Tires - again

[jimkwalton]

I am sure this has been asked before many times, but which tires do you suggest for wear? I tend to land my -14 a bit fast (yes I am working on full stall landings, that's another thread) and would like longer lasting tires.

Does ply make a difference if you wear the tread out before the tire gets old?

Thanks for all suggestions.

 

[Bavafa]

In terms of wear, I believe Desser retreads would be longest lasting but they are also heavier if not heaviest and you might need to open up your wheel pants as they are a tad taller.

 

[Walt]

Flight Custom III, wear very well but extra rubber is heavy.

 

[RV8JD]

Desser retreads wear like iron. However, my last set developed cracks between the treads. Two other RV owners at my home field also had that happen to differing degrees on theirs.

I queried Desser to see if this was an artifact of the retreading process and received this reply:

"The cracks on these tires seem to be superficial and safe to continue using. However, your A&P should be able to tell you if these tires need to be replaced. If These cracks get deeper, I suggest changing them."​

An A&P friend didn't like the cracking. Utimately I removed them since I wasn't comfortable flying with them.

 

[ccarlson]

Ply rating

I suspect a higher ply rating will result in an increase in the wear in the center section of the tire tread (less wear toward the edges) for a given load unless air pressure is adjusted for the change in plies.

Keep in mind that tires are part of the total suspension system. A higher ply tire will be more firm and thus may transfer more impact load to the gear and airframe.

 

[Bavafa]

Speaking of Flight Custom III, a friend of mine has a pair Flight Custom III with Michelin airstop tubes (all about 25 total hours) and they look to be like new.

He is interested to sell them for a reasonable price if anyone is interested.

 

[rv6n6r]

Condors

I like the Condors. Tried some Goodyears but they cost more and didn't seem to wear any better. Never tried retreads, don't really want the extra weight.

 

[ccarlson]

I like the Condors. Tried some Goodyears but they cost more and didn't seem to wear any better. Never tried retreads, don't really want the extra weight.

+1 for Condors. I've had 600 x 6 4-ply Condors on my Cherokee since December 2021. They have just over 500 landings on them as of last night. I rotated them 3 days ago, and the grooves between the treads are still more than 3/16 deep.

 

[newt]

Goodyear FlightCustom III here.

In 2021 I tried to replace them, and my usual stockist didn't have any on the shelf, so I was persuaded to buy a set of Michelin Air X instead. They only lasted a year and a half (!!!) and were out of tread in February this year. I won't be buying those again.

Switched back to Goodyear and they still look new. Usually I get three or four years out of them.

The Michelin air-stop tubes are good value. I like to run them at about 40-ish psi, and I service them with a few psi every month or two when they've sucked down to 35. They leak very slowly indeed.

- mark

 

[jliltd]

You mentioned you fly an RV14, which I think the TD version uses the spring rod gear that goes up into the engine mount. If so you may be well served by buying a more expensive tire. Sure, retreads work great and so do Condors. But there is a dynamic element to satisfactory service life when it comes to the tapered rod gear. The rod gear is prone to shimmy and any external input that can contribute to exciting shimmy should be minimized. I found on my RV-3 that good old Condors, Aero Classics, Specialty Tires and retreads were not quite as balanced or geometrically tight as the top-tier Michelin Airs or Pilots and Goodyear FC IIIs. I fought shimmy long and hard until I finally gave in and bought a set of Michelin Pilot main gear tires (with new Air Stop tubes). The shimmy went away and it was like magic. I had wished I had gone that route years before. Naturally if you flat spot the tires all bets are off.

Now if you have spring gear like the RV-8 then go for the trainer tires or retreads since that gear doesn't have the same resonance issue as the tapered rod gear.

And no matter the tire choice, please use any tube other than the Leak Guard brand buytl. My preference being Michelin Air Stop tubes.