Benefits of Schräder Valve Extension Hoses & Fittings

[NASkeet]

Checking the inflation-pressure and/or topping-up the air in spare tyres or air-pressurised, windscreen-washer reservoirs, of air-cooled Volkswagens, is often far from easy or convenient.

This was certainly true of my RHD – right-hand drive, 1973 VW “1600” Type 2 Kombi based Westfalia Continental motor-caravan, whose windscreen-washer reservoir was inconveniently positioned behind the steering column. In bygone years, I had resorted to hand-operating a foot-pump (with integral air-pressure gauge), resting on the floor of the front cab, to pressurise the windscreen-washer reservoir, but this was physically awkward and I had to take precautions to avoid damaging the cab-floor’s rubber mat.

The physical contortions required to hand-operate a foot-pump on a LHD – left-hand drive 1968~79 VW Type 2 are probably less taxing, owing to the greater accessibility of the front-windscreen-washer reservoir; as is the case with the rear-window-washer reservoir (ex VW 411/412 Variant | retro-fitted during the early-1990s, as part of the rear-window wiper & washer system), mounted on the left-hand side of the cab, in my RHD 1973 VW Type 2 Kombi!

VW Type 4 (i.e. VW 411 & 411) Variant, windscreen washer reservoir, with home-made, custom, duralumin bracket, installed in the front cab of my right-hand drive, British specification, 1973 VW Type 2

The 1973 VW Type 2 Kombi’s two spare wheels, which resided on the front-panel mounted spare-wheel carrier and in the rear, left-hand side, engine-deck spare-wheel well, also presented similar challenges. In both cases, I needed to operate the foot-pump by hand and take precautions to avoid damaging the paintwork of the front bumper and engine-deck, upon which the foot-pump was resting.

I envisage that similar challenges also exist with the VW Types 1, 3 & 4; noting that most if not all of these vehicles use air bled from the spare tyre to pressurise their windscreen-washer reservoirs.

Several years after January 1975, when my father bought our second-hand 1973 VW Type 2, I contrived to make these maintenance operations easier and more convenient, by fabricating ultra-long Schräder-valve extension hoses (1•375 & 1•05 metres), using second-hand components salvaged from air-cooled Volkswagens at my local car-breakers’ yards.

I used a long rubber hose & female screw-on fitting with integral Schräder-valve-core depressor, from a VW Type 1 Beetle’s windscreen-washer reservoir, in combination with a short-stemmed, male Schräder-valve body, from the short inflation hose of a VW Type 2’s windscreen-washer reservoir; although I could otherwise have used a wheel's defunct male valve stem with the rubber stripped off. By making this extension hose sufficiently long, I was able to place the foot-pump on the ground, and operate it using my foot rather than my hand!

Nigel Skeet, "Tyre Inflator Extension Hose", Member’s Tips, Transporter Talk, Issue 27, February 1997, Page 19.

Alternatively, I could probably have used the long flexible nylon tube with female, screw-on Schräder-valve fitting, that I think was used on the VW Type 4 (i.e. VW 411 & 412) Fastback and/or Variant. The nylon tube is 1•20 metres long. At the end with the female, screw-on Schräder-valve fitting, there is a sharp bend of about 80 degrees. At the other end, the male Schräder-valve has a shoulder and a retaining nut, so that the end can be held in a fixed position by a bracket of some sort.

Depending upon how one’s spare wheels are orientated in/on the vehicle, the wheels’ Schräder valves might be inaccessible, unless the wheels are displaced or completely removed from their storage position. In this case, it might be practical to keep a Schräder-valve extension hose and/or angled (typically 45º, 90º or 135º) extension fitting connected, with the extension hose fed through perforations in the wheel-rim, so that the extension hose’s male Schräder-valve body is accessible to the inflation pump or compressor.

6Pcs Tire Valve Extension, Tyre Valve Extension Adapter 45° 90° 135° Degree Angle Valve with 2 pcs 180mm Rubber Tyre Valve Extensions 6Pcs Metal Caps for Car Motorcycle Bike Truck RV Scooter

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B7BBWCBL/ref=sspa_dk...9kZXRhaWwy

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=2330418

For the spare wheels in the boot (trunk in USA parlance!) of my 1974 Triumph Toledo 1300 “HL Special” (a remarkable British four-door saloon car not exported to North America) and the engine-deck spare-wheel well of my 1973 VW Type 2 Kombi, the Schräder valves are inaccessible with the wheels in situ. This is largely by choice, because there is useful, easily-accessible storage space within the wheels themselves, for items that are seldom used (e,g. spare V-belt, tow rope, hazard light-beacons, battery jump leads, tool kit, first-aid kit, etc), but might need to be quickly retrieved in an emergency.
_________________
Regards.

Nigel A. Skeet

Independent tutor (semi-retired) of mathematics, physics, technology & engineering for secondary, tertiary, further & higher education.

Much modified, RHD 1973 VW "1600" Type 2 Westfalia Continental campervan, with the World's only decent, cross-over-arm, SWF pantograph rear-window wiper

Onetime member, plus former Technical Editor & Editor of Transporter Talk magazine
Volkswagen Type 2 Owners' Club (Great Britain)

http://www.vwt2oc.net

[NASkeet]

In one of the VW Type 181/182 – Thing / Safari / Trekker forum topic threads, I found a reference to the following long, flexible, inflation extension hose, with brass, male & female, Schräder-valve, screw-on fittings, but priced at US$41•81 (inclusive of shipping costs within the USA) from Ranganath Weiner in Colorado, it seems inordinately expensive to me! It should be possible to make an equally serviceable one at minimal cost, or if using second-hand parts, for next to nothing.

NEW RoMTOC Exclusive Washer Supply Line | Price: 41.81 shipped

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2090771

During one of my recent waste-skip investigations in September 2022, I came across a discarded thick-walled, cylindrical, screw-top container, of 450 ml capacity, that originally contained emergency tyre-sealant, of which there was still some residue.

In the top of the container was an ultra-short-stemmed, snap-in rubber Schräder valve, of similar form to that used for wheels with tubeless tyres, but was only 20 mm long from the outside of the container to the threaded end of the valve.

Ultra-short-stemmed Schräder-valve stem

Tire Valve Stem 10Pcs Car TR412 Snap In Valve Durable Auto TR412 Wheel Snap In | £5.59

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/175361344012?chn=ps&...0c5478becc

https://www.liquisearch.com/schrader_valve

https://www.liquisearch.com/schrader_valve/dimensions

The yellow-plastic screw-on cap featured a hose connection at its edge to which was attached a 0•50 metre long flexible hose with female, brass, screw-on Schräder-valve fitting.

AirMan Spare Mobility Tyre Repair Sealant Original Equipment - 450ml | £21•95 inc. VAT

https://www.care4car.com/tyre-accessories/airman-4...ydpdY_MLIU

Vauxhall / Opel / GM - Compatible Original Equipment Tyre Sealant Canister 450ml | £19•95

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vauxhall-Opel-GM-Original-Equipment/dp/B017HXJ4F4

AirMan Spare Mobility Tyre Repair Sealant Original Equipment - 450ml | £21•95 inc. VAT

https://www.care4car.com/tyre-accessories/airman-4...ydpdY_MLIU
https://www.amazon.co.uk/AirMan-65-005-001-Repair-...&psc=1

Genuine Vauxhall Air Compressor 12v Portable Official Vauxhall ADAM/Antara/Astra J GTC/Cascada/Mokka X Tyre Repair Kit | £19•98

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Genuine-Vauxhall-Compress...&psc=1

It’s debatable whether this container can practically be reused for anything, but the 0•50 metre long flexible hose (or a substitute piece of longer hose) with brass, female, screw-on Schräder-valve fitting, together with the container’s or a wheel's defunct valve stem with the rubber stripped off, could be used as a pneumatic extension hose for pressurising tyres or windscreen-washer reservoirs.

The ultra-short-stemmed, snap-in rubber Schräder valve, might be ideally suited for the screw-cap of the front-cab mounted VW 412LE Variant windscreen-washer reservoir, which is retro-fitted in my 1973 VW “1600” Type 2 Westfalia Continental motor-caravan, to supply air-pressurised water to the rear-window washer jets, clipped onto the primary-arm of the cross-over-arm, pantograph rear-window wiper system. Having an ultra-short-stemmed, snap-in rubber Schräder valve in the rear-window washer-reservoir’s screw-cap, should hopefully enable me to fit a trim-cover, identical to that fitted over the VW Type 2’s original factory-fitted front- windscreen washer-reservoir’s screw-cap.
_________________
Regards.

Nigel A. Skeet

Independent tutor (semi-retired) of mathematics, physics, technology & engineering for secondary, tertiary, further & higher education.

Much modified, RHD 1973 VW "1600" Type 2 Westfalia Continental campervan, with the World's only decent, cross-over-arm, SWF pantograph rear-window wiper

Onetime member, plus former Technical Editor & Editor of Transporter Talk magazine
Volkswagen Type 2 Owners' Club (Great Britain)

http://www.vwt2oc.net

[NASkeet]

Referring to my notes relating to the following published item, I found references to various proprietory products dating from 1984 and 1994.

Nigel Skeet, "Tyre Inflator Extension Hose", Member’s Tips, Transporter Talk, Issue 27, February 1997, Page 19.

I came across an illustration of a tyre-inflation extension hose on Page 159, of a 1984 Issue of the J. C. Whitney automotive mail-order catalogue (which I still have somewhere!) from the USA, that was given to me in 1984 by an American student named Eberhard Montieth (of German-Scottish extraction) at CIT – Cranfield, when I was a postgraduate engineering student there.

A similar product with or without pressure gauge, was reviewed in the November 1994 issue of VW Motoring magazine, published by Warner’s Group in Lincolnshire, England. Called ‘Spareline’, and costing £14•80 and £7•00 respectively, it was available from Ken Anderton of 44 Penny Lane, Haydock, Lancashire, WA11 0QS, England, and telephone number 01 942 – 720 738.

A footnote from Transporter Talk’s editor Ralph Pettitt (a retired traffic-police sergeant of the unarmed variety – very few British police officers routinely carry firearms), stated that in the days when his only transport was a VW Beetle, he used a bicycle pump with a connection from a motorcycle pump to inflate the windscreen washer reservoir without any reference to the spare wheel.

A few years ago, I bought for £1•00 at my local branch of Poundland, a cheap (probably made in China!), very-compact, plastic bicycle pump & mounting bracket, designed for use with standard Schräder valves, which seem to be the norm for most bicycle tyres these days.

https://www.poundland.co.uk/72885-ultra-compact-bike-pump/
_________________
Regards.

Nigel A. Skeet

Independent tutor (semi-retired) of mathematics, physics, technology & engineering for secondary, tertiary, further & higher education.

Much modified, RHD 1973 VW "1600" Type 2 Westfalia Continental campervan, with the World's only decent, cross-over-arm, SWF pantograph rear-window wiper

Onetime member, plus former Technical Editor & Editor of Transporter Talk magazine
Volkswagen Type 2 Owners' Club (Great Britain)

http://www.vwt2oc.net