Distorted Tire From Leaking Avgas

[Mitch757]

This morning my neighbor went to fly here Piper Arrow and found an 18 inch puddle of avgas around the right tire from a dripping sump valve. What got my attention was the distortion or swelling of the area of the tire that contacted the fuel. It had swelled the contact area over 1/4 inch.

I don't know if the brand of tire makes any difference but this particular one was a "Condor".

Has anyone seen this before?

[flightlogic]

I pour avgas on a tire when trying to break the bead during change out.
It has an almost immediate effect on the rubber.
Looks like it is time to replace that one... as it sure won't roll true.

[Neal@F14]

Another vote for replacing that tire. 6.00x6 tires like those on a PA28 are too cheap for a replacement to risk landing on a chemically damaged one and risk having it come apart under landing loads and harming the aircraft. Even the more expensive 5.00x5 tires on our RVs are a lot cheaper than the aircraft. I personally would not risk running on a compromised tire.

[Mitch757]

Yes, the tire was replaced.

[Jesse]

I have seen this happen too. We had an 801 with a leaking sump that dripped directly on the tire. It swelled more than 1/4". We fixed the leak and the tire returned to normal iirc. We never put much time on it after that happened, but the rubber didn't deteriorate, it just swelled in the presence of the fuel and I swelled in its absence. It can't be good for it, and the safe bet would be to replace it.

[GeneL]

Smoke oil does the same thing... Ask me how I know! Replace the tire even if it goes back to normal after completely drying out.

[aerhed]

Seen it a hunnerd times. If its from fuel they will usually go back almost completely normal size. If it were brake fluid it may never shrink all the way back and re-harden. Cherokess are great for this. If you own one you might as well paint the wheel pants blue on top.