Trimming Fiberglass wheel pants
 

I am planning to replace the tires soon on my 8a.

I had bought a pair of 5.0-5 monster retreads and understand that might need to trim the wheel pants for clearance a little bit.

My question is what is the simplest way of trimming them - they are painted and I have almost no fiber glass experience :(

I find a Dremmel with a sanding drum to be the best ,to trim fibreglass with.

I was surprised at how much larger the hole needs to be for the Monster Retreads. I went at it with the cut off wheel and die grinder and then used some 80 grit sandpaper on a long, round cylindrical sanding block to get the contour right. Work up to it slowly so you don't take too much off.

Do make sure to give "enough" clearance to the tire to accommodate the tire profile change during a not so smooth landing though. Cut mine too close and after I dropped one in one day, I found the rearward portion of the sides of the openings ripped out. The tire squishes out a bit and can snag the pant and tear the heck out of it. Repaired and widened the opening and no problems since.:)

Same here - I'm rebuilding a nosewheel fairing right now because I had the clearance too tight and it grabbed.

When trimming the wheel pants openings, you really need to account for the possibility of a tire going completely flat. Ask me how I know.

Erich

I would advise about 1/2 inch of clearance of a fully inflated tire to be on the safe side. A Dremel tool or hand drill with a sanding drum attachment work well.

Good call. I made sure I could get my thumb between the tire and wheel pant opening all the way around, and my thumb's about 3/4" wide.