Goodyear tires

Joe Gibbs · Post by **Joe Gibbs** » Sun May 04, 2003 11:03 pm

Bit the bullitt and purchased a pair of flight custom III tires for our plane and hope to see more than 2 seasons out of them. Has any one else used Goodyears on their plane and if so did you inflate to man. specs (42lbs) or cessna's placard of 24lbs.Big spread huh.Also I'm looking for the torque value on the wheel thru bolts and not having much luck. Thanks, Joe..........

Post by **GAHorn** » Mon May 05, 2003 2:36 am

The torque for Cleveland (PN:40-63) wheel tie-bolts is 150 in-lbs, dry. Which man (?) did you get 42 psi from? (If you got that spec from the tire specifications, ...it may be the spec for that tire's max weight capacity/load at that pressure. That tire fits a wide variety of aircraft, some of which might specify that pressure. It is incorrect for a 170.) The correct tire pressure is derived from the particular aircraft's weight specifications, and for the 170 the correct tire pressure for the mains is 24 psi. Be sure to re-check that pressure after 24 hours on new tires, because they not only stretch after first inflation, but they may also "weep" a bit of air for the first day or so.

russfarris · Post by **russfarris** » Mon May 05, 2003 3:41 pm

And not to mention, 42 PSI will make your 170 as touchy as a Pitts, believe it. I keep mine at around 28 or so.

I got tired of tires wearing out every couple of seasons myself. This time I bought two re-treads; not so much for the price, but because the rubber used in re-treading is supposedly longer lasting, we'll see. They came from Dressler- Goodyear tires with yellow tags for about 45.00 each.

Anyone else tried re-treads? Russ Farris

Post by **GAHorn** » Mon May 05, 2003 4:02 pm

I collected several sets of carcasses once to send in for retreading, but gave up on the idea when I realized that two-way shipping would quickly eat up any money saved. (I am uncomfortable using someone else's carcass since I don't know what they've done to it.)
My airplane has a set of Aero Trainers on it. They were installed in 1997, and have 450 hours (and presumeably more landings than that) on them. I rotated them by flipping them on the wheel to even out the wear last fall. (You can see their condition at the article I wrote about it at: http://www.globalair.com/discussions/Ge ... /msgID=536
That photo is washed out due to the flash. In reality the right-side (inboard side) of the tread in that photo is still 3/16ths of an inch and the outboard (worn) side is still 3/32nds, and so the tires are probably good for another year or so at 75-100 hours per year. (Use a penny as a tire-tread depth-gauge to determine limits. If Lincoln's hairdo is completely visible then it's time to rotate the tire on the wheel or buy some new tires because they're worn below 3/32nds.)
Admittedly, I operate at least half of my flights off grass, my wheels are in perfect alignment IAW the manual (but I operate lighter than the specified 2,000#), and the destination I most often use to get to work requires 2-mile long taxi distances which have had the greatest effect on wear.
I can't decide if I want to spring for the extra money to buy Classic Tread tires or not. Especially since I have wheel pants on and the tread is largely invisible under normal circumstances.... I'll probably just buy another set of Aero Trainers and new tubes when the time comes.

jon s blocker · Post by **jon s blocker** » Mon May 05, 2003 7:47 pm

Russ,
I have used several sets of retreads on several different planes I have flown and have had absolutely no problems with them. I usually get them from Desser and have had nothing but good results. I just buy them without sending in a core, to me it's just alot easier. The wear is excellent. I have used various sizes and all have worked fine. good luck.
Jon

rudymantel · Post by **rudymantel** » Tue May 13, 2003 12:07 am

A few months ago I bought a pair of 600-6 Goodyear Flight Custom lll tires. I keep them inflated at 35-40 psi because it makes the airplane easier to push out of the hangar. I do lots of touch & go's on paved runways and the tires show very little wear. As a former Pitts owner it feels OK.
Rudy

Dave Clark · Post by **Dave Clark** » Tue May 13, 2003 1:45 pm

Rudy
Do you have the early limp #*&% gear? I thought I was running mine high at 32lbs for the same reason as you and with the 180 gear it does make the feel a lot stiffer. No problem unless I get a little rusty. Then it exacerbates the bump of the landing a bit. Of course you can't feel the landing at all when I'm flying a lot.

rudymantel · Post by **rudymantel** » Tue May 13, 2003 6:01 pm

Dave, I have the late model "lady leg" gear.
But I do have to pay more attention in my 170 than I recall in the 180's- but that was long ago so it's probably me.
I almost always do wheel landings, by the way. You rarely do those in a Pitts.
Rudy

Dave Clark · Post by **Dave Clark** » Wed May 14, 2003 2:01 pm

Rudy

The feel of "hardness" might not be linear to the air pressures ie. 35-40 might not feel much different than my 32 psi but I do notice a bit softer feel if I let the pressure drop to 24-26 psi. I also do mostly wheel landings, as in the 180, but will do 3 point when there is a load in the back. The other reason I like the 32 lbs is it feels better when heavy loads are carried.

I had a beautiful Jungster homebuilt a long time ago. Same size as a single seat Pitts, 16 feet square. All wood, 150 Lycoming, 530 lbs. and was very very delightful to fly. Lighter on controls than the Pitts and very much like its full size version which is well respected in the aerobatic community. Memories

rudymantel · Post by **rudymantel** » Wed May 14, 2003 8:12 pm

Dave,
What brakes do you have ? I recently installed double-puck Clevelands and it makes taxiing in a x-wind much easier. My 170 is a real weathervane- x-wind landings are fine but taxiing was a bear with my original small Clevelands.
That Jungster must have been a delight. A scaled down Jungmeister ! My S1S Pitts weighted in at 617 lbs with its original 150 hp Lyc but I converted it to a 200 hp IO-360. No electrical system but it hand propped just fine. I bought the plane new from Curtis Pitts, one of only some 20 which he built himself. Owned it from 1968 to 76 and used it for fun, airshows and competition. Sounds like we both flew similar planes !
Rudy

Dave Clark · Post by **Dave Clark** » Thu May 15, 2003 12:58 pm

I have the standard single puck Clevelands and sometimes in crosswind taxiing I wish I had the double puck. What approval basis do you have STC or field approval and which kit exactly. At some point I'm going to have to buy a whole new kit as mine are getting sad, pits in the calipers and corrosion in the wheels all of which I have controlled for now but when the disks need replacing I'm buying a new kit. The Clevelands for the 195 were the C310 wheels and brakes that are triple puck! Boy that was nice. Many of us would wheel land and heavy brake for a short field landing which worked well and is a technique I've also used with the 180 and 170 especially in a gusting crosswind situation.

I had to hand prop the Jungman also but it worked out fine. I didn't like the pressure carb and lack of inverted oil but I flew it 100 hours or so and then traded it off for an Aeronca Chief. The 8/10th scale Jungman was indeed lots of fun but the Jungmeister was the only plane I ever wanted to own and didn't. I guess I came close though. I've probably owned 40 different planes so I've got no regrets. I think the 170 will be with me the rest of my flying days. It just does everything that I want to do.

rudymantel · Post by **rudymantel** » Thu May 15, 2003 2:17 pm

Dave,
The double-puck brakes are Cleveland Conversion Kit 199-62.
It cost $896 from Spruce and includes new wheels and brake assemblies.
The STC that comes with the kit is for the 180 etc. not the 170 and I was able to get a flield approval based on a 337 kindly sent to me by Shawn Holly of this forum.
I sent both 337's to Velvet at the Association but would be glad to send them to you.
Rudy