What size nut goes onto a typical US passenger tire Schrader valve? (2023 Update)

What size nut goes onto a typical US passenger tire Schrader valve?

To insert the tire valve, I know there is a ridiculously cheap cross-type valve tool where you thread it on the outside of the tire valve to pull the tire valve through the hole in the wheel rim, but for emergency use I just want to stock a few nuts that I can thread on the outside of a new valve to use as a ledge to pull the tire valve through the hole as shown here:

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Looking for what nuts to purchase, the Wikipedia for Schrader valves says the typical passenger brass & rubber tubeless tire pop-in Schrader valve has OD threads of:

*TR 418, 0.453 in (11.5 mm) rim hole diam. 2 in (51 mm) long* [*] Metric: 7.7 mm OD, thread root diameter is 6.9 mm ? 0.794 mm pitch [*] Imperial: 0.305 in OD, thread root diameter 0.271 in ? 32 tpi (threads per inch; thread density)

Assuming "Imperial" means "USA", that would mean I need a 32 TPI nut somewhere between 0.271 inches and 0.305 inches in iD, but that doesn't seem to be a standard size for a USA nut.

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Even if I look deeper into the granularity, it still seems an odd size:
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So I simply ask you if you have experence with this problem.

What size nut goes onto a typical US passenger tire Schrader valve?

Reply to
Leon Schneider
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Can't you use a metal valve cap? You need a cap anyway, so it's always there in an emergency.

Reply to
mike

There is no 'standard' nut to be found that will fit the tire valve.

The valve has been the same odd ball value for all tires US and others from about the time of the first tires.

Standard automotive (car) Schrader valve dimension is

7.7 mm OD

32 tpi, or 0.794 mm pitch

Minor diameter is 6.9

Thread designation is .305-32 or 7.7-32

Nice mix of inches and millimetres!

If you want a nut, you are probably going to have to make your own or have it made for you.

Reply to
Ralph Mowery

Leon Schneider posted for all of us...

You aren't going to able to do with out the tool. You may have a TPMS stem.

If you insist, I would get some extended metal valve caps and have at them as you wish.

Remember the valve cap has a very large job of keeping the air in the tire as schrader valves are dodgy.

Reply to
Tekkie®

It doesn't exist commercially but if you really want to go that way Schrader thread taps are available (try ebay) so you could drill an existing nut to the tapping diameter and make your own.

Reply to
John_H

4-way valve stem tools cost less than $2. It amazes me why some people want to reinvent some things.

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Reply to
RonNNN

That sounds about right. Get yourself some brass stock, take ten minutes to cut one on a good lathe.

Sure isn't, that's deliberate.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

just use a metal valvecap and a washer.. The actual thread is a .305X32 - which is NOT a standard fastener thread.

Reply to
clare

RonNNN wrote on Tue, 6 Dec 2016 15:39:37 -0600:

Assuming the tire is off the rim, can I both remove an old valve and replace it with a new valve using that cheap 4-way tool?

Reply to
Leon Schneider

snipped-for-privacy@snyder.on.ca wrote on Tue, 06 Dec 2016 17:44:38 -0500:

The standard metal cap and a washer would work but I think I'll just buy the right tool.

There are so many valve removal and replacement tools that it isn't funny.

This one has a screwdrover-hook to remove and a screwdriver-funnel to replace for example.

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This guy just broke the old valve off and used the 4-way tool to put the new valve back on.
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Reply to
Leon Schneider

Tekkie? wrote on Tue, 6 Dec 2016 15:45:19 -0500:

It's the old style (1995) valve stem so there is no TPMS. Sorry for not mentioning this in the OP.

Reply to
Leon Schneider

Easily. To remove the old one you just cut the inside section off. That keeps you from trying to reuse an old stem. Next take the new stem, coat it with either tire lube or some very soapy water and put it through the hole, then pull with the 4 way while moving your hand in a circle (not turning the valve). It will pull right into place.

Reply to
Steve W.

Yes. And as you've posted the video's you now know you can change the stem without removing the tire.

Reply to
RonNNN

Remove with a utility knife, install with the tool. Soap the stem first.

Reply to
clare

Reply to
clare

Yes, just lube it with something.

They do make valve stems that instead of a friction fit that have a nut on the outside so the valve stem fits on like a bolt.

Reply to
Ralph Mowery

Ralph Mowery wrote on Wed, 7 Dec 2016 09:59:24 -0500:

I have seen those nut-type valve stems in the stores, and I read while I looked this up that alloy wheels often use them.

I have steel wheels so I'll use the rubber but is the procedure the same for the nut-type?

Or do you just unscrew them and they fall out and you screw them and they go in (without any special tools)?

Reply to
Leon Schneider

RonNNN wrote on Wed, 7 Dec 2016 06:35:52 -0600:

Thanks for confirming that the cheap tool works just fine for my purpose, where the tire is already off the rim.

The one hook-and-funnel tool works with the tire on the rim, whereas the rest of the tools I found work with the bead broken at least well enough to get your hand in there.

Since I've seen in the videos people replacing the valve by breaking the bead while the tire is still on the car, one guy had a neat trick where he tied a long string to a drywall screw and before he cut the old valve stem in half, he screwed the screw into the backside (inside the tire) of the rubber valve stem.

That way, if the inside cut-off rubber part fell, he could retrieve it easily. For him, this was important because he was breaking the bead with the wheel still mounted to the vehicle.

For me, the tire will always be off the rim so I don't need that string-and-screw trick, but it's nice to know about in a pinch.

Reply to
Leon Schneider

snipped-for-privacy@snyder.on.ca wrote on Wed, 07 Dec 2016 08:02:40 -0500:

Thanks for confirming that the cheap tool works just fine.

As you probably know, experience in choosing tools is everything because ometimes you don't want the cheap tool, and sometimes you do.

It all depends, usually, on three basic things for all tools:

  1. Use the cheap tool if it does the job well enough to do it right
  2. Buy the expensive "finesse" tools if you do it a lot
  3. The smaller and easier stored the tool, the better (for storage reasons)

This 4-way cheap ubiquitous tool meets the standard tool's #1 and #3 criteria, and since I'm not doing the job a lot, I don't need to meet the #2 criterion for "elegant" tools.

Reply to
Leon Schneider

snipped-for-privacy@snyder.on.ca wrote on Wed, 07 Dec 2016 08:06:15 -0500:

Last night I watched something like a score of tire-valve replacement videos. One caveat is that a lot of videos use the same words for just removing the inner schrader valve stem versus the complete removal and replacement of the valve itself.

Correct me if I'm wrong but it seems they use basically these different types of tools.

  1. Traditional method:
  2. Redneck method:
  3. Fancy method:
  4. Pro method:
*REMOVAL STYLES* AFAIK from my Youtube education last night:
  1. The traditional method is apparently to cut the valve in half and retrieve the pieces (sometimes tying a string to a screw and screwing that screw into the inside of the ball on the inside of the rim if you haven't removed the tire from the rim).
  2. The redneck method is to simply band the valve stem from the ouside with your finger until it breaks off and then just push the inside piece away from the rim.
  3. The fancy method is to use the hook part of the hook-and-funnel combination, where you bend the valve to the side and shove a hook and twist the hook until it catches on the inside hole and you pull the valve out without needing to remove the bead.
  4. The professionals seem to use a grooved levered long-handled tool that screws onto the valve stem on the outside where the grooves seat on the rim edge and they pop the valve out the front using sheer leverage force.
*INSTALLATION STYLES* AFAIK from my Youtube education last night:
  1. The traditional method is apparently to place the valve loosely and then screw on a small cheap 4-way crossbar tool on the outside and just pull it through until it seats.
  2. The redneck method is to use a nail as a substitute for your four-way crossbar tool where you first remove the inside Schrader core and then you shove a nail with the pointy side facing out through the valve tube, and then you use vise grips to grab the nail and pull the valve out until it seats.
  3. The fancy method is to use the funnel part of the hook-and-funnel combination, where you shove the valve forward into the rim until it seats.
  4. The professionals seem to use that same grooved levered long-handled tool that screws onto the valve stem on the outside where the grooves seat on the rim edge and they push the valve in through the front using sheer leverage force.

Is that a decent summary of the styles available to us for removing and replacing a conventional rubber tubeless tire valve?

Reply to
Leon Schneider

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