Inner Tubes

[bobg56]

My nose tire went flat so I'm shopping around for 3 since they are all 10 years old now so I might as well replace them all, Tire's are Areo Classic 5.00-5...looking at Spruce a 5x5 tire tube is $72.75 each, the tube that's in it is a "Leak Guard" with is about $25.00 but it's not a 5x5 size...anyone know of a cheaper alternative to paying $72.75 for a tube?

[Piper J3]

About ten years ago my wife and I were grocery shopping and discovered that butter was exorbitantly priced. My wife asked the store manager why the recent price escalation? The answer they gave her was an El Niño caused a disruption with cows producing milk from which butter is made.

So, my answer to you is… It costs what it costs. Tires and tubes have been increasing in price.

It’s like the airlines – they own (or lease) the planes and if you want to fly you buy a ticket.

[12vaitor]

You could buy them from the Van's Store for $59 each.

https://shop.vansaircraft.com/cgi-bi...duct=tire-tube

John Salak
RV-12 N896HS

[Ironflight]

If you’re only going to replace your tubes every ten years, then maybe think about putting in the best - the Michelin Air Stops. You’ll probably only have to add air once every six to eight months, so you’re more likely to keep them at a good pressure. And yeah - they’re expensive!

[bobg56]

Thanks for the reply's, $59 is better than $73...I will order from Van's...

[NinerBikes]

You're taking a trip to the moon... would you want the rocket ship built by the lowest bidder, when your life depends on it?

It's something I think about with tires and tubes. If you have to pull wheel pants every time you want to check the air pressure in your tires, a good leak free set of tubes is worth the extra money, vs monkeying with those screws on you back all the time down there.

[BH1166]

Cost are going to run up the price....one corner USA to the opposite. Pricey getting stuff from VANS to Georgia, takes a week or more too. YMMV.

[Piper J3]

I recently converted a ten-year old Trek bicycle to e-Bike. The tires and tubes needed replacement for fear of getting a flat tire on the road. I did some searching and discovered that a lot of folks are using a liquid sealant in the innertube to self-seal punctures. The sealant also slows air egress and tires retain pressure longer. The sealant used is Stan's NoTubes Tire Sealant... 2oz is used for a single bicycle tire. The sealant looks like watered-down Elmer’s white glue.

So, my question is…. Is anybody using a sealant in airplane tires?

[funflying]

I haven’t done it myself but I know others who used the green slim know as Fit-a-flat under the same premise of preventive measures for their tubes.
As I recall as time of use went on other’s experienced an out of balance feel even with the stuff remaining liquidity inside the tube. The original thought was as the tire spun the stuff would disperse and this worked okay on takeoff but on landing, going from 0-65 (RV6) didn’t happen so smoothly. Anyway you get it.
This is my only knowledge of someone else’s sealant prevention and as far as preventing loss of air over time or puncture I don’t think it was worth the effort using Fix-a-flat.

[NinerBikes]

I've used Stan's in my 29" Mtn bike tires with tubeless settups and it stops leaks quickly, with items like goatshead thorns and such. It does NOT work well in tubes at all, otherwise Stan's would sell prefilled innertubes with Stan's sealant in them.

Slime works well both in tubes and in tubeless applications. Slime does sell prefilled tubes with their sealant in it.

The problem is that it works fine from a rolling dead start going up to speed, but it will definitely create an imbalance in the tires the moment you touch down and your rotational speed of tires goes to 200 or 300 rpm or what ever the speed is when your tires touch down. It's going to be violent, with that imbalance.

Get the good Michelin tubes, is my suggestion.