What are you track guys running and why. What are the benefits of each and what do you prefer?

 

rubber, cheap easy to replace less likely to snap when hit

 

Rubber, was told by my wheel guy metal tend to leak. Whether there is merit I dunno.

 

We race on Enkei RPF1's and they come with short blue aluminum valve stems. They are short enough that they can't be sheared off by contact and are a very slight weight saving.

 

I used the aluminum ones that came on my enkeis and they ended up leaking after 6 months. Plain old rubber stems for me now since we mount my wheels and tires in house.

 

I run the blue ones that came with my Enkei wheels, guess i will swap out when they leak.

 

yea my rpf's have the factory metal ones. no leaking yet

 

Guess there is merit

 

My wheel guy (race shop) recommends using the rubber ones

 

Hmmm...I also use Enkei RPF-1s and the short blue valve stems. With the lightweight R-compound tires (Hoosier R6 or Goodyear RS) currently in use, the tires themselves consistently bleed down, not the valve stems.

Whether it's rubber or metal, the key is having a valve stem that is short enough not to get torn out in any light metal-to-metal incident. If a tires does go down, it's because of heavy contact and probably some actual wheel damage has occurred.

 

It probably isnt your tires. I had the same problem, switched to rubber stems. Problem fixed.