Tire Change Tips

[HS-JAT]

Curious to hear any feedback, lessons learned, or good techniques on changing out tires/rims. Specifically, if it takes some amount of difficulty to separate the tire from the rim halves, and assemble.

I have 29" Airstreak tires with the MATCO dual disc setup, and want to give the 21" Tundra Tires a try. Curious to see the difference in handling and cruise speed.

Pretty sure I will be better off with the 21" tires. In Thailand you can't just land where ever you want, and the 21" tires should be able to handle any sod, dirt strip I would land to. A non-slick also has advantages for landing on wet runways.

As discussed in earlier threads.....the big 29" tires have a cool look, but I fall into the opinion that if you are not flying like Steve Henry (or only operating on sod), they are probably overkill for a 600-800lb airplane.

[User GDS]

I have the 29" Airstreaks and use them on rough terrain, they're fantastic, but I would try something different if I was on asphalt and turf. They cost too much and wear too fast "just for looks".

I bought a second wheel set from Matco when I was ready to go with the Airstreaks. The little asphalt tires are still mounted and ready to install when I want to. Eventually, I plan to order some golf cart tires to put on the second wheel set, they're pretty soft and cost about $100/pair.

Mounting is easy, the only tip I have is to oversize the hole in the axle that accepts the cotter pin. Don't remember the specifics, but I enlarged the hole a few 0.01s and it is much easier to get a new cotter pin in place.

To hold the plane off the ground I have a 12" long piece of steel tubing that fits snugly into the inboard side of the axle. I put an automotive jack stand next to the tubing, push up on the struts where they join the wing and put it on the jack stand. (I couldn't do that with the old C-206...)

[SheepdogRD]

When removing the six-bolt wheels, Matco recommends lowering the tire pressure, because the removed wheels are held together by only three bolts.

I found trying to wrestle the tires off the wheels so frustrating that I went to Harbor Freight to buy their inexpensive bead breaker:

HF Bead Breaker 92961.jpg

They were out of stock, but, for the same money (about $40 on sale), I got their Portable Tire Changer:

HF Portable Tire Changer 96986.jpg

It made the job absolutely easy. The bead breaker is all I used. Perhaps you can find -- or make -- something comparable in Thailand. For U.S. readers, I put the HF part numbers in the image names.

[planecrazzzy]

How bout what NOT to do...

Someone laughed about this...

But wrote me later to find the cure...

Yes... They did it too...
.
.
"MY" trick was using an Ice cream container to hold back the tube...

Also... I only hand tightened the nut... That way , I could "FEEL" if

something was in the path of the split rims...
Gotta Fly...
.
.

[HS-JAT]

Thanks for the tips guys. Any more are welcome. Especially the what not to do ones.

I will check to see if my local tool guy might have a bead breaker type of setup like you posted Sheepdog. I imagine there are plenty of guys around here who still do tires the old fashioned way.