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Do I need a tire change?


FlyingMonkey

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Hey all...

 

I pulled my wheel pants for the first time today. Everything looked okay, except my left tire is showing excessive wear on the outside, probably due to my tendency to land left of the centerline (not enough right rudder?)... The question is, do I need to go ahead and change it, or should I keep flying on it until just before my long Michigan trip? The picture:

 

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj277/MrMorden00/image_zpsbf43880f.jpg

 

How hard is it to change tires? I have the Marc brakes and 4.00-6 tires. How the heck would I jack the plane to do it?

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Time for tires.

Placing something under the axle does work and I used to use a scissor jack here, but you need to be careful you don't know it off yanking and pulling. Just use a 6' step ladder and some padding like a blanket or whatever under the wing. Place the ladder right next to the tie down ring, but not right on it. This is where the wing is beefed up. Lift the wing by hand and slide the ladder underneath. I can do it by myself so it isn't difficult. The wing will have no issues supporting the plane. It does it all the time in the air. The ladder setup will never fail and you can't accidentally knock it off. I use two ladders when I do a wing inspection. You can use an engine lift too with a tire on top instead of the hook underneath.

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This is another one of those times you should call so I can tell you how to pull the wheel and not beat yourself up. I should mention how to do the tire too or you may not get it back together. It's easy, but there are a couple tips and tricks to make life easy. you should also balance the tires. They will absolutely be out of balance.

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Yep, replace very soon. If those are original, and I suspect they are, you will be amazed how thin they are and how weak the sidewalls are.

 

One picture reminded me-when you call Roger find out how to check if your BRS firing pin is properly connected and make sure the 'chute risers are from the airframe are connected to the BRS. Easy things to check.

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Those Aero trainers don't last too long but they look right which is way important. If you don't like the economy next time look into some Monsters.

 

Your tires are all cracked, did they wear because the rubber is failing?

 

Number of landings has to do with how you land and taxi and such.

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Well, until I get better I am probably landing harder than I should. Combined with my off centerline landings and probable side loads, that will accelerate wear. Though the right tire looks very good with even wear...I hope I don't have something misaligned or bent on the left side.

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Use this link to go to a thread that discusses flats and how to jack the plane up. If you have the hole on the back side of the wheel mount then you can use one stands like I made to jack it up by yourself. I carry one in the plane in case I get a flat away from home.

 

http://ctflier.com/index.php?/topic/1107-flat-tires/page__hl__flats

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Hey all...

 

I pulled my wheel pants for the first time today. Everything looked okay, except my left tire is showing excessive wear on the outside, probably due to my tendency to land left of the centerline (not enough right rudder?)... The question is, do I need to go ahead and change it, or should I keep flying on it until just before my long Michigan trip? The picture:

 

 

I doubt in the short time you have flown this, you caused this type of wear.

I would not even fly with this , to me they look completely worn.

My guess is these are 400-6 6ply.

I would highly recommend the 400-6 8ply and they last for hundreds of hours and are much sturdier and do not wear much.

If you do go with this make sure to increase the tre pressure to 40psi to avoid slippage on braking between tube and main tire and subsequently tear off valve stem.

 

Changing the tire is easy once you remove the one half of the split drum.

 

Make sure to deflate the tire before splitting the drum!

 

Good luck!

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I have a balancer if you need it.

 

Tire talc is also a good idea. Baby powder is a golden oldie substitute.

 

You probably will want to inspect and grease the wheel bearings. And cotter keys should never be reused.

 

You really should try to find someone who's done this before to guide you through it the first time.

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Yes, I have new leakguard tubes coming. Bearings are probably okay, there's only 120 hangared hours on the airplane, but I can check them. I'm going to call Roger and get the skinny on how to do all this, I'm not going to do it blind. That said, I have assembled and changed airplane wheels before, including packing bearings. Balancing them properly is the only part I'm kind of fuzzy on.

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When you remove the rotor, check the pins it rides on. Mine got corroded to the point the rotor could no freely float:

 

7425315314_30508a879c.jpg

 

I wire brushed off the corrosion, and now make it a monthly ritual to clean and lube them lightly with disk brake lubricant on a Q-tip.

 

Allowing them to continue in this condition may have caused the ovalling of the rotor holes referenced in another thread.

 

BTW. here's my balancing setup:

 

7425315672_3abf7e97c7_z.jpg

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It isn't just trying to get the halves together, but not pinching the tube. With the clamps you can tuck the tube back inside the tire edge and then just drop the halves together. I just had a aircraft company (a big company) send me two CT tires because they couldn't get the wheels together without pinching a tube. I told them how to do it with the wood clamps, but they paid to send them back and forth to me anyway. Took me about 30 minutes to mount and balance both tires. Easy money for an easy project.

 

Below is an example. Makes life putting the halves together and not pinching a tube easy.

How to mount a tire the easy way.pdf

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Just my experience, but...

 

...with just enough air in the tubes to give them some "shape", I've never pinched a tube.

 

I sprinkle some talc in the tire and mix it around, put some air in the tube, and that seems to hold it clear of the rim halves.

 

I was also taught to slightly overinflate the tire once the halves are together, then take all the air out, and then refill back to specs. This may be a holdover from when there is a bead to seat, but it may also work to smooth out any wrinkles.

 

And Roger, I did lightly sand the rotor holes - probably just enough to remove to corrosion, not noticeably enlarge them. So far, so good.

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