MTFCA Forum

I just received my Blockley 30 x 3.5 tubes. I ordered on June 16, they shipped on June 21 and the tubes arrived in rural Michigan on June 24th. Not bad service from England.

I asked Lee at Blockley whether they used Bridge washers and he said "no." I wonder if any of you who have purchased Blockley tubes have used bridge washers in your installation. Did I mention I also have flaps You'll notice that the lower knurled nut (1) in the photo has a bit of a collar which I suspect would fit in the hole in the flap and rest against the rim. My understanding is that nut (2) goes on the outside of the wheel side of the rim.

Any thoughts vs a vs the importance of a bridge washer with these tubes? If you're Steve Jelf the bridge washer squeezes the tube to make an airtight seal but that isn't the issue here.

I would not disturb the factory installed knurled nut. If you want to fit a bridge washer put one on and hold it down with the plain nut supplied. Even the cheap and nasty repop bridge washers without the raised ridge would suffice. I don't know how a flap would interfere with this fitting. if you follow Blockley's instructions, flaps are not needed. My guess is that does not apply with wire wheels directly laced to the rims.

Allan from down under.

I would think flaps protect the tube from any rough spots on the metal rim. I haven’t seen a perfect original one yet.

Flaps will protect the tube from rough rims/ rust flakes, but a far cheaper alternative, a rim liner, does the same for way less cost, if not free.

Allan from down under.

Some clincher tires come together at the beads when installed on the wheels. That situation can pinch tubes and cause them to fail. I know this is true, because it happened to me on a car which I bought which had no flaps. Rim liners won't help in this situation.

As usual you guys are a big help....sort of like sitting around a virtual coffee shop debating the relative merits of ....whatever For Allan, I suspect you're right about rim liners. That said, I already have a set of flaps so why not use them? I also (gasp) use balance beads Mike - I had the same experience. My two rubber stems were cut on the side, not front or back like you'd expect if the tire slipped on the rim. It's not a new problem as evidenced by what someone did on the pictured 40+ year old tire casing. Fortunately both my flats occurred while the car was parked. One before I ground out the relief on the beads and one after...the one after may have already suffered some damage so I don't know for sure if it will be a continuing problem....thus, the brass stems.

I used metal stemmed tubes and flaps when I put my tires on. The tubes were new ones and the stems were vulcanized to the tubes. I installed a bridge washer over the flap after sticking the stem through the hole in the flap. So, the bridge washer holds the flap down on the tube. My thought here was to use the bridge washer as a spacer to help keep the tube area around the stem up above the clincher part of the tire.

So far I've never had to notch a tire to accommodate the valve stem. Maybe I've been using the wrong tires.

Does anybody really know what happens inside the Tyre when it’s mounted?? Multi sized Tubes catering for two or even three sizes must be either stretched or have folds if too large for the application? When correctly inflated doesn’t the Tyre open up making the clearance around the stem wider and no need to cut a relief in it?
Alan in Western Australia

On today's tyres with their much narrower feet on the beads, there is no need to notch the bead. There is plenty of room for two beads and a valve stem between the lips on the rim. The trouble comes when the tyre fitting technique is off. If one bead is mounted on the rim first, stuffing the tube in and then the valve stem down the hole means that bead is pulled across the stem hole when pulling the unmounted bead aside to get access to the hole. The stiffer the tyre, the worse the problem, so the notch is cut to get access to the hole.

The whole hole difficulty goes away if the tube is fitted inside the tyre, inflated just enough to hold its shape, and the two beads and the valve stem are mounted at the same time. They can be held in place with a clamp if that helps, and the rest of the tyre levered on.

Good length levers and proper tyre mounting lubricant make the task much easier.

Mounting one side at a time is largely responsible for the pinching of the tube by the fitter's tyre levers, and the perceived necessity for flaps for prevention of same.

Allan from down under.

Do the vintage Schrader covers fit those threaded valve stems?

I'm not sure about vintage but these caps and rim nuts available from the vendors do.

Besides locking the tube to the stem, don't the bridge washers also help keep the stem from turning when you put the outside nut/cover on? Of course, if the stems don't have the flats on each side, bridge washers are not going to help; https://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/4 ... 1402150243

Why buy tubes with the incorrect valve stem? There is no mention here if the Blocky tubes are the correct size. Why do they feel bridge washers are no longer required?

Why buy tubes with the incorrect valve stem?

Because all the current valve stems are incorrect. If you want correct stems you have to remove the modern ones and install your own originals.

Do the vintage Schrader covers fit those threaded valve stems?

Yes and no. Schrader and others made a dizzying variety of covers. Some will fit today's large stems and some won't.

The bridge washer is necessary to sandwich the tube between the washer and the flange on the valve stem to provide the seal between the two parts.
Blockley valve stems are vulcanised into the tube, so a bridge washer is not required.

The Blockley threaded stems are the same size as the larger Schraeder stems, which are the most common size. Any original combination will fit, just not the smaller less plentiful size used on original T tubes. I can understand Blockley rationalising their inventory and using stems suitable to a greater range of tube sizes.

Allan from down under.

I know Blockley says no bridge washer required, but looking at the photo of the cross-section of a Universal T-Driver there is a pretty good space between the bottom of the tube / flap and the rim. It seems to me that a bridge washer would relieve some of the strain on the stem when you snug down the rim nut.... Maybe it doesn't matter....still thinking it over.

Rubber valve stems have no bridge washer, obviously. They also have no extra nut. If that is OK with them, why does a metal stem require the extra nut? None of the current vulcanised metal stems have the bridge washer or the extra nut. It would appear that the wholly threaded stem may just be so the dust covers can be utilised. I solve the fitment of these by using Dill covers, which thread onto the small valve cap thread on the end of the stem. In brief, none of my cars has the threaded nut. I would like to know why/how it is supposed to be of benefit.

Allan from down under.

Update-I have 150 miles on my Blockley tubes in Universal T Drivers and all is well. I thought you might want to know that the Blockley weighs about 1.4 pounds more than a brass stem Hartford. You can feel the difference. My tire shop was impressed by their ruggedness.

Hi Tim and thank you for posting the update.
Recently I also weighed three or four brands of Tubes that I have here which included the ECC, Hartford, Michelin and
one unbranded. I agree, the Blockley was the nicest in terms of look, feel and smell! Not that any of those is a reason
to choose one over the other. The Blockley was far heavier and had the old style feel about it than the others except for
the Michelin which was heavier again. What put me off the Michelin was the fact it suited 3 Tyre sizes which you would
imagine the Tube could be stretched or cramped in service depending upon your Tyre size. The Michelin also had the Brass
Stem as a seperate item than you screwed onto the Valve stump if that was your preference.

I decided to go with correct size over weight when I decided on Blockley. The Owner in UK was very helpful and like
Michelin, Blockley have been in the Tyre and Motor Racing Sport for nearly 100 years.

The 100% Butyl material was also a positive as air leakage is a concern of mine.

Regards Alan in Western Australia