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prkaye

Well Known Member
It's time to replace my main tires. My vans supplied ones didn't last long, so I want something better, but don't want to break the bank. Aircraft Spruce is more convenient for me than Desser, because I live in Canada (shipping and brokerage gets bad). Anybody here have experience with Condor 5.00-5 6PLY ? How do they fare over time compared to the Aero Classic tires vans supplies?

I'm thinking I won't bother replacing my tubes, since they have less than 200 hours and are holding air quite well. Opinions?
 
Condors

Although I don't personally have experience with Condor tires I did have them come highly recommended by an AME when I was speaking to him about tires. He had nothing good to say about Air Trac and said Air Hawk was a step up but said he felt the best bang for the buck was Condors.

Hope this helps, Al
 
my experience

Since I switched to Condor tires for my RV7a three years ago, I have had 4 flat tires! More flats than I have had in the previous 30 years! In my opinion, the condor tire is harder on the tubes which results in a wear spot pin hole leak. Running the tire pressure higher seems to help delay the leak, but it still happens. I have the 4th flat to fix today so we can fly to Sun n Fly. I will ever use Condor tires again!

I never reuse a tube and many others do not either because it is stretched out and is likely to have folds when reinstalled which also results in a leak.

Good luck
 
Condor tires (Michelin's bargain line?) have always had a good reputation as used on typical Cessna and Piper spamcan trainers. I've never used them myself either, but have used AirHawks on my old Cherokee and they lasted an exceptionally long time for me. Both ought to last quite a bit longer than the original Aero Classics, which I've noticed always seem to wear out pretty fast too.

I recommend always use new inner tubes when replacing tires. It's cheap insurance since a blown tire on landing can potentially result in wrecking your whole airplane. It doesn't bother me at all to spend an extra hundred dollars on a pair of new tubes, just for a little more peace of mind... and the Aero Classic LeakGuard tubes do an awesome job at holding air.
 
prkaye said:
It's time to replace my main tires. My vans supplied ones didn't last long, so I want something better, but don't want to break the bank. Aircraft Spruce is more convenient for me than Desser, because I live in Canada (shipping and brokerage gets bad). Anybody here have experience with Condor 5.00-5 6PLY ? How do they fare over time compared to the Aero Classic tires vans supplies?

I'm thinking I won't bother replacing my tubes, since they have less than 200 hours and are holding air quite well. Opinions?
Click to expand...

Phil, you might take a look at the retreads available at Aircraft Spruce. Retreads seem to enjoy a good reputation among the RV community. I've used them for the past few tire changes and have been pleased with the service life and price.
 
Hmmm, the GY Flight Special II are also in the ballpark of what I want to spend - much less than the Flight Custom III. Maybe these would be a good bet.
From what I've seen on the forums, I want either Airstop or Leakguard tubes?
 
Be carful e on the retreads

Sam Buchanan said:
Phil, you might take a look at the retreads available at Aircraft Spruce. Retreads seem to enjoy a good reputation among the RV community. I've used them for the past few tire changes and have been pleased with the service life and price.
Click to expand...

I bought retreads from desser and had two issues. First, the casing on the tires was in pretty bad shape, will probably not last any longer than another year. Second, the retreads can be significantly thicker. I have the old style wheel pants and had rubbing on the pant.
 
my experience

I've had wonderful luck with the Condor 6-ply rating tires.
I'm on my second set now. No flats.
I think I got about 450 hours out of the first set.

I wouldn't buy anything else.

Sorry to hear that Tommy has had trouble with them.

Mark

tommylewis said:
Since I switched to Condor tires for my RV7a three years ago, I have had 4 flat tires! More flats than I have had in the previous 30 years! In my opinion, the condor tire is harder on the tubes which results in a wear spot pin hole leak. Running the tire pressure higher seems to help delay the leak, but it still happens. I have the 4th flat to fix today so we can fly to Sun n Fly. I will ever use Condor tires again!

I never reuse a tube and many others do not either because it is stretched out and is likely to have folds when reinstalled which also results in a leak.

Good luck
Click to expand...
 
prkaye said:
From what I've seen on the forums, I want either Airstop or Leakguard tubes?
Click to expand...

I have Leakguard tubes on my RV-6. I've only had to add air once since I bought the plane in May 2012. I put a new set of Leakguard tubes and AirHawk tires on my old Cherokee in 2008. I didn't have to add any air to those until I sold it in 2011 and it was only down a few psi.
 
My thoughts

I had some decent wear on my tires at 250 hours, so I just replaced them. Also I had a tube blow on landing last fall..not much fun so this is an area I feel its not worth being cheap on and I am happy to spend on good quality.

I went with ACS for the michelin airstop tubes. Excellent tubes, valve fits much better and I think the quality is very good compared to vans tubes. For tires I read a lot of reviews and while some think the retreads are great, I had some concern about the thickness and how it would fit my fairly tight wheel pants.

So...mich airstop tubes and vans tires. Will replace the mains every few years as needed.
Having a blow out at a field that isnt your own and without proper tools is MOST unpleasant. Dont scrimp on the important stuff. Just my 2 cents.
 
replaced tube

I replaced the tube today with another leakguard tube. The leak was a hole along the sidewall, as all the others had.

Of the 4 flat tires, 2 occurred while traveling cross country. No fun at all!! They were replaced with new Condor tires and new leadguard tubes by maintenance shops. The ones that were replaced developed leaks later at home. At first I thought it was something I was doing wrong, but when the tires that these shops replaced also went flat, I have to believe that the Condor tire and leakguard tube combo have an issue.

good luck
 
After the Van's tires were done, I went with Desser monster retreads. I have never had a tire any better.

They are a little larger than the Van's tires, so if you have a tight fit with those, that might be an issue.

Dan
 
+1 for the Monster Retreads from Desser. Purchased at Desser booth at Oshlosh. They welcomed my request to specify that the casings be the same brand, which is happens to be Condor. I didn't request a specific brand for the casings, just that they be the same.

I had to enlarge the wheel fairings by about a 1/4" on front and back to make room for the Monster Retreads.

I've got nothing bad to say about the original tires from Vans, which gave me 499 landings over 650 hours in 6 years. That's almost exclusively cross-country time as I don't think I've done more than a 1/2 dozen touch and goes over that time.

Mike
 
My experience diffrent

DanBaier said:
After the Van's tires were done, I went with Desser monster retreads. I have never had a tire any better.

They are a little larger than the Van's tires, so if you have a tight fit with those, that might be an issue.

Dan
Click to expand...

Posted on another threat but the casings of my monster retreads were in pretty poor shape and they w so much thicker they wore a hole in the top of one pant before I realized the was an issue.

Original thin pants
 
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