fine. Everything worked great.

First trip, stopped at about 5 miles and all was good. stopped at end of day and inners were totally flat. Checked everything out and refilled the inners. Next day inners were a little low. Topped them up.then more trouble.

Stopped at an RV place and had them removed.

It seems the long leas were spinning and pushing the valve open while driving. To me not worth the risk.

Then I did the "most stupidest" thing I could do. I continued to use the tires.They looked brand new. Two years latter one of the inners had a catastrophic thread separation at 65 mph on I-80. Ripped up a bundle of wires and blew circuits. It took two passes at local electrical shop to fix all he damage.

Some lessons learn the hard way.They are not for me.
 

porthole

Retired
Then I did the "most stupidest" thing I could do. I continued to use the tires.They looked brand new. Two years latter one of the inners had a catastrophic thread separation at 65 mph on I-80. Ripped up a bundle of wires and blew circuits. It took two passes at local electrical shop to fix all he damage.

Some lessons learn the hard way.They are not for me.

Coincidence maybe?

My truck was delivered with the left rear inner flat. Didn't know it for 2-3 days and had about 200 miles on when I found it.

3 1/2 years and 51000+ miles it is stlll going.
 

Bohemian

Well-known member
Coincidence? Perhaps. But, classic low pressure damage failure very early in the tires life.
 
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