How To Replace a Valve Stem On Your Tire

How To Guide
Is your valve stem leaking? I’m going to let you in on a little secret. It doesn’t take a mechanic with a tire machine to fix it. Granted, they’ll be able to fix it significantly faster but, this is a repair you can tackle yourself using common tools you already have.
The first thing you need to do is take the tire off the vehicle. With the tire off, we need to get all the air out of it.
There’s two ways we can do this. The first way is to push down on the Schrader valve. This will take some time but it’ll get the job done. I like to remove the valve core using a valve core removal tool. This completely removes the valve and lets that air escape quickly.

Now we need to break the tire off the bead. If you’re not familiar, the bead is where the tire meets the rim creating the seal. We only need to break the bead on the outside (beauty side) of the rim. This is the side closest to the valve stem. In my video where I explain this process, I broke the bead of the tire using a hi-lift jack and my Jeep. If you don’t have a Hi-lift Jack or my Jeep, no worries. Here’s a link to a page on my website where I teach you 6 different methods to break the bead of a tire using common tools.
How To Break The Bead of a Tire Using No Special Tools
These techniques can be tricky but find one that works best for you.

Now that we have the bead broken, we need to gain access to the valve stem. Depending on the size of the tire and the tire ply rating, accessing the valve stem can be tricky. In my case I’m changing the valve on a low profile tire made with a harder compound. I used two pry bars to separate the tire from the rim and shoved two 2x4s in there. This just gives me plenty of room to work on the backside of the valve.

The easiest way to remove the valve stem is to cut it out. Take a razor and cut in-between the rim and the flange of the valve stem. Be sure to not to let the flange drop into the tire or you’ll be fishing that out.

Now it’s time to get the new valve stem in. Be sure to clean both the inside and the outside of the rim around the valve stem opening. Dirt and debris in this area may cause a leak. I like to spray down the new valve stem with soap and water. This just helps lubricate it so it slides into place with less force. Insert the new valve stem from the inside of the rim to the outside of the rim.

Depending on the type of rim you have, there’s two different ways to properly seat the valve. You can use vice grips or pliers to pull it through. Or you can use a pry bar and pry up on the new valve from the inside of the rim. If you do plan on using pliers or vice grips be sure to grab the rubber part of the valve. Don’t grab the threads as you could damage them. I am unable to use vice grips with these wheels so, I’ll be using the pry bar.

Give the new valve stem a little shake to be sure it’s properly seated. We’re just about done! It’s time to air up the tire. In my experience this isn’t always as easy as it sounds. The tire needs to create enough of a seal around the rim so that it can build up enough pressure to seat the bead. There are some tricks you can try if you run into some issues.
The first trick is to remove the valve core and fill the tire this way. This let’s a larger volume of air enter the tire, hopefully there will be more air entering the tire than escaping it causing it to build pressure.
If that doesn’t work, you can stand the tire up and bounce it around. This can sometimes move the tire into a position where it will seal. If you see a section where it’s not sealing, try kneeling on the tire in that spot. This can cause the sidewalls to expand and hopefully contact the rim creating the seal.

If that doesn’t work, you can also put a ratchet strap around the perimeter of the tire and add air. This helps push the sidewalls out so they contact the rim creating enough of a seal to build up pressure.

Fill the tire to your vehicle manufactures specifications. Before installing the tire back onto the vehicle, I like to spray the bead and the new valve stem down with soapy water. If you see bubbles, you know you have a leak. This will save you the headache of getting a flat at the local grocery store.
If everything checks out you can now put the tire back onto the vehicle and be on your merry way!