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Tires out of round

W

woodsideraff

Well Known Member
I just balanced the mains on my 8-A. This greatly reduced my shimmy.

During the balancing process, I noticed a flat area on each tire. My plane sits sometimes for 4 weeks at a time. I believe that during this time, the tires develop a flat area. I also believe this contributes to inducing resonant vibrations during taxi.

I'm wondering if "stiffer" tires are available and if they would help with the flat spot issue. Would higher ply design help?

Anyone with any experience with this issue?

Thanks and regards,

Rafael
 
Air pressure can be a factor, but I have no idea what the best pressure for an 8 is.

Hopefully some 8 owners will jump in.
 
Pressure is a factor, but the flat spotting is a function of the tire design and the cord material. The flat spot will go away as the tires warm up, the problem is that it is hard to generate much heat in the tires of really light aircraft. You will notice that the flat spot "moves" around the tire, always showing up on the bottom where it was last parked. Short of jacking the airplane up for storage or some Formula 1 style tire warmers, I don't have a cure. :rolleyes:

John Clark ATP, CFI
Aviator & Gearhead
FAAST Team Representative
EAA Flight Advisor
RV8 N18U "Sunshine"
KSBA
 
RV8R_Randy said:
I am not flying yet, but I have been considering dynamic tire balancing.

http://www.innovativebalancing.com/index.php
Click to expand...

This works fine in a wheel that starts at 0 speed and accelerates to speed giving the beads time to locate.

Now picture landing..... wheel goes from 0 to 55 mph in a second and the beads are all laying in one spot............:eek:

With that speed, they would stay in the one spot and cause an enormous vibration. But then again, I could be wrong.
 
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