tires
Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2020 7:55 pm
by pfhoeycfi
I’ll be operating much of time out of the glider club field which is grass, pretty good condition. I’m used to bouncing around on the big pawnee tires…or in the L19. My B will have the larger tailwheel and I would like to go with bigger tires up front. I’m looking at the Condor 6 ply 5.00 x 5 on spruce, 5.5 lbs. The 4 ply is the same spec weight. Any general thoughts, recommendations, issues? The tires, along with the whelen tip lights, will likely be my only off plan adds.
When it gets a little warmer the wings will come up through the living room floor..I’ll plug them in and get the holes drilled. That step is holding things up alot…
peter
Re: tires
Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2020 4:15 am
by GraemeSmith
“Ply” is a load bearing ability. 4 ply is easily enough for an LSA, Aircraft of up to 2,000lb easily get by on 4 ply. 6-ply is overkill. Back in the day 4 ply were slightly lighter. I’m a little surprised that you found the 4 and 6 ply are the same spec weight. Now it comes down to $$. Are the 4 ply cheaper? Yes - slightly.
–
Specific to the Condor brand - I’ve had 2 sets and eventually hated them. It took me a while to realize what was going on. Basically once about half worn - if they sat for a week - they would flat spot and next time you taxied was an uncomfortable wobbling till they rounded out again. Which they did if you taxied long enough.
I eventually was persuaded to spend the extra $$ on Goodyear Flight Specials. Slightly lighter than Condors. More tread and lasted way longer in services. No flat spots either.
YMMV
Re: tires
Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2020 8:41 am
by Matt541
The Air Hawk 5.00 x 5 were recommended on the Sonex Flight Podcast, seems that’s what Jeff Schultz and the guys are running. I know they do a fair amount of soft field ops. That’s what I’ll be ordering for mine this week.
http://www.sonexflight.com/65/index.html
I have no direct experience with any of them, my airplane currently has some Chinese knock off 4.00s. Good tread, but dry cracked from sitting. The load rating table in the Aircraft Spruce catalog also states that 4 ply is plenty for our Sonexes. Cheers!
Re: tires
Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2020 9:37 am
by sonex892.
I swapped to air hawks 500 x 5 about 7 years ago when I was based at a grass strip for a short while. Have roughly about 400 landings on these tires, mostly on sealed surface and they still arent totally bald. The sonex appears to wear the tires more on the inside, so I rotated them a couple of years ago. I’ll be replacing them in the next year or 2 and if they are still available will use the same again.
They can even be squeezed into the stock wheel pants.
Steve
Sonex 892
Re: tires
Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2020 3:23 pm
by N190YX
For 5:00X5 and larger tires I recommend Desser retreads, I use them on my certified airplane with excellent results, and Aviation Consumer recommends them. I have 5X00:5 on the nose, 6:00X6 on the mains, they wear like iron. No financial interest. https://shop.desser.com/prodcat/aircraf … _tubes.asp
Re: tires
Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2020 4:31 pm
by pfhoeycfi
thanks, I will look at those recommendations
peter
Re: tires
Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2020 5:54 pm
by pappas
I replaced my factory supplied kit tires and tubes at 60 hours with 5:00 x 5 Desser retreads and Aero-Classic leak-stop tubes. The factory 4 inch (Chen Chin’s?) just felt squishy to me on landing and take-off. They also wore out really fast. Also, the supplied tubes would not hold air. I was adding air every 5 days.
Since changing the tires and tubes, the plane feels really sure-footed, I gained an inch or two of height, and I haven’t topped them with air in 3 months. Still holding 50 lbs. The retreads are heavier, but…so am I. 3 fewer cheeseburgers this week and I will make up weight the difference!!
Re: tires
Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2020 8:25 pm
by Matt541
I’ll also say thank you to you guys for sharing your experiences. It’s new tire time for me as well.
Re: tires
Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2020 8:12 am
by DCASonex
Just a quick note to those converting to 5.00 x 5 tires from the much smaller Sonex standard. The larger tires should not be inflated to the high pressures of the small Sonex tires. The increased side wall area puts too much force on the wheels and I find 25 psi is more than adequate.
David A.
Re: tires
Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2020 8:50 am
by bvolcko38
The nuts that come with the Azuza wheels are shear nuts.
There are only two threads inside those thin nuts. I replaced them with full-size all metal lock nuts.
I feel much better about the strength of the wheels now
Re: tires
Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2020 11:22 am
by sonex1374
Bill,
I also replaced the wheel hardware (bolts and nuts) joining the wheel halves together. This was mostly because I mounted Great Plains (now O’Keefe) hydraulic brakes, and mounting the “top hats” and brake discs required longer bolts. I used standard AN5 bolts and locknuts. Standard AN hardware also makes it easy to replace locknuts as they start to get worn from a few on-off cycles replacing tires.
Jeff
Re: tires
Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2020 10:09 am
by N111YX
As stated before in posts from years back, changing the Azusa bolts to AN5 is a good idea. I have personally seen a broken bolt from the inside of a Azusa wheel from a Sonex. Thus, two (inferior) bolts were left with carrying an even greater load. I suspect that an AN5 bolt has a better quality control history than an Azusa bolt. It’s cheap insurance in my opinion.
Re: tires
Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2020 9:40 am
by bvolcko38
Do you recall what size AN5 bolt is used? I don’t want to disassemble my wheels again to measure the grip.
Re: tires
Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2020 3:17 pm
by jowens
Does anyone have experience with http://www.okeefeaero.com SLICK 12x4x5 tires?
Re: tires
Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2020 12:14 pm
by kmwoody
I have had them for years and they last forever. They split the difference, in height, between the stock tires and 5x5.00. It’s been awhile but i think they are 2 lb per side heavier than stock. I damaged one, cut it open, and they have about an 1 1/2" tread on the corners. My Sonex wears tires on the inside. Easy to see wear marks. Again, they last forever.
Ken W
Sonex 959
Camit 3300
Re: tires
Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2020 10:22 pm
by jowens
Thank you, Ken!!