Uneven wear on left main tire

[M20TN_Driver]

In looking at servicing my wheel bearings at my annual, I was inspecting my tires and noticed that my left main has uneven wear.  It is worn more on the inside of the tire than on the outside.  Has anyone heard of this?  Wondering if it's a Mooney thing?

I transitioned to this plane from a twin and never had uneven wear.

[N201MKTurbo]

Just now, M20TN_Driver said:

In looking at servicing my wheel bearings at my annual, I was inspecting my tires and noticed that my left main has uneven wear.  It is worn more on the inside of the tire than on the outside.  Has anyone heard of this?  Wondering if it's a Mooney thing?

I transitioned to this plane from a twin and never had uneven wear.

A picture would be good.

[Hank]

30 minutes ago, M20TN_Driver said:

In looking at servicing my wheel bearings at my annual, I was inspecting my tires and noticed that my left main has uneven wear.  It is worn more on the inside of the tire than on the outside.  Has anyone heard of this?  Wondering if it's a Mooney thing?

I transitioned to this plane from a twin and never had uneven wear.

Both of my mains do that. It's not worth the effort to me to turn them around at annual. 

[M20TN_Driver]

1 hour ago, N201MKTurbo said:

A picture would be good.

Its not much to see.  Side closest to cabin on left main is worn flat (no tire groove left).  Outside of the tire looks to have very little wear.

[M20TN_Driver]

1 hour ago, N201MKTurbo said:

A picture would be good.

Its not much to see.  Side closest to cabin on left main is worn flat (no tire groove left).  Outside of the tire looks to have very little wear.

[M20TN_Driver]

Strange thing is the right side is totally normal even wear...

[Vance Harral]

Wear on the inside edges of tires is common on Mooneys, I think due to the geometry of the gear.  Our birds always look to me like the gear leg isn't actually vertical, though I think it looks worse than it really is due to wing dihedral.

As for uneven wear on the right vs. left, I see this a fair amount on piston singles, though it's usually the right main that's the problem rather than the left.  The best hypothesis I've heard for this - which jives with my experience as a CFI - is not enough right rudder when lifting the nosewheel on takeoff.  The collection of left-turning tendencies in a Lycoming/Continental-powered single causes the nose to swing to the left, and instead of fixing this with appropriate rudder, a lot of... uh... "less sophisticated" pilots will apply right aileron instead.  This picks the left tire up off the ground while driving the right one into it.  I suppose it's possible you've got the opposite problem of too much right rudder on liftoff, which you're correcting with left aileron.  But  I'm betting anyone who flies an Acclaim isn't prone to these kinds of errors.  Might be a misalignment in the gear itself.

[Rmag]

My M20J Mooney had this I think on the right side.  Apparently since new as I saw the original owner had some type of entry complaining about it in the logbooks. 

[Pinecone]

2 hours ago, M20Doc said:

Pull a string across the front of both tires, place a carpenter’s square against the inside of the tire and along the string to confirm that is tracks straight. Also place the square on the hangar floor and against the tire vertically to see if it’s square.

After confirming that it’s not square, go flying because there’s nothing you can do to adjust it.

LOL

 

[PT20J]

My 1978 J wore both tires evenly. My 1994 J wears the insides of both faster than the outsides. I dismounted them and flipped them around at mid life to even the wear.  

[A64Pilot]

On 6/16/2023 at 6:39 AM, M20Doc said:

Pull a string across the front of both tires, place a carpenter’s square against the inside of the tire and along the string to confirm that is tracks straight. Also place the square on the hangar floor and against the tire vertically to see if it’s square.

After confirming that it’s not square, go flying because there’s nothing you can do to adjust it.

The “fix” for a Maule was to remove the wheel, slide about 10 foot piece of pipe over the axle and pull until you got the toe-in right.

Repetitive hard landings made them get toed out, or maybe one real hard one?

‘I’m not abdicating that for a Mooney, it wasn’t the right thing to do to a Maule either, only proper fix was new gear.

[M20TN_Driver]

Yeah I was thinking about just flipping it also.  Kind of a PIA given the inner gear door, disc for brakes, etc.  I wasn't sure if there were adjustments to the gear rigging that could have solved it.  Doughnuts are pretty new--maybe 5 years old.  So don't think I have a wear issue with my "shocks".

[larrynimmo]

On 6/16/2023 at 9:13 AM, PT20J said:

My 1978 J wore both tires evenly. My 1994 J wears the insides of both faster than the outsides. I dismounted them and flipped them around at mid life to even the wear.  

When you flip them, did you re-use the tubes?

[PT20J]

5 hours ago, larrynimmo said:

When you flip them, did you re-use the tubes?

Yes. If the tubes look good. The important thing is that the tubes fit well and are not stretched so much that they get folds between the tube and tire. I use Michelin Airstops and this hasn’t been a problem.

[A64Pilot]

With what tubes cost if your going to put a new one in, probably better to just leave the tire on until one side is worn out.

I know your always never supposed to re-use a tube, but I have and knock on wood have never had a problem or a crease, you can see a crease when the tire is removed it will be apparent.  I do think tubes wear and don’t last forever, but believe like many things they can be inspected, up to a point, I wouldn’t put a third tire on a tube.

Like recaps, many think I’d never put junk like that on my airplane, but from what I’ve seen they are as good as a new tire, when my nose tire finally wears out it’s going to get a recap

probably this one

https://shop.desser.com/5.00x5-6-ply-retread-elite-premium-2-groove/ecomm-product-detail/324268/

Or you could save $20 with this one

https://shop.desser.com/5.00x5-6-ply-retread-tube-type-standard/ecomm-product-detail/324267/

Edited June 20, 2023 by A64Pilot

[PT20J]

I talked to a tire company rep over lunch at Oshkosh once. He said that most of the airlines lease their tires and tire company owns them and maintains them. They recap them many times before the have to retire a carcass.

 

[Andy95W]

11 minutes ago, PT20J said:

They recap them many times before the have to retire a carcass.

 

If you re-tire the carcass, isn’t that the same as a recap?

Sorry, it just struck me as funny. 

[EricJ]

7 minutes ago, Andy95W said:

If you re-tire the carcass, isn’t that the same as a recap?

Sorry, it just struck me as funny. 

What does a tire carcass do in retirement?   It goes back to work!