Good Tires

prkaye · #1 12-16-2009, 07:40 AM

I'm thinking I might want to upgrade my tires to "good" ones before first flight.
Somebody previously mentioned GOODYEAR FLIGHT CUSTOM lll tires. Will these work for the mains, or the nosewheel, or both?
Can somebody recommend "good" tires for both my mains and my nosewheel, that will work with the exisiting wheels?

Sam Buchanan · #2 12-16-2009, 07:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by prkaye

I'm thinking I might want to upgrade my tires to "good" ones before first flight.
Somebody previously mentioned GOODYEAR FLIGHT CUSTOM lll tires. Will these work for the mains, or the nosewheel, or both?
Can somebody recommend "good" tires for both my mains and my nosewheel, that will work with the exisiting wheels?

You're going to be hard on the tires for the first several hours. Why not wear out the cheapies instead of "good" tires?

But to answer your question, Desser retreads are popular with a lot of RVers.

Jamie · #3 12-16-2009, 07:58 AM

I agree with Sam about starting on the kit tires.

After I wore mine out I installed Michelin Aviators (purchased from Desser). VERY nice tires. I will be replacing with the same when these wear out...but honestly they have been wearing a lot less than the kit-supplied tires.

JonJay · #4 12-16-2009, 08:49 AM

I am pushing 300 hours, and hundreds (maybe even thousands) of landings, on my stock Van's supplied tires and they might be half way through their life.

Bavafa · #5 12-16-2009, 10:02 AM

I got 160 landings and could get another 40 on the safe side from the stock tires. Now I have changed to Desser retreats and they are very nice and expect to last a lot longer. They are a bit taller and twice as heavy then Vans stock tires so you may have to readjust your wheel pants.

db1yg · #6 12-16-2009, 11:11 AM

Hi Phil,

I would agree with the recommendation to use the Van's supplied tires for your first 200-300 hrs. I only got about 250 hrs out of my stock tires but could have gotten a bit more had I rotated them sooner. On my "A" model 9 one edge wore much faster than the other (inside if I remember correctly) and I did not get around to rotating them (see archives for info on tire rotation) until I had around 175 hrs on them. Had I rotated at 125-150 hrs I think I would have made it to 300+ hrs prior to having to replace them.

When I did replace them I went with the Goodyear FC III based on an Aviation Consumer article. Very little gear fairing modification was required.

Goodyear does not make a tire for the nose but I believe Desser does have a replacement for the "Lamb" tire?? The Goodyears are wearing much slower than the OEMs.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

db

Rick_A · #7 12-16-2009, 11:14 AM

I went with Flight Custom III's on the mains from day 1 and have no regrets.

jetjok · #8 12-16-2009, 11:22 AM

If you already own tires, why would you replace them? As many have posted already the Van's tires are adequate for the job and will probably last for a few years, By then you will need to pull the wheels to do the bearings anyway.
If you really do decide to replace them, I will send you my shipping address as I think "stock' tires are just fine!

prkaye · #9 12-16-2009, 02:16 PM

ok thanks guys.
What I was thinking was to fit my wheel pants for the other tires now, before paint. On a thready about shimmy, somebody the non-roundness of vans tires being a shimmy issue.
I guess what I'll do is start with vans tires, but just trim extra space in my wheel pants for possible future tire upgrades.

JonJay · #10 12-16-2009, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by prkaye

ok thanks guys.
What I was thinking was to fit my wheel pants for the other tires now, before paint. On a thready about shimmy, somebody the non-roundness of vans tires being a shimmy issue.
I guess what I'll do is start with vans tires, but just trim extra space in my wheel pants for possible future tire upgrades.

You can trim them later without affecting anything. Even if they are painted and you trim carefully, you will not damage the paint. The fiberglas trims very easily.