The International Cessna^® 170 Association

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Re: Tire Talc
Be really careful with this stuff. It's as bad for your lungs as asbestos and ground glass. Real talc is a mineral that does not easily degrade, and is a long-term carcinogen when encapsulated within the body. (It's a major cause of ovarian cancer among women who were powdered with it as babies during diaper changes. No jokes please.)
Modern versions of Johnson/Johnson baby powder is not talc, it's cornstarch. I don't know if cornstarch is as good for tube/tire chafeing as real talc. (Cheaper, generic brands may still be talc. Read the label.)
In any case, a little talc goes a long, long way. Don't overdo it. Just sprinkle a little inside the tire and rotate the tire to distribute it, and wipe it around up toward the sidewalls. Keep it off the exterior of the tire in the area of the bead to avoid the tire slipping on the rim during heavy braking.

So what about running the retreads. I love em. been running them on King Air 200 for 15 years. Have em on the 170 also.
For the price of a squishy side wall tire, you get the beefy side wall Goodyears with a longer living tread.
Life exspected to be about 25-40% longer than new.
The retail price for the King Air tire is about $425.
Retail for the caps is $115.

Re-treads have been proven in airline service for a long time. Airlines and certain other commercial operators burn the tread off their tires in short periods of time.
But for a private, non-commercial operation, I wouldn't encourage their use, because private owners usually spend much longer wearing off the tread of their new tires. By the time a private owner has worn the tread down, the carcass may be several years old. (I fly my 170 about 100 hrs/year and operate off a grass strip. It takes at least 4 or 5 years to wear out a new set of tires.)
Re-treads, by design, are for good, strong, young carcasses. By the time most private owners wear their tires out, the carcasses are chronologically tired. (Sorry, couldn't resist the pun.) Dry rot, sun damage, etc. all take their toll. On top of which the old retreaded-carcasses get a double-jolt of age.
Also, to make use of re-treads, you must send your carcasses to the re-tread shop, and pay freight both ways, after which you could likely have purchased new tires (many distributors of which will pay the freight for complete sets.) Otherwise you have to exchange your carcasses for someone elses (whom you don't know have done WHAT to possibly abuse those old carcasses. You still must pay freight both ways.)
Then, retreads or not, you should use only new tubes. Since some new tire distributors will toss in free tubes and free freight when complete sets of tires are purchased,.... I'd rather just have new tires.

Just curious, how old a cassing will they recap? I know that in the trucking world DOT has a five year limit on cassing life. I just had to throw away eight cassings and buy new tires at $320 a pop. TP

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"when I get going faster"--on the wheels or in the air? I'm guessing you mean on the ground.
Did you mount the tires with the red dot & the valve stem lined up with each other? If you did,and it still seems like the wheel is not balanced, you might be able to take the wheel/tire assembly to a local service station or tire shop & have them balance it.

Eric

km74 wrote:While we are on the subject. Is there anything I should know about removing the tires and switching them over? What tools do I need? What torque specs should I use? ..........Ken

I just got Cleveland's "Technician's Service Guide" in the mail,after requesting it (free) on their website. With regards to torque on the wheel thru bolts: my double puck W&B kit #199-62 uses the model 40-75 wheel. The standard single-puck W&B kit for 170's is the 199-46, it uses the 40-97 wheel. They both require a dry tork of 150 inch-pounds.
BTW,the brake caliper back plate tork is listed at 90 inch-pounds for my 30-52 caliper,and at 75-80 inch-pounds for the 30-63 caliper of the 199-46 kit.

Eric