Arky217
Silver Member
I've always believed that the saying, "easy, cheap, good - pick any two" applied to just about everything, but I think I've found an exception.
I broke the metal valve stem off of the right rear, loaded tire (size 17.5L-24) on my Kubota L4200. I lost about 1 or 2 of the 50 gallons of WW fluid in the tire before parking it with the stem at 12 o'clock.
While trying to figure how I was going to load that heavy tire on my trailer, I went to O'Reilly's auto parts and bought a two pack of metal valve stems, thinking that I might try to lay the tire over on site and break the bead myself instead of hauling it to a tire shop.
After I got the metal valve stems, I noticed that the head of the stem (the part that goes inside the rim) was only about 1/16" larger diameter than the hole in the rim.
I then got the idea that maybe I could file on two opposing sides of the stem head til I got it to 5/8" (the size of the hole in the rim) and then slip it through the rim hole.
Well, I did just that and it worked like a charm.
After getting the stem head through the hole, I squeezed in the rubber bushing while holding the stem's skinniest part at the hole, then pull the stem/bushing back against the hole, added the washer and nut, and presto, I was done.
In addition to filing the two sides, I also had to round the squarish end of the stem head some to give enough clearance so that it would pivot itself into the hole. The rubber bushing contact area on the stem head is 3/32" wide and even after filing the sides down, those two areas still had a good 1/16" wide contact area for the rubber bushing.
I can still hardly believe it was that easy. I tightened up the nut, aired the tire, and checked for leakage.
A super easy, fast and cheap ($3.29 for the 2 pack) fix and didn't even have to remove the wheel !
I'll keep the other stem in my toolbox in case I ever break another one.
I broke the metal valve stem off of the right rear, loaded tire (size 17.5L-24) on my Kubota L4200. I lost about 1 or 2 of the 50 gallons of WW fluid in the tire before parking it with the stem at 12 o'clock.
While trying to figure how I was going to load that heavy tire on my trailer, I went to O'Reilly's auto parts and bought a two pack of metal valve stems, thinking that I might try to lay the tire over on site and break the bead myself instead of hauling it to a tire shop.
After I got the metal valve stems, I noticed that the head of the stem (the part that goes inside the rim) was only about 1/16" larger diameter than the hole in the rim.
I then got the idea that maybe I could file on two opposing sides of the stem head til I got it to 5/8" (the size of the hole in the rim) and then slip it through the rim hole.
Well, I did just that and it worked like a charm.
After getting the stem head through the hole, I squeezed in the rubber bushing while holding the stem's skinniest part at the hole, then pull the stem/bushing back against the hole, added the washer and nut, and presto, I was done.
In addition to filing the two sides, I also had to round the squarish end of the stem head some to give enough clearance so that it would pivot itself into the hole. The rubber bushing contact area on the stem head is 3/32" wide and even after filing the sides down, those two areas still had a good 1/16" wide contact area for the rubber bushing.
I can still hardly believe it was that easy. I tightened up the nut, aired the tire, and checked for leakage.
A super easy, fast and cheap ($3.29 for the 2 pack) fix and didn't even have to remove the wheel !
I'll keep the other stem in my toolbox in case I ever break another one.
