Tyre valve extension

[Pete-B]

 

Hi, I use a T Max compressor which is brilliant to inflate our tyres but it's such a faff to get it screwed onto the valve with the wheel trims on and then you lose a lot of air in the doing. So wondered if you can get a clip on valve extension so I could screw that to the T Max airline then clip onto valve.

 

Appreciate any advice.

[Derek Uzzell]

Discussed in this earlier thread

 

https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/12v-van-tyre-pump-recomendations-please-/49906/

 

Or GOOGLE on “Halfords valve access tool”

 

https://www.halfords.com/motoring/motorcycling/motorcycle-accessories/halfords-valve-access-tool

 

 

[Pete-B]

Thanks Derek, much appreciated,

[Derek Uzzell]

The clip-on extension attaches to my T-Max pump OK, though I still need to remove my Rapido’s wheel-trims to be able to clip the extension properly to the tyre valves. Whether you would need to do the same would depend on the wheel-trims and tyre valves your Bessacarr motorhome has.

 

Various ’straight' clip-on connectors exist (photo attached) that might have allowed me to connect the pump to my Rapido’s tyre valves with the wheel-trims in place, but I couldn’t identify one that was for sale in the UK and had a threaded inlet that could be screwed on to the T-Max’s hose.

[Pete-B]

 

The vans in the storage yard at the moment Derek and can't quite remember what gap there is in the wheel trims. I know it was a fiddle screwing the T Max hose to the valve but I'm going to order one of the extensions from Halfords and see how I get on, it looks a decent bit of kit for a tenner.

[chas]

I eventually bought one of the Halfords connectors and it does the job as expected, but to my mind 10 quid is vastly overpriced imo and if it was produced in China would probably sold for about £2.50 inc postage. I HATE being ripped off >:-)

[Deneb]

£8 from Halfords with a trade card, but to be fair in this case, although not always, Halfords are cheaper even at full retail price than any similar items listed on Amazon or eBay.

[witzend]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tyre-Valve-Air-Connector-Car-Truck-Airline-Inflator-8mm-Hose-Brass-lock-clip-/163123619265?hash=item25faece5c1 £2.89 inc p&p Ebay

[Keithl]

witzend - 2018-11-30 1:10 PM

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tyre-Valve-Air-Connector-Car-Truck-Airline-Inflator-8mm-Hose-Brass-lock-clip-/163123619265?hash=item25faece5c1 £2.89 inc p&p Ebay

 

There are loads of those hose fitting adaptors around, the one suggested from Halfords has a Schrader sized male thread on the end so can be used with any tyre inflator without modification.

 

Keith.

[Deneb]

But to be fair that's just a Schrader quick release valve, rather than the valve, reinforced hose and thread adaptor that the previously mentioned tool consists of. Depends how much effort or time you want or are prepared to spend to connect that to your inflator, and whether you want to retain the threaded connector on the inflator also. But a like-for-like complete adaptor similar to the Halfords item was over £12 for the cheapest elsewhere.

 

Edit: Keithl beat me too it!

[Derek Uzzell]

When this requirement was discussed here in 2015 the suggestions included using the type of thing shown here

 

https://tinyurl.com/y6uabp54

 

but, as the product was not designed to be connected to a tyre-pump with a threaded-end air hose, I wasn’t confident that it could be used for that purpose.

 

The type of ‘valve access tool’ sold for £10 by Halfords is primarly aimed at motorcycle tyre inflation and (as Deneb has said) although there is a UK-marketed similar-style alternative to the Halfords product (example advert below)

 

https://tinyurl.com/ychfdtx5

 

this is no cheaper and does not appear to be any better engineered.

 

I researched this issue in some depth as I was really seeking a ‘straight’ clip-on connector (of the type shown in my posting of 29 November 2018 1:31 PM above) that could be screwed to my T-Max pump’s threaded air-hose and (as Pete-B mentions) that might have allowed me to inflate my Rapido’s tyres with its wheel-trims in situ.

 

I was able to establish that such a connector did exist and could be purchased (not cheaply) in Australia and - after I’d settled on the Halford’s tool - that it might be possible to obtain the connector by buying directly from a seller in China.

 

I did toy with the idea of performing surgery on a ‘straight’ clip-on connector with a barbed inlet, replacing the latter with a soldered-in Schrader valve stem, but I’d already been warned that this type of connector might not stay firmly on a valve stem if 80psi-or-so tyre pressures were to be used.

 

In the end commonsense prevailed and I bought the Halfords product. It’s not a ‘professional’ piece of equipment and its thumb-lock is certainly not heavy duty. But it does what I want and there’s nothing I could (or can) find that’s cheaper and equivalent, or a bit dearer but clearly superior.