I'm annoyed. Like rock in your shoe annoyed.

I just discovered I lost a tire valve cap somehow. Sounds stupid, but I have Kosei's and that means I have 8 of those little red, aluminum, valve caps. Well, 7 now. This just bugs the anal in me.

I want to get either a replacement matching cap, or new caps altogether. I want nice metal ones like I had (mayve in gun metal) with great sealing. None of those crappy gas station plastic ones. Any recommends?

http://i3.tinypic.com/wcokeh.jpg

Ummmm... an auto parts place? :rolleyes: C'mon, this isn't that hard to figure out!

Ummmm... an auto parts place? :rolleyes: C'mon, this isn't that hard to figure out!

No... they only carry crappy plastic ones. Oh... well they do have chrome skull ones and LED flasher ones. But I'm not interested in those either.

I'm annoyed. Like rock in your shoe annoyed.

I just discovered I lost a tire valve cap somehow. Sounds stupid, but I have Kosei's and that means I have 8 of those little red, aluminum, valve caps. Well, 7 now. This just bugs the anal in me.

I want to get either a replacement matching cap, or new caps altogether. I want nice metal ones like I had (mayve in gun metal) with great sealing. None of those crappy gas station plastic ones. Any recommends?


The ones I'm asking about are really nice... they are brushed aluminum ones and have a style that matches nice tuner lugnuts. Even the SPT caps you get at Subaru aren't as nice.

I've searched Ebay and all kinds of places and seriously, valve stem caps of the niceness I'm referring to don't seem to be carried anywhere... hence me posting this. My stem caps are from Kosei themselves (came with the wheels) and I imagine going to Kosei for more is either impossible or will cost me like > $50 for some caps!

Ahhh see... these caps are so nice that PEOPLE STEAL THEM. So, no, you can't get em at an autoparts store.

From http://www.miata.net/products/wheels/kosei.html

Kosei K1 TS
[10/27/2004] Reviewed by: Sean

Applicable to: '99 + 1.8 liter

17x7 Wheel from Tire Rack. Weight 14.1 lbs

I was looking for a nice looking wheel for my 01 and saw these wheels on Tire Racks website and fell in love with them immediately. The picture doesn't do this wheel justice. It looks more beautiful in person. Be prepared to for lots of stares and questions about these wheels. They come with two valve stems per wheel so the question I always get is why? Well according to Grant at Tire Rack, Over in Japan when during races what they'll do it bleed the air from the bottom valve stem and fill with Nitrogen from the top. I don't have to worry about doing that but they do look neat.

Couple of things that happened to me. The valve stems and caps are anodized red. They seem to be pretty popular with Valve stem cap thieves in my area. A week after I had the wheels someone stole them. All 8 of them!!! I ordered new ones from Tire Rack at 4 bucks a piece. I also put loctite on all the threads and tightened them down so no one without a wrench is able to get them off. Also the anodized red gets scratched easily so use care when filling the tires or cleaning them.

Over 30 minutes to remove completely

No... they only carry crappy plastic ones. Oh... well they do have chrome skull ones and LED flasher ones. But I'm not interested in those either.
Every Autozone or Advance Auto I've been in over the past few years has all sorts of valve stem caps. If they're not up to the standard of "nice enough to be stolen as soon as you leave the car unattended" then I guess I can't help you.

Sounds to me like your best bet is to call Tire Rack and order one for $4.

The Autozone near me carries these - http://www.go-fast-parts.com/5707429.html - red (or blue or plain silver) anodized aluminum valve stem caps. $4.99 for a pack of 4. I don't remember the ones in the store having that extra ring around the middle, they were just plain red hexagonal valve stem caps.

You can get some of these anti-theft valve caps from Griot's (http://www.griotsgarage.com/catalog.jsp?&SKU=92590FJ). They're expensive though, and I'm not sure they make any with out logos on them, or if they make any Subaru ones. You can find a complete listing of all the different kinds they sell here (http://www.griotsgarage.com/search.jsp?search.y=0&search.x=0&searchtext=pilfer%20valve%20cap&Page=1). There are 12 pages of them. Griot's is also generally pretty expensive, so you may find them cheaper elsewhere.

Personally, I'd just run with some cheap plastic caps that nobody would steal. It's cheaper for you, and they don't go missing. They work just the same, and you could make yourself feel better by thinking of the rotational (and unsprung) weight you're saving! They're probably more aerodynamic too. :p