Tire Question

[A64Pilot]

I thought you were kidding about grinding tires off.

Yes it’s very common in racing to shave tires for racing that the rules require DOT tires, it’s done mostly to cut down on tire squirm from deep tread, and if you have a fast car to prevent excessive heat build up.

But it’s done on a machine that controls the cutter very precisely and you end up with a tire that’s rounder than it was before being shaved. I’m not sure you cold control a hand grinder that well. Why would you do this? What’s gained?

 

Edited February 8 by A64Pilot

[Pinecone]

On 2/7/2025 at 1:56 PM, EricJ said:

On race cars it used to be normal to have tires shaved, even expensive race tires, because they'd be a little bit faster out of the box.   They wouldn't last as long, but you'd be faster.    So shaving tires is an established, time-tested process that has been done for a long time.   On an airplane it's kind of a last resort to make a tire fit on a retractable gear airplane, but it's not something that's unheard of or unusual.

Still done for street tire classes.  The excess thread depth leads to squirming of the tread and heat buildup.  And then the tread comes off in chunks.

[Yetti]

My Airhawks lasted 10 years.   Prices have gone up a bit.

                    11/2014               1/2025

2-600-6 tire     152.00               251.90     

1-500-5 tire      63.00               102.96

1-500 Tube       53.95               111.95

2-600 Tube       109.90             191.90

before taxes       378.85              658.71

and shipping

Edited Thursday at 03:36 PM by Yetti

[Hank]

I use Air Hawks on the nose because I was based the first 7 years at a field without taxiway, so every takeoff and landing had a 180 turn.

In 17-1/2 years and 1000 hours, I've replaced the.nose wheel three times, and the mains once. Note that none of them were new when I bought my Mooney.

Mains are Goodyear Flightspeed I; the -II and -III are designed for much higher weight and runway speeds well above Vg, and they cost much more, too.

[A64Pilot]

My Goodyear Flight Custom nose wheel is Lord knows how old, it’s getting weather checks on the sidewall and about worn out. Interestingly unlike Auto and truck tires aircraft tires have no age limit. 

The mains I replaced seemed to wear pretty quickly, but both were severely flat spotted at least twice each by the previous owner, I think those flat spots accelerated wear. Half my landings are on grass, and if you land on grass you replace tires when they rot out, there is almost no wear.

The Goodyear and Michelin tires are unquestionably better than Airhawks, for the cost they had better be. Like I said all the large Commercial Jets run recaps so I imagine they are good.

I’m not sure what kind of nosewheel tire I’ll get, but expect it to last almost forever based on how this one has worn. I think it will likely be a Desser recap, unless I can score a Thrush tailwheel tire  

I fly a couple of times a week and usually have a couple of pavement landings on average a week.

Edited Wednesday at 07:28 PM by A64Pilot

[mooniac15u]

21 hours ago, Yetti said:

My Airhawks lasted 10 years.   Prices have gone up a bit.

                    11/2014               1/2025

2-600-6 tire     152.00               251.90     

1-500-5 tire      63.00               102.96

1-500 Tube       53.95               111.95

2-600 Tube       109.90             191.90

before taxes       228.41              658.71

and shipping

You might want to check your math on the 2014 total. Looks like it should be more like $378.85.

[Yetti]

20 hours ago, mooniac15u said:

You might want to check your math on the 2014 total. Looks like it should be more like $378.85.

fixed.   thanks