Uneven Tire Wear, Excessive Camber

[RonS]

I just replaced my left main tire after only my first 120 landings. The outside of the tire was extremely worn. See photos. I did a quick check with a digital level against the left wheel and found approximately 5 degrees of positive camber. In contrast, the right side is only about 1 degree positive. The right tire seems to be wearing more or less evenly. In the attached photo of the airplane you can actually see the difference in camber by eye. I emailed Van's to see what they recommend. Anyone else run in to this?

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw...-no?authuser=0

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw...-no?authuser=0

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw...-no?authuser=0

[Tom023]

Looks similar to mine, maybe a bit more excessive . I haven’t thought of a cause or cure so will be watching with interest. There is a similar thread from a few months ago and one plausible explanation is engine torque and to use a little right aileron on takeoff.

[TimO]

Those look like the aero classic tires, correct? You'll get better treadwear out of some of the other brands of tires, and although you're correct that your wear is a far heavier on that one tire possibly due to camber, you're probably always going to have to get used to flipping the tires on the rim part way through the life cycle so that you can wear the other side. It's just the way the gear hangs when unloaded in flight. I run Desser retreads, which tend to have thicker and longer lasting rubber. If you get some of the "monster" varieties, you have to make sure you open up the hole in the fairing a little so you don't damage the fairing, but Desser makes a variety of retreads.

What I'm not sure of is if you have any options to get rid of some of the camber.
Perhaps some shims similar to the ones used to adjust toe?

[Bavafa]

I would not say this is a normal wear. Mine did wear on the outsides which is normal for a RV but pretty much evenly and also not so excessively.

[BoydBirchler]

Purchase a 4 degree wedge to put between the axel and the gear leg. AC Spruce sells them; do not know if Vans does or not.

Over the years I have used them on a few Cessna's; some for toe in corrections, some for camber. Not sure which you need might contact Grove directly;here is Spruces picture https://www.aircraftspruce.com/searc...0shim%206102-3

[FlyinTiger]

Food for thought...do you have lot of turns when taxiing back to your hangar that would wear one side more than the other? Wind that blows from one direction all the time while taxiing? Cross wind touch and goes where the wind is always from the same side?

There's probably a good reason for the uneven wear, but none-the-less, rotate the tires and carry on.

Those tires are known to wear out pretty fast too, and rotation each year is to be expected. More often if you enjoy touch and goes like I do.

[RonS]

Originally Posted by BoydBirchler

Purchase a 4 degree wedge to put between the axel and the gear leg. AC Spruce sells them; do not know if Vans does or not.

Over the years I have used them on a few Cessna's; some for toe in corrections, some for camber. Not sure which you need might contact Grove directly;here is Spruces picture https://www.aircraftspruce.com/searc...0shim%206102-3

Thanks. That's what I was thinking would be the best solution... Just wanted to check to see what Van's says. I don' know if there are an limitations on the amount of camber that can be shimmed out.

[Bavafa]

Originally Posted by RonS

Thanks. That's what I was thinking would be the best solution... Just wanted to check to see what Van's says. I don' know if there are an limitations on the amount of camber that can be shimmed out.

I am not sure if you built the plane or purchased, during the build VANS has a method of measuring and they have different size shims that will go between the axle and landing gear based on what you find during that measurement.

[RonS]

Originally Posted by TimO

Those look like the aero classic tires, correct? You'll get better treadwear out of some of the other brands of tires, and although you're correct that your wear is a far heavier on that one tire possibly due to camber, you're probably always going to have to get used to flipping the tires on the rim part way through the life cycle so that you can wear the other side. It's just the way the gear hangs when unloaded in flight. I run Desser retreads, which tend to have thicker and longer lasting rubber. If you get some of the "monster" varieties, you have to make sure you open up the hole in the fairing a little so you don't damage the fairing, but Desser makes a variety of retreads.

What I'm not sure of is if you have any options to get rid of some of the camber.
Perhaps some shims similar to the ones used to adjust toe?

Yeah... these classic aero tires are pretty soft. I am planning to upgrade to a better tire but wanted to correct the issue before I just made it a more expensive problem. So i just bought another cheap one for the time being. The tires only have about 60 hours and 100 or so landings on them. The thought of rotating tires every 30 hours is a less than appealing prospect. That's be every other month. Hoping I can use shims or some other method to correct the excessive camber on that wheel then get better tires for a more durable solution. I'll keep everyone posted as I hear back from vans and decide what to do.

[RV6_flyer]

Do not forget about P-factor and torque on the takeoff roll. They put more load on the left tire and having RIGHT rudder input does not help. Pretty typical of all light aircraft that has lots of power to weight.