H

humptybump

Well Known Member
One of my tires is fatter (wider) than the other. Has anyone experienced this?


Long story:

I'm in the middle of my condition inspection and the AP noticed a faint wear mark on the inside of one tire (or tyre).

As part of last year's condition I replaced the tires with Aero Classic 380x150x5. At that time everything looked normal.

Close inspection this year showed occasional rubbing of the outer half of the caliper (the half closest to the tire). Further investigation showed one tire was closer to the brake disk than the other. Even further investigation showed that one tire is wider than the other by almost 1/4".

A year ago when these tires were mounted, they were the same size. They have had the same pressures for the past year.

I'd be interested if others had seen this.
 
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strange, have heard everything now. good catch. :confused: time to order a new tar.
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Take a mirror and look at the clearance between the wheel pants and tires while on the ground when you have full fuel in the plane. You might be surprised at the clearance. I had to remove 1/4 inch to get proper spacing when I installed new rubber.
 
Another check confirms the wheel pant clearance isn't an issue.

The rubbing has occurring between the brake shoe and tire - well inside the curvature of the tire.

We measured the two tires this morning. Air pressure is exactly the same and one tire is almost 1/4" wider than the other. You can clearly see the wider tire has less clearance for the brake than the other.

11 months ago, the two wheels were indistinguishable.
 
Wider tire

got no explanation for you. I did, however, talk to the Cleveland people concerning an installation that was rubbing. Both tires had a groove where they rubbed against the brake shoe. Cleveland tech rep said: as long as the groove does not expose cord you are ok.
I was not happy with the situation and talked the customer into installing some spacers that are common in the Super Cub arena. These spaces are fairly thin, but move the brake disk outboard, away from the tire. Worked surprisingly well.
Anyone interested in this can contact me and we can discuss it.
 
I probably need to post a photo on my situation.

longline: do you have a link or part number for the spacer you described ?

My situation: There is a brake shoe the fits between the rotor and the tire. This is the one which occasionally rubs.
The options I'm investigating are:
  • hope the tire issue is abnormal and get a replacement tire
  • investigate if there is a thinner brake shoe
  • investigate a spacer to widen hub / shift the rotor
  • go back to 500x5 tires
  • some option I've not imagined yet
 
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Glen, I'm inclined to think the tire is abnormal. I have the same tires on my RV8 and don't have the rubbing issue you describe.
 
Washers

Per advise I read somewhere, I put 3 washers, one per bolt, between the disk and the wheel. Use longer bolts, if required. This moves the disk away from the tire. So far, 100 hours, no rubbing of the tire against the caliper.

Best,

Merrill
 
Spacer

was sourced from Alaska Bush Wheels. This spacer was available for the wheels used on the Super Cubs, memory says they were 6 X 6. Not sure if they have them for smaller wheels like we use.
I agree with a previous post: the offending tire is abnormal.
I would check the clearance on the side not rubbing. If it is running close to the brake I would make the spacer out of flat stock rather than use washers as a spacer, but that is just me. Something like .090 would work. I was surprised how much clearance we achieved with a thin spacer.
 
I received a callback from Desser Tire. They've concluded the tire is covered under the manufacturer's warranty.

Good to know since I had them ship me a new tire three weeks ago :)
 
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