I swear that every time I'm about to head out on the trail and I air down, one of my valve caps goes missing. I've always been completely content with pushing all of the blame to some sort of evil valve cap fairy, or a group of rebellious teenagers. But now I'm going to start being honest with myself, no more leaving them sitting next to my tire on the ground, I needed valve caps with a leash. I found exactly what I needed from Extreme Outback Products and their simple No Loss Plastic Tire Caps.
Unknown to most, the valve located on your tire stem is called a Schrader valve, and the cap which you often loose is an integral part of it's design. It helps to keep dirt, water, and other contaminants out of the fragile internal metal, and rubber components that mean the difference between getting there, and being stuck somewhere. Older valves can also have a small amount of leakage, while those valve cores should be replaced, the No Loss Tire Caps help to seal the valve even further, potentially avoiding an issue.
Extreme Outback offers a plastic, and an alloy model depending on which you prefer. Keep in mind that some newer valve stems use materials other than the traditional brass, and may react negatively to the metal caps, this is why a plastic version is now offered. They are sold in packs of 5 to ensure your spare tire has what it needs.
Unfortunately, it took me hours to install, I simply couldn't figure it out how to put the leash on before I screwed the valve cap onto the stem. In case you get as easily confused as I do, here's some photos detailing the installation process.
Here you can see the valve cap.
Here you can see the seal inside the valve cap that ensure no contaminants reach the inner workings of your schrader valve, and that air cannot escape.
Here is the No Loss Tire Cap installed, it simply presses on.
Screwing the valve cap onto the valve stem completes the installation.
