I managed to rip my metal (Aluminum?) valve stem completely off my tire this weekend. I was climbing a hill and it was really icy and I slid into a pretty deep rut that was frozen solid and something in the rut sheared my valve stem off.

I did not originally install these stems .... they were on the tires when I got the truck, so I don't know much about them. They look like they must be aluminum or some type of alloy judging by the way it sheared off at the rim.

What can I do to armor my valve stems?

 

Well, that is expected with a rigid body. It will break and not bend. Which is the advantage of the rubber valve stems. However, sometimes they will also get damaged. I have a buddy who redrilled his rims and mounted the valve stem closer to the outside of the mounting surface of the rim. He then welded up the original valve stem hole. Has worked for years.

 

That works. I read something once where they plugged the original hole on an alum alloy wheel and redrilled a new hole inside the rim and made the valve stem come out through a whole in the rim... it was completely protected.

There are also steel valve stems, but you could shear those off too... just not as easily as an alum one

 

The steel ones would scare me cause couldnt they bend and well bind causing you to cut them off any ways? You could relocate like they said. Ive seen them relocate to the inner rim and such. The sky is the limit on these things. But if you are just getting ones to replace get rubber ones they seem to have more play and not as much "hey I snap under pressure" lookt o them.

 

Are the rims steel or aluminum?

 

Make a small guard for the stem and weld it into your rim.

 

Rims are steel.

 

Well, the steel ones are used mostly in car racing to prevent the value stem from being spun and blown out of the rim or cut from bumping. Plus, the steel ones will keep air in the tire if the core fails because the metal cap seals well.

That being said, the rubber ones are probably better for most applications. Myself, I buy the short metal ones from NAPA and I have never had a problem with them. If you do not torque them down correctly and center the rubber insert correctly , they will leak. Which is why I think they got a bad name. The metal chrome ones do look nice on chrome wheels. They most likely will not work correctly on most aluminum rims if they have the recessed circle on the rim around the valve stem.

 

Go with a stubby metal valve stem, we have to use these on all our farm equipment some they won't get shear off in the fields by sticks/rocks and all the other things hiding in the fields, the rubber ones tended to get cuts at the base and then slowly leak air out.

since you have metal rims, its easy enough to weld some small guards around the valve stem.

 

also, the rims arent very thick, if you weld a shroud around them, let the air out of the tires first. should be common sense, but hey you never know.

 

Go to a hardware store and get a length of 3/4" black pipe. Four pieces about 4" long with each end threaded works good. Then cut one end off so its just long enoufgh to cover the valve stem and weld it over the hole. Make it so the top of the valve stem is at the same height as the pipe. Then pull the valve stem back throug it and after the tire is aired up you can put a 3/4" cap over the pipe to keep the crap out

I did this on an old International I had because I had the same problem you had with the valve stems in the snow and mud. Never broke a valve stem after that.

One more thing, if you will be driving this on the street at all, weld something on the outside (inside the tire) of the wheel to help balance it out.

 

Also be ware if the valve stem sits anywhere near the bead as you'll melt it and ruin the tire. Keep in mind that your shield will change the balance of the tire and it'll have to be redone. My personal preference would be to plug or weld the stock hole, drill a new hole closer to the center of the rim and install new stems. This way they'll never be exposed to rocks and junk while you wheel.

EDIT: I see Dave mentioned the balance issues.

 

Here's an Idea. Why don't you remove the valve stem completely, weld over the hole, call the Wilson company, and install those little valves they use to air up footballs and basketballs, right into your tire? I mean, it could work! Sure, airing the tire down would take a little longer, but at least you wouldn't be shearing/ slicing valve stems, right?

 

Sure, just blasting that little inlet right out of the tire. Those things will not work on a high pressure system. Even my mountain bike need a screwed on valve.