Parts store valve stem falls through hole in wheel!

[Kern Dog]

What?
Yeah....Over the years, I have stumbled upon and taken delivery of Mopar parts from a variety of people. I have some 15" stock steel wheels with bad tires so I dismounted the tires and went to replace the valve stems. I found that the hole in the wheel is almost the same size as the valve stem, something like 9/16" give or take. There is no way they would stay in place and hold air.
These wheels are nothing special except for being 15" size.
I have never seen a wheel that had a hole that big. At first I thought I bought the wrong size valve stems but now it just seems that some wheels used a different size.
I suspect that these wheels were from a 1968 or earlier car.
I saw THIS online....
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Tubeless Rubber Snap-in Valves
If you drive a regular passenger vehicle, such as a standard-size car or a minivan; a light truck; or a light-duty trailer, then you will likely be interested in a tubeless rubber snap-in valve.

One key factor when considering valve type is maximum inflation pressure — this particular snap-in valve allows a maximum cold tire inflation of 65 pounds per square inch (PSI). You'll be able to find rubber snap-in valves to fit holes that are either 0.453" or 0.625" in diameter and in lengths that range from 0.88" to 2.5
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Anyone have any info on what wheels had which size?

 

[Tony Tee]

So what's the plan? Are you going to weld the hole shut and re-drill it to the correct diameter?

 

[Big Bad Dad]

Cant you just use the 5/8" (.625) diameter valve stem? For years, there were the two standard size stems. We used to sell a lot of both sizes, but the smaller is a lot more common.

 

[padam]

Just strap a 2x4 across your ***.

 

[BeepBeepRR]

Ahh just put tubes in it problem solved.

 

[Thunderlugs]

Ahh just put tubes in it problem solved.

I had 15 inch wheels off of a 67 A100 van, which used the larger sized hole. can't remember the industry number. 413 ..418??

 

[yella71]

heres an idea....Go to a tire store for tire neds

 

[peabodyracin]

I run into this with some regularity on old stuff. I've started buying the metal, threaded valve stems as most of those come with rubber gaskets that will handle either hole size. Not expensive and look fancy too.

 

[toolmanmike]

Valve Stem Sizes
Depending on the application, valve stems holes in wheels will be typically 0.453” for cars / light duty trucks and 0.625” for heavy duty / commercial truck applications. Based on application, valve stems are available to fit 0.453” or 0.625” holes.

 

[4mulas]

Lots of mags used to use that size too. I have a set of centerline convo pro from 1996 that utilize a larger hole. You can just buy the rubber pull in type or short chrome bolt it type too Kern. Both are available.

Are they big like these?

 

[Kern Dog]

Thanks, guys. I was just surprised because until now, I've never encountered the larger size. The NAPA store only had the one size so it never occurred to me that other sizes existed.

 

[Mebsuta]

I never encountered the larger size in a wheel either, but I knew it was out there because there are always two sizes at Walmart and Autozone etc. I think some of those Bart wheels have the larger size. You have to check.

 

[Cranky]

I think GM uses the bigger stem.....? I don't mess with GM stuff very much so I don't really remember

 

[YY1]

Our local wal-mart carries both sizes.

 

[kiwigtx]

heres an idea....Go to a tire store for tire neds

Exactly.

As a friend of mine always says "Stay in your own lane."
Which means simply don't mess with stuff you are not trained, experienced or knowledgeable in.

 

[Mebsuta]

I don't mind doing wheel and tire stuff for my old RR myself. There's a learning curve and everything's hard at first. The balance part needs more study and maybe better equipment before I would do it for my commuter cars. I get fed up with the tire places always being closed or short-handed, and all the upsell and fees and all that, so I might look at a spin balancer.

 

[QuickBpBp]

Many many years ago I never knew about the "high" pressure valve stems.. Thought they were able to take all pressures till my 96 Ram had 2 tires that would not stop leaking shortly after I put new tires on... Sprayed around the stems and they were bubbling... Took it back and asked as they always put new stems in with new tires. Told them they didn't do that but they came back and said they did but they were all the regular valve stems so they had to replace them all with high pressure ones.. All the tires had chalk marks on them cause they did not rebalance them.. Always learning...