1926 split rim valve position

[Chris Barker]

Can anyone explain why Ford located the valve very close to the split line where it is in danger of being damaged by the 'joiner' as you push the rim out?

[Humblej]

Perhaps to keep an eye on the stem as the rim expands or to prevent someone from shrinking the rim too far.

The rim should only be overlapped a little, the joiner should not go as far as the stem. You still need to coax the tire on the rim with a couple of tire irons.

[jiminbartow]

It may have been designed that way with the focus on Ford Service centers of the 1920’s to keep down labor costs for Ford customers. If a faulty valve needs to be repaired or replaced, it is much easier to remove the valve from the rim hole and remove a portion of the tube to make the repair with the valve hole close to the split without having to remove the entire rim. Anywhere else and the rim would have to be removed entirely to gain access to the valve which can make it a much more difficult job.

A couple of years ago, I changed out all 5 of my tires with no problem of the valve being too close to the split. As a matter of fact, it facilitated adjusting the position of the valve hole to make the valve straight, instead of being angled, after the rim was installed, since the split is the last section to be seated in the tire beads. Jim Patrick

[John Codman]

That's odd - four of my wheels have the valve stem very close to the split; the fifth is at least a foot away (probably more - I didn't measure it) from the split.