Van's Air Force
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Bigger tires/bigger wheel pants?
- Thread starter Gt-401
- Start date
Bigger wheel pants
Good morning GT-401,
An absolutely great source for larger wheel pants is Ken Krueger. He has larger 6.00 x 6 carbon fiber pants that are pre-drilled and come with all the necessary hardware for installation. They were originally designed for the RV-8 but will fit a Rocket very well. Since the kit comes pre-drilled, there is minimal alignment. The picture is my RV-6XXL with Ken's wheel pants. I have spring aluminum main gear and 380 x 150 tires.
Blue skies,
Chuck Brietigam
Good morning GT-401,
An absolutely great source for larger wheel pants is Ken Krueger. He has larger 6.00 x 6 carbon fiber pants that are pre-drilled and come with all the necessary hardware for installation. They were originally designed for the RV-8 but will fit a Rocket very well. Since the kit comes pre-drilled, there is minimal alignment. The picture is my RV-6XXL with Ken's wheel pants. I have spring aluminum main gear and 380 x 150 tires.
Blue skies,
Chuck Brietigam
Attachments
Sky Designs
Active Member
Chuck, nice to see the final - well, still needs paint - wheel fairing installation. Thanks for posting the photo - it looks very tidy!
Gt-401, FWIW: Matco has developed a 6 inch wheel and high energy capacity brake disk that is specifically intended for Sky Designs wheel fairings on an RV-14. This would give you not only mo' rubber but also mo' braking capacity. If you want to keep your current 5 inch wheels and brakes, the 380 x 150 tires work with our fairings - Chuck's plane shows that.
Gt-401, FWIW: Matco has developed a 6 inch wheel and high energy capacity brake disk that is specifically intended for Sky Designs wheel fairings on an RV-14. This would give you not only mo' rubber but also mo' braking capacity. If you want to keep your current 5 inch wheels and brakes, the 380 x 150 tires work with our fairings - Chuck's plane shows that.
Duhg
Well Known Member
Hi Chuck, just curious if you have any profile pictures with these wheels and fairings? Beautiful plane!
I also have the larger tires, but my only experience on grass so far is between the hangar and the taxiway. I have not yet had the courage to takeoff or land on grass. Taxiing on our grass runway as a test didn't feel that great I've got to say, but it's ok with the supercub and its fat tires. I need to give it a go, but kind of nervous - about 25% of the airfields around me are grass, so I need to get comfortable with it.
clam
Well Known Member
Are you flying this now?
Is this currently on your airplane? I may follow suit, since I seem to copy everything else you do
Is this currently on your airplane? I may follow suit, since I seem to copy everything else you do
Grass is easier than paved. But be careful of wet grass. Wheels can lock instead of brake on that.
Jpm757
Well Known Member
Installed 380x150 tires on my -7 about 400 hours ago and am very pleased with them. I am using Van's stock PR wheel pants, which need to be mounted slightly higher and opened up at the bottom. The larger diameter and bigger footprint in my opinion improves ground handling on pavement and unimproved strips. Probably 50% of my flying is off unimproved strips, and tire wear is almost negligible. Additionally, the larger Flyboys Condor II pneumatic tailwheel also makes a big difference. It's a far cry from a bush plane, but rough field ops are greatly improved over stock 500x5 tires. Performance wise, the larger tires seem to have had little effect on cruise speed. Whenever these tires wear out, I will be replacing them with same.
Last edited:
Sky Design Engineering-Ken Krueger
Duhg,
Use the standard 5.00 x 5 tube in the 380 x 150 tires. I would also suggest using a "Michlein No Leak" tube. They hold the air pressure much better!!I have enclosed a picture of Van's standard pressure recovery wheels pants compare to Sky Designs pants. While they are larger, I have not experienced any increase or loss of airspeed with The Sky Design wheel pants. And, from my personal esthetic point of view, the Sky Design wheel pants fit my plane much better.
Chuck Brietigam
RV-6XXL
Duhg,
Use the standard 5.00 x 5 tube in the 380 x 150 tires. I would also suggest using a "Michlein No Leak" tube. They hold the air pressure much better!!I have enclosed a picture of Van's standard pressure recovery wheels pants compare to Sky Designs pants. While they are larger, I have not experienced any increase or loss of airspeed with The Sky Design wheel pants. And, from my personal esthetic point of view, the Sky Design wheel pants fit my plane much better.
Chuck Brietigam
RV-6XXL
Attachments
Toobuilder
Well Known Member
Yes. There's a long wing, big fuel Rocket that terrorizes the Idaho backcountry and embarrasses plenty of Husky drivers with the -10 wheelpants and big tires installed.
I'll 2nd, 3rd or 4th for Ken's carbon pants. Having spent the week looking at them in our booth at Osh, along with his fabulous RV8 airfoil, gundrilled and polished gear leg, I can see why builers and owners would want them. I'm thinking he could be talked into doing them.
Tom
Tom
Is this currently on your airplane? I may follow suit, since I seem to copy everything else you do
Yup, swapped out the tires a couple of years ago. Flying off of grass 85% of the time they provide a wider tire footprint. Just had to open up the base of the wheel pants slightly to provide clearance. Pants were mounted high enough that the additional vertical displacement was not an issue. Brake caliper clearance is also good on mine with the Matco brakes but it is slightly less than the 5.00x5 tires. Again, not an issue. Tires also sit slightly taller. I got the Michelin tires and the wear is non existent in the last two years. The standard inner tube works fine. Good luck Jeff
David Paule
Well Known Member
If you have Beringer wheels, they can use a tube tire without the tube. Therefore tubeless!
Dave
Dave
David Paule
Well Known Member
The Beringer uses a standard tire but no tube. If there's no tube in the tire, I think that at least from a casual point of view, that the assembly is tubeless.
On another wheel, you'd need a tube.
Dave
On another wheel, you'd need a tube.
Dave
emsvitil
Well Known Member
It's not just the rim.
Tubeless tires can be used with tubes.
Tube type tires aren't designed to necessarily hold air. The tire/rim may leak air, the inner liner of the tire can be porous (that's what the tube is for).
So back to my question. Is there a 380 tubeless tire? I've looked (not exhaustively, but I did look)
Tubeless tires can be used with tubes.
Tube type tires aren't designed to necessarily hold air. The tire/rim may leak air, the inner liner of the tire can be porous (that's what the tube is for).
So back to my question. Is there a 380 tubeless tire? I've looked (not exhaustively, but I did look)
