Jump to content

Tires and Tubes M20TN or other Big Bore 6's


Recommended Posts

My mechanic was thinking about putting 10 ply tire on nose wheel due to weight on wheel. Is this a good idea and will it interfere with nose wheel compartment? Have 6 ply now.

 

Also what are the recommendations out there for best tire and more importantly the best tube?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

tires that are stiffer than necessary just make things crack. Ask Cirrus. They went from a six ply tube type, to a ten ply tubeless tire on the 2013 and newer SR22. After a year, they had several nose gear legs develop cracks around the shock mount, some resulted in legs breaking off and the nose hitting the dirt. The immediate fix was to lower the tire pressure and inspect for gear leg cracks every 50 hours. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I put 8-ply Goodyear 140mph tired on my Acclaim and have had good results.  The manual stipulates 6 plies but they aren’t readily available here and I had a blow out on the runway a few months ago upon landing....(we still don’t know what happened, but it looks like I locked up the brakes because there was a bald spot all around the blow out and the other tire was bald spotted....the brakes or so weak I never would have thought I could have locked them up but I guess I did...

Anyway, with a lighter touch on the brakes and the 8 plies it’s all been hunky dory so far.  I put the same tire all the way around since I was switching.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

TCDS calls out 6 ply rating so I think you’d need a one-time STC or field approval. Unless you are regularly blowing out quality tires, I’d just stick with 6-ply. 

Everyone has their favorite tire. Several flight schools I’ve been associated with find Goodyear Flight Special II to be cost effective. Michlen Airstop tubes hold pressure for months.

Skip

Edited by PT20J
corrected TCDS spelling
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree with the Goodyear, I run the Flight Customs III's - they have thicker rubber and out last pretty much all other ties because of it. Aviation Consumer did a study a couple of decades ago and gave them high marks. They're actually speed rated to 160 mph - which is pretty meaningless to us. They must be the heaviest duty 6 ply tire we can use, and still beat using an unapproved tire (for our planes). If you get generic Butyl tubes, they're the same material & properties as the Airstop tubes that hold pressure but better. I generally purchase them through Dresser.com

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/21/2020 at 12:04 PM, Bentonck said:

I put 8-ply Goodyear 140mph tired on my Acclaim and have had good results.  The manual stipulates 6 plies but they aren’t readily available here and I had a blow out on the runway a few months ago upon landing....(we still don’t know what happened, but it looks like I locked up the brakes because there was a bald spot all around the blow out and the other tire was bald spotted....the brakes or so weak I never would have thought I could have locked them up but I guess I did...

Anyway, with a lighter touch on the brakes and the 8 plies it’s all been hunky dory so far.  I put the same tire all the way around since I was switching.  

I also installed a 8ply with good luck. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I bought two main tires for my Lancair, didn't get around to actually HAVING TO change them until several months after the purchase, and then found they were too tall.  I didn't realize they made more than one size tire when it's a 600-6.  They are Flight Custom III's.  Tubes are available too.  The return stocking charge once you go over a month is ridiculous.  I would rather an airplane owner gets the price discount.  

Tom

Link to the tires;

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/lgpages/gy_tire12.php

Lancair Goodyear tires.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My experience and my opinion....... Ovation......... once a tire has a bald area (flat spot), with future landings it doesn’t take excessive braking for that tire to lock up on the flattened area thereby causing skidding/blowout.

On the heavier Mooney, once a tire is flat spotted, I strongly suggest replacement in order to prevent the eventual skidding/blowout.

My experience with short, medium and long body Mooney’s, it is much easier to flat spot tire(s) on the long bodies. 

Yes on Goodyear Flight Custom III’s . Follow Mooney tire recommendations for size/ply for your specific model.

Further information.... I had excellent service from Desser retread Flight Custom III’s..... no fitment issues.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Its actually easy to flat spot tires on any aircraft including the trainers. All it takes is a pilot that hits the brakes as soon as the their is any weight on the mains. Gotta to learn to use aerodynamic braking to hold the nose off as long as possible, then only when slowed apply brakes.  Proof is at my local club where someone manages to flat spot a tire on a C172 or Archer almost every month. Changing a new tire out due to fat spot drives you nuts, but you really need to do it since its terrible reminder (and embarrassment) to continue to taxi around with square wheels ! But as Mitch mentions above it'll easily lockup on the flat spot next time too. 

My FC III's fit just fine too, but no room for anything larger!

Edited by kortopates
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/20/2020 at 9:22 AM, Aspen2013 said:

My mechanic was thinking about putting 10 ply tire on nose wheel due to weight on wheel. Is this a good idea and will it interfere with nose wheel compartment? Have 6 ply now.

Also what are the recommendations out there for best tire and more importantly the best tube?

Stick with the 6-ply tires.  There’s no appreciable payoff by going higher.

Also stick to the Michelin Air tires and tubes.  After running them for several years, I switched to the Goodyear FC3 on my Ovation on one occasion just to try a set.  Found they give a rough ride versus the Michelin so I switched back to the Michelin.  Much happier.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The one thing I’ve learned when landing my O2 is never think about using the breaks until you get the flaps up. When I had my M20J I used aerodynamic breaking with the control wheel pulled all the way back with the flaps down and apply the breaks, never had any problems with flat spots.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Once I'm down, flaps up. No brakes until under 50 mph. Never a flat spot.

Flight Custom tires (not II or III), with Michelin Air Stop tubes. II / III give me no additional benefit for the higher prices.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 months later...

I really don't care for the Goodyear product. Cars either.  Most owners complain about them being out of balance and stiff (hard)  not to mention the excessive cost.  You can do just fine on ovations with Condors or other tires.  Have not seen one tire wear more than another.  With the big mooneys (ovations/Acclaims) the biggest problem is the peddle configuration where the toe brake leans back toward the pilot. this causes the pilot to ride the brakes or skip the tires.  I change more from skips and flat spots on the big guys.  Js and smaller are a different story.  I always used Air specialty and Condors on my J for 17years and never had a problem.  Great tires for the money.

Used to buy exclusively from Desser, but Chinese bought them and they have a deal with Spruce so you get them cheaper there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There was a recent post about tubes for the “Mains”, the short version is the “Straight” rubber stems are in a constant bind and fail (twice for me), the “90°” stems don’t fit the wheel correctly but there are 70° metal stems that work great IMO

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, jeffschnabel said:

With the big mooneys (ovations/Acclaims) the biggest problem is the peddle configuration where the toe brake leans back toward the pilot. this causes the pilot to ride the brakes or skip the tires. 

That should be fixable. I had the same problem on my M20J after I put on 3” extensions. It’s not in the service manual but the master cylinder piston rods can be adjusted to change the pedal angle. There’s a post in a thread about the pedal extensions where I explained it.

Skip

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.