High cost of tires

[ghostflyer]

I have had the 170A for over 6 years now and had heaps of fun in it . Landing in all sort of places that a normal person would cringe . People I know, joke about it being my off-road aircraft . I had been doing some landings in the bush recently (no prepared runways ) and run over a log and some heavy branches concealed in long grass. When I was putting the old girl into the hangar I noticed one of the tires had a cut in the sidewall . The cords were showing ,no big deal I was going to change that tire anyway on the next 100hrly as the tread was nearly non existent . So a new Michelin went on and a new tube (800* 6 ) . Further inspection of the old tire found it was a Uniroyal brand and manufactured in "1971" OMG. the tube ripped also when being removed . Now that's getting your money's worth . I have tried to work out how many landings I have done on that wheel . At least 400 . Yes the tire had some fine cracks in it but it didn't go flat quickly . Each month it needed a top up .

[wingnut]

I would agree you got your money back out of that one, and very fortunate you got that last landing out of it. Is your new Michelin made in Thailand?
I doubt a fitment issue applies to the 170, but we have had issues with tires in recent years. Seems that some brands don't fit with proper clearance. We find ourselves sending some back. Barons and Bonanzas are the worse. Not the planes, but the clearance issues.

[ghostflyer]

This Michelin tyre is made in Thailand and the other is also a Michelin which has done about 200 landings and the wear rate is not what I expected . It has about 3/4 life left in it . The rubber is very soft compared to the Uniroyal. My tires are wearing even across the tread . I do not have a clearance problem as I have a 50 thou spacer between the brake disc and the rim . I run double puk Cleveland brakes also .
I rig my undercarriage as per the cessna manuals BUT then paint a 2 in strip across the tire tread with a water base paint . Then go a do a half dozen landings and take offs . The wear pattern is very quickly is shown with the paint being removed in the pressure areas. Fine tuning with shims is done on the undercarriage to get the wear pattern equal across the tread .

[wingnut]

I admire your attention to detail. I will have to experiment with your method. Thanks for sharing that

[GAHorn]

I just installed a set of Aero Classic tires from Desser as replacements for the ones I installed 12 years/800 hours ago.... I consider that pretty good service. They are made in the U.S.A. and the Leakguard tubes were Canadian.

There is a new tube called the "easy fill" tube from them I do not recommend. It has a 90-degree brass elbow at the Schrader valve which does not actually help in servicing the tire and it places a sharp edge on the wheel which will cut the next tube.