Lost one of my valve tire caps the other days and I have been looking at Anodized Alloy Valve Caps. But I have read somewhere that vehicles with TPMS should not use metal tire caps, is this true. Also, where can on e find the silver colored, plastic tire caps that the Outlander uses. I have looked everywhere for them and all I find is aluminum or black plastic caps.

 

Maybe get black plastic ones and some good silver spray paint?

 

Thanks rip14 for the answer but are alloy valve caps ok for a TPMS system like the Outlander?

 

This is a service bulletin from Mazda about TPMS. (I know, not Mitus, but they both start with an M )

"Some aftermarket valve stem caps are made of brass or steel or have thread inserts that are made of brass. Examples of these types of aftermarket valve stem caps are shown. When brass and aluminum are together in such a
condition as this, galvanic corrosion occurs between the aluminum valve stem of the TPMS wheel unit and the brass threads of the valve stem cap. This corrosion can cause them to fuse together, becoming difficult to remove by hand. Then when more force is used to remove the valve stem cap, the aluminum valve stem of the TPMS wheel unit will break off and the TPMS wheel unit will be to be replaced.

This service tip is to aid in informing customers of the damage that may be caused to the TPMS wheel units by installing these types of valve step caps. When you encounter this concern, please advise the customer to use aluminum or plastic caps ONLY. Also, ensure that the caps they choose to install DO NOT have a brass thread insert."


Hope this helps

 

Thanks again for your answer, it solved a lot of questions I had about the valve caps. Guess I will go the plastic, spray paint them silver route.

 

Just try to avoid getting spray paint on the inside part of the cap. (By the threading). Stick them on a piece of tape or a sheet of paper to cover the hole when painting.

 

If you spray them with silver, try hitting with a clear coat. When I was young, my dad and I restored an old Case tractor. Rims were silver. The silver we put on was really bright. We hit it with a clear coat and it kinda dulled the finish down just a bit. With our rims, it may look a bit much to have bright shiney silver valve stem caps with dulled silver wheels.

 

I used the chrome caps and they corroded the threads. I went to black plastics and spray painted them silver

If you wanted to go with the metal caps, I'd use some kind of thread lubricant/anti-sieze such as for spark plugs to prevent a reaction..but I'd still go with plastic

 

I've decided against the aluminum caps and the alloy ones. I'm just going to paint the black ones with silver paint. I wonder why it's so hard finding plastic silver valve caps.

 

did a little looking around:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002P8EMGI/...SIN=B002P8EMGI

and you'll even have 46 left over!!!