Air pump with stupid cheap chuck, replacement?

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Jun 25, 2014
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I got a bicycle/auto air pump for tires. The stupid thing has a plastic chuck that locks onto the Schrader valve with a lever and seals with a rubber sleeve, GARBAGE.

Where can I find a new locking chuck to put on this pump so the tire will actually take air, and not leak while inflating?
 
It would help to have some pictures or the make and or brand of the pump. I am not sure if your pump is a hand pump or a small inflator unit.

If it is an inexpensive hand unit then you are probably better off financially just to replace the whole thing with a higher end unit. You can find replacement hoses and chuck examples at this link below.

 
It's hard to find high quality bicycle pumps. Over the years, I've successfully refurbished the chucks by disassembling them and oiling the internal parts. This improves sealing and reduces wear, can get a few more years out of them.
 
I use a Lezyne high-volume floor pump. The chucks screw on and are compatible with Presta and Schrader. I use it with my MTBs and cars.

D157189E-4328-429A-B59D-769C2AAA29FC.jpeg
 
Which model pump do you own?
I have the Lezyne Classic Over Drive floor pump. Appears to be a discontinued model. It was in their high-volume MTB line. 60psi analog gauge and a wooden handle.
 
My primary floor pump started slipping off the presta valves on my bikes. A few years ago I serviced and lubed it to fix it, but this new problem was due to the chuck's internal rubber cylinder seal finally wearing out. My fix was to add spacers below the base of that rubber seal, between it and the chuck plate that pushes on it when you apply the lever to tighten the chuck. This increases the pressure that the chuck applies to the seal, which tightens it.
I knew this would work because I've fixed several pump chucks this way over the years. As it wears further you can simply add more spacers or use thicker ones.
Pictures worth 1000 words.
Here are the little spacers sitting on top of the chuck plate underneath the rubber seal. I made them by clipping off pieces of a zip tie
20220716_094115.jpg

Here's the rubber seal installed on top of the spacers
20220716_094144.jpg
 
Depending on what you need, would you be able to just use this with one end cut off and a hose clamp?


If you just want the chuck, there's these:


I used the former to repair an electric tire inflator, but then the inflator broke, decided to replace it with a little compressor in the garage, plus a proper air chuck, and never looked back. It's already paid for itself by being able to DIY seat the bead on some tires where no other straps/force worked. You can sometimes spray explosive things into a tire to seat the bead but I prefer to avoid that.
 
Last edited:
My primary floor pump started slipping off the presta valves on my bikes. A few years ago I serviced and lubed it to fix it, but this new problem was due to the chuck's internal rubber cylinder seal finally wearing out. My fix was to add spacers below the base of that rubber seal, between it and the chuck plate that pushes on it when you apply the lever to tighten the chuck. This increases the pressure that the chuck applies to the seal, which tightens it.
I knew this would work because I've fixed several pump chucks this way over the years. As it wears further you can simply add more spacers or use thicker ones.
Pictures worth 1000 words.
Here are the little spacers sitting on top of the chuck plate underneath the rubber seal. I made them by clipping off pieces of a zip tie
View attachment 108661
Here's the rubber seal installed on top of the spacers
View attachment 108662
I used plumbing Teflon tape to fix mine.
 
Bicycle air chucks. A topic I am passionate about.

All bike air chucks seem to suck. And I really am picky because I need something that my wife and kids can use with their weak hands and simple brains. About 2/3 of air pumps just don't seem to be kid-compatible.

I just bought some of these and they changed my life. I had similar chucks for semi-trucks, but not as good as these. They are truly hands-free and leak-free, and the swivel is a game-changer too. Great for cars too! My kids can finally pump up their own tires.


For Presta valves, you know the screw-on air chucks work best, but unless you loctite the valve cores, eventually unscrewing the chuck will cause the Presta valve core to unscrew. It's a classic Presta valve problem. Jaco does have a chuck variation for Presta. It should work well because you screw it on, but then you pull the sleeve back to pop them off. This means you don't accidentally unscrew the Presta valve core when you try to unscrew them.


I have some of these too, but I can't give them a good review because I use hardly any Presta valves. I always drill my rims out and install Schrader. Even for tubeless wheels. But these would be the first I would try for Presta. Unfortunately they suck for Shrader, so I don't consider them a universal chuck.
 
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