Jump to content

Tire rotation


Recommended Posts

You can but it makes little difference in a properly aligned aircraft, it will still wear the center down before anything else.

 

Tire rotation is done in cars because the front and rear wheels have a slightly different setup.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If your tires are both wearing outside or both inside, you have to take them off the rims to get them to wear the other part of the tread, just swapping wheels won't work.  But if one is just generally wearing faster than the other, you can just swap wheels side to side.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For me, the easiest thing to do is to just rotate them on the wheel they are on at each annual.

 

I mark where the valve stem is on the tire, to minimize the need for rebalancing, but it seems I usually do need to add or subtract some weights each time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is it ok to swap my tires from one side to the other, changing the direction of rotation, in order to even out the wear? Wf

 

You can move the tires from wheel to wheel and keep the rotation the same. It is just more work to do it that way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For me, the easiest thing to do is to just rotate them on the wheel they are on at each annual.

 

I mark where the valve stem is on the tire, to minimize the need for rebalancing, but it seems I usually do need to add or subtract some weights each time.

 

I think he indicated the wear was in the middle of the tire. Rotating it on the rim is not going to help that much.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think he indicated the wear was in the middle of the tire. Rotating it on the rim is not going to help that much.

Not sure what will.

 

Of course, in the automotive world, wear down the center indicates overinflation. But don't think I'd want to stray too far from the manufacturer's recommendation in an aircraft.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As an aside, I heard something interesting yesterday. Several pilots at a local field were trying to increase wear on expensive bush tires in the 28-31 inch range. Such tires are not really meant for pavement, but their airport has no good grass areas to land on. The solution they came up with was to have the contact areas of the tires sprayed with truck bed liner material. The tire itself is protected from wear, and when the liner material wears down they just have the tires re-sprayed. Brilliant, IMO!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Several pilots at a local field were trying to increase wear on expensive bush tires in the 28-31 inch range.

I'm sure you meant decrease?

 

Another benefit you can choose tire colors!  In fact a color other than black probably makes it easy to see when they need a new coat of bedliner.  I like it!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The truck liner material trick is common. I have not had the chance to ask about longevity though from anyone.

 

As for bakancing problems: if we're talking about the balloon tires, they are extremely difficult to balance anyways.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm sure you meant decrease?

 

Another benefit you can choose tire colors!  In fact a color other than black probably makes it easy to see when they need a new coat of bedliner.  I like it!

 

Increase, decrease, it's all the same!  :D

 

I guess I was typing "increase life" and thinking "decrease wear".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That was my thought, but they say it works great.  These guys were flying Highlanders, which land very slowly, so maybe the tires don't spin fast enough to cause issues.

 

I think I have only experienced one time where tire balance was an issue on landing, and thinking about it I fixed the problem after just a fast taxi. The unbalance problems normally show up right after take off with the wheel spinning fast, and nothing pushing against it to dampen the vibration from being out of balance. Even then a quick tap on the brakes will stop the shaking.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...