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Tires...

ccsmith51

ccsmith51

Well Known Member
I need to order a couple tires tonight. I have read a lot on the forum about tires. It seems that Dresser Monster retreads are highly regarded.

They have 4, 6, and 10 ply tires. I have the standard Van's wheel pants.

What say y'all on the largest that might fit without modifying the wheel pant? If I decided to modify it, is the modification anything more than enlarging the opening in the bottom of the pant?

Thanks,
 
Regular Desser two grove... retread, best tire I've ever owned. no need to jack with the pants. :) I think they were 69.95 ea.
 
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Dresser tires have great tires, their Monster retreads can come on a different brand tire depending on what they had in stock to retread.

I have had their Flight Custom II and Michelin. They will probably be anywhere from .25 to .5? taller than Vans standard tire, so I had to increase the opening of my wheel pants but it was no big deal and once modified, it was set for the next set of tire.

I believe the Flight Custom II are slightly lighter and better than Michelin but you can?t go wrong with either. Expect to get at least 2.5 times better life out of these than standard Vans tires, that was the case for me.
 
Tires

Chris,

I have an RV-4 with Wilkerson 6 ply retreads shipped to me for $50 each. Highly recommend them, I had a pretty good wheel shimmy with balanced tires and spent a lot of time trying solutions until someone told me about these tires. Shimmy disappeared and has not happened since. Very happy with these tires, they have all sizes to suit.

Here:s the website:

http://www.wilkersonaircrafttires.com

Oly
 
Have done what Reiley has done for years and am very happy. Reiley is the Man. :) Larry
 
What is the standard tire supplied with the Van's kit and would I be better off to delete and purchase better tires separately?
 
Enlarging the opening

I used an old pair of Weiss shears to enlarge the opening in my pants for retreads. Much easier than doing it with a cutoff wheel when you're just removing 1/4" of fiberglass.

I like my Dessers, but they will add about 5 lbs.

John
 
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My Desser Monster retreads (on a Condor tire) actually provided more side clearance on my wheelpant cutouts compared to the OEM tires supplied with the from Vans, though I think they are very slightly larger in diameter.
 
Thanks for the input. Will either Desser or Wilkerson purchase the used tires I am removing from my plane? Both tires have some tread on half the tire, and I have turned them so the worn part is on the inside. But they are so worn that I am worried about them, even though no ply is showing...
 
WIlkerson, baby!

Wilkerson does the retreads on our B25. Last longer, and cost about 1/3 of new - only $1500ea plus shipping! Normally, tires last about a season and 1/2. This set looks like new after the 1st season!

I guess I'll give 'em a shot on my ship too.

Carry on!
Mark
 
I put Wilkerson retreads on at the condition inspection this summer, love 'em so far. Especially at $50 ea shipped!
 
ccsmith51 said:
Thanks for the input. Will either Desser or Wilkerson purchase the used tires I am removing from my plane? Both tires have some tread on half the tire, and I have turned them so the worn part is on the inside. But they are so worn that I am worried about them, even though no ply is showing...
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I have sent a set of tires to Wilkerson to have done. I thought it would be less money than purchasing their cores already done. At the time I lived in Los Angeles and the UPS shipping cost plus the recap was more money than if I had just purchased the recap with their core from them. Call them to see how much they will give you for your cores. I know they only want high quality cores and not the cheap Air Hawk cores.
 
I put the retreads on my -6 with the old style wheel pants. The retreads were enough larger in radius as to wear a hole in the top of the pant that I had to fix. The casings were a bit old IMHO. I'll be putting new tires on next time around.
 
Thanks to all for the wonderful input.

It was a decision between Desser and Wilkerson and based on cost I ordered a couple of 500-5 6 ply retreads from Wilkerson for $50 shipped each. I spoke to Jim Wilkerson and he seemed like a nice guy and he said he would ship them out today and they should be here by Tuesday.

I called back and spoke to another guy who said the casings were worth five or six bucks if there were no cracks in the side walls. When I get the tires on I'll throw the old ones in a box and see how much it costs to send them to Wilkerson in VA. It might not be worth the trouble.

I'll report my experience with how they fit in the wheel pants when I get them mounted.

I'll also report how they are wearing as I make landings on them. I will run them at about 25 psi as I have wearing on the outside half and a shimmy and have read that the lower pressure will help with those issues.
 
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