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Tire tread wear vs inflation pressure



 
 
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  #1  
Old October 2nd 06, 09:47 PM posted to rec.aviation.owning
Ben Jackson
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Posts: 90
Default Tire tread wear vs inflation pressure

I discovered when I bought my plane that pretty much every aircraft tire
I had ever seen was underinflated. The manual calls for 42psi in the
mains on my plane, and if you can see even the slightest sidewall
squishiness they're down in the low 30's and at the end of a month they're
down below 30psi. Just the result of 1960s rubber technology, I guess.

I keep mine aired up at least once a month because otherwise it becomes
very hard to push the plane back into the hangar over the lip of concrete
and the door track.

However, I've noticed that the treadwear (not all due to me, I'm still on
the tires that were on the plane when I bought it) is greater in the center
of the tire, which on a car tire would be consistent with overinflation.
Are aircraft tires expected to wear evenly from edge to edge?

--
Ben Jackson AD7GD

http://www.ben.com/
  #2  
Old October 3rd 06, 01:13 AM posted to rec.aviation.owning
Jay Honeck
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Posts: 3,573
Default Tire tread wear vs inflation pressure

Are aircraft tires expected to wear evenly from edge to edge?

Yes, but they rarely do.

If you ponder the stresses of landing, turning, and braking on those
spindly little landing gear, it's quite remarkable that they are EVER
aligned properly.

Most aren't -- thus, the funny wear patterns.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

  #3  
Old October 3rd 06, 02:01 AM posted to rec.aviation.owning
Viperdoc[_1_]
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Posts: 91
Default Tire tread wear vs inflation pressure

Mine invariably wear from the inside out- I'm lucky to get 60 hours on a
set, even with rotating them.



  #4  
Old October 3rd 06, 02:28 AM posted to rec.aviation.owning
houstondan
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Posts: 72
Default Tire tread wear vs inflation pressure

coolest tires i ever saw were on my t-dragger- instructor's citabria.
bottom-outside looked like somebody took a rough sander to 'em. just
ground down from flying one wing up down the runway all the tme.

dan


Viperdoc wrote:
Mine invariably wear from the inside out- I'm lucky to get 60 hours on a
set, even with rotating them.


  #5  
Old October 3rd 06, 07:34 AM posted to rec.aviation.owning
Roger (K8RI)
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Posts: 727
Default Tire tread wear vs inflation pressure

On Mon, 02 Oct 2006 15:47:11 -0500, Ben Jackson wrote:

I discovered when I bought my plane that pretty much every aircraft tire
I had ever seen was underinflated. The manual calls for 42psi in the
mains on my plane, and if you can see even the slightest sidewall
squishiness they're down in the low 30's and at the end of a month they're
down below 30psi. Just the result of 1960s rubber technology, I guess.

I keep mine aired up at least once a month because otherwise it becomes
very hard to push the plane back into the hangar over the lip of concrete
and the door track.


Spend the money for the new long life inner tubes they are making now.
I put them on the mains and I've only had to pump them up once in the
last 6 to 8 months. The nose gear still has the old style tube and
that sucker is a bi-weekly pump.


However, I've noticed that the treadwear (not all due to me, I'm still on
the tires that were on the plane when I bought it) is greater in the center
of the tire, which on a car tire would be consistent with overinflation.
Are aircraft tires expected to wear evenly from edge to edge?


I fly in all kinds of weather, but one thing I do is land as slow as
the airplane will let me. Once you learn the airplane the Bonanzas and
Debonairs are some of the easiest to land airplanes out there.

I normally get very good life out of the tires even with all the
landing practice and particularly soft field. Typically I think I get
on the order of 500 hours plus out of them. I really need to go back
to my log to see how long the previous set lasted. I've put over a
1000 hours on the Deb and I put this set on last winter and they are
the second set. The only reason the other set was changed was due to
a screw up on my part. I was doing short field landings in some
pretty strong cross winds. I had my feet a bit too far up on the
pedals and flat spotted the left tire on the mains. Not enough to
make it a weak spot, but enough to make it really vibrate. I'd guess
there were at least another 300 to 400 landings in there.

With all the practice I do in that nearly 3000# airplane I'd guess I
get 300 plus landings a year on it. If I haven't flown for a couple
of weeks I head to the practice area and spend an hour doing stalls
(approach, departure and accelerated) I work the accelerated in with
the steep turns (60 degrees), do some turns on a point, around a
point, and then S-turns back to the airport area where I'll spend
another 45 minutes to an hours doing every type of landing I can think
of and try to get in at least a couple on the runway with the most
cross wind.

But to reiterate, those new tubes are worth the money!

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com
  #6  
Old October 3rd 06, 04:27 PM posted to rec.aviation.owning
Michelle P
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Posts: 154
Default Tire tread wear vs inflation pressure

Ben Jackson wrote:
I discovered when I bought my plane that pretty much every aircraft tire
I had ever seen was underinflated. The manual calls for 42psi in the
mains on my plane, and if you can see even the slightest sidewall
squishiness they're down in the low 30's and at the end of a month they're
down below 30psi. Just the result of 1960s rubber technology, I guess.

I keep mine aired up at least once a month because otherwise it becomes
very hard to push the plane back into the hangar over the lip of concrete
and the door track.

However, I've noticed that the treadwear (not all due to me, I'm still on
the tires that were on the plane when I bought it) is greater in the center
of the tire, which on a car tire would be consistent with overinflation.
Are aircraft tires expected to wear evenly from edge to edge?

The tires on my Maule wear for the outside in. It is the way the gear
sets. I can turn the around and literally double the life.

Michelle P
  #7  
Old October 3rd 06, 05:19 PM posted to rec.aviation.owning
[email protected]
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Posts: 1,130
Default Tire tread wear vs inflation pressure


houstondan wrote:
coolest tires i ever saw were on my t-dragger- instructor's citabria.
bottom-outside looked like somebody took a rough sander to 'em. just
ground down from flying one wing up down the runway all the tme.


That's not the wing-down technique wearing the tires; it's the
spring leaf gear that angles the tires when there's little or no weight
on them, and the outside edge always hits first on landing and gets
ground off. We run two Citabrias and three 172s, and the tires get
rotated about halfway through their life to even up the wear and get a
few more landings.
The center tread of most light aircraft tires will wear out
first because of their rounded tread profile. A squared-off profile
like we see on automobiles might wear a little better but would create
more drag, and would still suffer more center wear than an auto because
of the bulge when there's no weight on it.
My biggest gripe with aircraft tires is their out-of-roundness
and imbalance. Even a cheap auto tire that costs less than an aircraft
tire will be closer to round and better balanced. And it won't have
taken a set and have a flat spot after being parked overnight.

Dan

  #8  
Old October 4th 06, 12:11 AM posted to rec.aviation.owning
The Visitor
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Posts: 231
Default Tire tread wear vs inflation pressure



Ben Jackson wrote:
Are aircraft tires expected to wear evenly from edge to edge?


No. Close, but no.

Depending on your plane there may be some alignment information in you
service manual. Or not.


John

  #9  
Old October 4th 06, 12:30 AM posted to rec.aviation.owning
Robert M. Gary
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Posts: 2,767
Default Tire tread wear vs inflation pressure

90% of the planes in the air have under-inflated tires. Seems to be
systemic.

-Robert

  #10  
Old October 4th 06, 01:11 AM posted to rec.aviation.owning
Todd W. Deckard
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Posts: 65
Default Tire tread wear vs inflation pressure

The Whittman style leaf gear rely on the tire scrub to dampen the spring
action. You can observe this when landing on a frozen lake
just right, the airplane will pogo a bit as the gear flexes a few times.



 




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