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I have seen it all and I think I may be getting a case of why's.
When you buy a tube it comes with two nuts on the valve stem.
I know a guy who has said that I have to put one on flush to the base of the stem. Install the tube and tighten the other down to the rim.
Is this correct? I think before I ran into this dude I did not do that. For many, many years now I have never seen such a set up on bicycle tubes.
You get one spin nut that you install after you put in the tube and tighten it down to the rim.
What's the absolute right way? Mr. Indawoods?

A)I take both nuts off and leave them off.

B)Some people leave one tight to the stem at the tube and back the other one up so the valve cap has something to seat against.

C)Some people tighten the nuts to the rim and they will tear the tube at the valve stem when the tire tries to move relative to the rim.

Pick A or B.

I leave the inside nut on so the rubber around the valve isn't in direct contact with the rim and has more freedom to move around. So I leave the one nut off thats meant to tighten down onto the outside of the rim. Most people I know run them this way also.

I toss one nut and then use some RTV between the outside nut and the rim. I run a bead of RTV around the stem at the rim after tire inflation and run the nut down into it, leaving the nut about 1/8" away from the rim.
I do the same to the rim lock, but tighten it up hard, of course.
I also use duct tape in place of the rubber thingy that goes over the spoke nipples inside the rim.

I'm trying to keep gritty water out of the inside of the tire.

I have no idea if all this is beneficial, it is just what I do....:)

yeah, I toss the stock rim strip and replace with duct tape too.
So it is not hurting things to do it the way I have been? But.... I can also use some RTV to help keep the grit out.
Thanks

My XR came with rubber hat shaped bushings(?) that fit over the stem and get pushed down tight to the rim. They should be functionally the same as the silicon. I don't really notice a difference in "gritty water entry" between the two bikes. I use duct tape instead of rim strips too.

I 4th the duct tape strip in lew of the rubber strip that was originally in there. I keep the inside nut on the stem just so that its not rubbing directly against the tube and I hand tighten the other nut on the outside. Don't cinch it down though, you want alittle bit of room to let the tube rotate inside the tire and cinching it down will increase the risk of the stem tearing out. Tighten the rim-lock down as much as possible though.

tube goes in the tire, the nut rides on the seat!

krazyinski wrote:tube goes in the tire, the nut rides on the seat!

Or the NUTS ride on the seat. DO NOT TIGHTEN THE BOLT TO THE RIM, if the tire slips a little & the tube spins with it, you will RIP THE STEM OUT.

I always run one nut in and one nut out, snug the outer one but not real tight

Seems like if your rim lock is doing it's job the tire aint gonna spin

And if it does spin, I don't see any reason why it aint gonna tear the valve stem even without the outer nut

I knew I had a good tire changing link bookmarked somewhere:
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