Aygo wheel trim obstructs valve

[Jouef]

1 hour ago, Cyker said:

Most manufacturers share the view about alloys, but I put my money were my mouth was and replaced the 17" alloys my Mk4 came with with 15" steels! Everyone thinks I'm crazy …

 

No, not everyone. If alloys were an option again I’d think twice, as I did in the days when they were offered at extra cost. In fact I was often happy to ditch the caps as well - if not, cable ties were a must. Unfortunately my bangernomic days are in the past now, and reliability is the priority; the family must unfailingly get from A to B without getting stuck at C.

[Jouef]

On 7/3/2021 at 10:21 PM, Cyker said:

It is a weird oversight... next time you get your tyres changed, ask the tyre changer to swap the valves for ones with longer stems maybe. Lucky they're not TPMS ones as you have more choice with normal valves!

This is now the plan (immediately, rather than waiting until the tyres need changing). However, before I start I want to be sure it will work. Despite phoning three tyre depots and visiting numerous websites, I cannot find out what choice of valve stems lengths are easily available in the UK. I would need the closest to 62mm protruding above the steel wheel surface, while I currently have 36mm. Does anyone know?

And, incidentally, how does TPMS work on the Aygo x-play?

[FROSTYBALLS]

TPMS on the Aygo is an indirect system which uses the ABS sensors to detect differences in diameter. No TPMS sensors.

[mrfixer]

On 7/23/2021 at 8:30 AM, Jouef said:

This is now the plan (immediately, rather than waiting until the tyres need changing). However, before I start I want to be sure it will work. Despite phoning three tyre depots and visiting numerous websites, I cannot find out what choice of valve stems lengths are easily available in the UK. I would need the closest to 62mm protruding above the steel wheel surface, while I currently have 36mm. Does anyone know?

And, incidentally, how does TPMS work on the Aygo x-play?

You currently have a TR412 valve stem (about 35mm). A TR418 is 61mm long.  Seems long though. Do you have a picture of the fitted hub cap?

[PetrolDave]

This page Tyre Valve Types gives a list of available valve stem lengths which may be useful.

[Jouef]

On 7/26/2021 at 9:50 PM, mrfixer said:

You currently have a TR412 valve stem (about 35mm). A TR418 is 61mm long.  Seems long though. Do you have a picture of the fitted hub cap?

Thanks, that’s exactly what I need to know. Here’s a photo. The valve tip is 26mm below the hubcap outer surface, which prevents a lever-lock connector. The recess is 29mm diameter at the valve tip, which prevents a screw-on connector. A push-on forecourt airline will go on, at the right angle, by bending the valve stem slightly. But the whole point for me is maintaining the pressures at home and roadside emergencies. So it’s longer stems, or cut down the hubcaps (if the former, I’m wondering whether to change to ‘Seal-Inside’ tyres at the same time, though comments elsewhere are not that persuasive).

[Jouef]

On 7/27/2021 at 8:45 AM, PetrolDave said:

This page Tyre Valve Types gives a list of available valve stem lengths which may be useful.

On 7/26/2021 at 9:50 PM, mrfixer said:

You currently have a TR412 valve stem (about 35mm). A TR418 is 61mm long.  Seems long though.

OK, so a TR418 is both 2 inches long and 61.5mm long. I’m guessing ‘effective length’ means the protruding length outside, while ‘length’ means the whole unit inside and out (however, guessing is not my strongest suit). 2 inches protruding is the length I need - any longer and it could be bashing the kerb.  I don’t see this car often, so can’t just rock it up to a tyre depot and talk it through. I will have hold of it for a week soon, and will expect at least two trips while they order the right valves in.

[mrfixer]

4 hours ago, Jouef said:

OK, so a TR418 is both 2 inches long and 61.5mm long. I’m guessing ‘effective length’ means the protruding length outside, while ‘length’ means the whole unit inside and out (however, guessing is not my strongest suit). 2 inches protruding is the length I need - any longer and it could be bashing the kerb.  I don’t see this car often, so can’t just rock it up to a tyre depot and talk it through. I will have hold of it for a week soon, and will expect at least two trips while they order the right valves in.

Most tyre outlets would have TR418's on the shelf.  But you could buy yourself a couple off eBay and take them with you....

[Bernard Foy]

Yes it’s bit of a pain. I have to remove the hubcaps on my wife’s 2015 1.0ltr Yaris difficult to remove and difficult to put on again. I was thinking about removing them altogether and spraying the steel wheels silver with a rattle can.

[durutti]

I had the same problem guys! very recent buyer of an Aygo and I ended up making the tyres worse and have the warning light on. After 20 years of owning a car I have almost felt devastated that i did not know how to check the tyres!

[Jenny W]

I’m having the same issue not being able to access the valves. It’s a new car so I thought it was incompatible with my tyre inflator which has a screw fitting, so I’ve bought another but there isn’t room to press the lever. I’ve never had this problem before - is there a solution other than altering the hub cap? I think this is beyond me 

[Jouef]

On 9/21/2021 at 6:46 PM, Jenny W said:

 - is there a solution other than altering the hub cap? …

I considered this, or there may be an off-the-shelf hubcap with a better design, but am actually waiting to swap the valves for longer stems. Trouble is, I bought this Aygo for a relative and I never see it for long enough. It’s dangerous not to be able to check pressures, so I will have to book out a day and travel over on a weekday. Toyota admin fobbed me off and the Toyota dealer isn’t interested. It’s their mistake, and it’s a disgrace.

[Jouef]

On 9/21/2021 at 6:46 PM, Jenny W said:

 - is there a solution other than altering the hub cap? …

Just seen these - Inflator Connector Adaptor Brass 8mm (not been mentioned by anyone yet). They look as though they would take both a screw-on and a push-on connector, before being clipped onto the too-short Aygo valve. I’m ordering one to try out, before I resort to changing the valves. They might just fit within the too-small Aygo hubcap aperture (what a ridiculous design fault).

[P.Edwards]

Phone Toyota and quoted £ 129 to replace extension valves. It is a bad design on wheel trim , so why have we to pay for a bad design.

[mrfixer]

Can't you just use valve extensions?

[Jouef]

On 11/11/2021 at 8:08 PM, mrfixer said:

Can't you just use valve extensions?

No. Please see the July 5th post on page 1 of this thread for explanation.

[eric james]

I have the same problem.Almost impossible to easily check the tyre pressures with the 4 different gauges that I now have.It is really annoying me.Stupid design.

[TotallyToto]

Has anyone found a solution to this design fail? 

[FROSTYBALLS]

1 minute ago, TotallyToto said:

Has anyone found a solution to this design fail? 

I have the same wheel trims as the ones in your profile picture, and don't have any problems.

[Jouef]

On 2/9/2022 at 5:29 PM, FROSTYBALLS said:

I have the same wheel trims as the ones in your profile picture, and don't have any problems.

The wheel trims in TotallyToto’s profile picture are different to the ones I have, to which this thread refers. Totally doesn’t actually say they have trouble with theirs. I wonder if that’s what they meant? Here’s a photo of mine, which appear to have a much more restricted valve aperture than yours and Totally’s.

[FROSTYBALLS]

15 minutes ago, Jouef said:

Here’s a photo of mine

From your earlier posts, the Aygo isn't actually yours ?

[Kental]

Our daughter has a 2016 Peugeot 108 with wheel trims.  The factory ones weren't too bad to get at the valves, but at £40+ per trim (and the car is her first car and street parked) I bought a set of £15 per set Halfords ones, the holes are really small, so I get the trims clipped out to make the valves easier to get at.

I was thankful for the TPMS warning as when she came to visit once, she asked what the yellow light on the dash was. 17 psi in the tyre at the time and the nail in the not repairable section.

[Dave the aygo]

Just a thought as anyone tried a piece of radiator overflow pipe and push it onto the cap would make taking the cap of easier 👍

[PetrolDave]

Would this be any easier to clip onto the tyre valve?

Tyre Inflator Extension Tube

[Jouef]

8 hours ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

From your earlier posts, the Aygo isn't actually yours ?

It’s a family member’s car. I look after its maintenance for them, including checking the tyre pressures. I hardly ever see the car on weekdays during opening hours though, otherwise I’d have called into a tyre depot for advice before now.