> Aircraft Spruce has Cheng Shin 11x4.0-5 tires in 6 ply and 8 ply. What ply > do you have or recommend?
Joe, I have been flying Cheng 6 ply now since 2005 and never had an issue. Mark Jones (N886MJ) ***************** I plan to have a talk with Spruce regarding the last tires I bought from them. I was after Cheng Shins 4.10/3.50/5 and somehow wound up with tires that say TON-KEEP on the side, made in Viet Nam. I think I might have been told they were "made by" Cheng Shin, but I'm not sure about that. I bought them across the counter, they looked fine, were the right size, and the Spruce person even took these tires from shipping since they didn't have any in stock. These tires were on their way to Italy but they weren't in a hurry for them so I got them and the Italian buyer got put on backorder. They were worn out after about thirty landings but I delayed putting new ones on since I've used tires worn smooth before without incident . . . besides with so few takeoffs and landings on them how could they be worn out? I'm not a brake person. I've used some oddball tires over time - Nanco, Carlisle, etc. but none of them ever caused a problem or were worn out with only 30 landings. I came up with that 30 figure a couple weeks ago when I noticed how badly they were worn - went back in my logbook and counted them. I've done a few more takeoffs and landings, including three touch and go's while rolling along the runway at high speed since then but I can safely say these tires have under forty takeoffs & landings on them. I flew down to Brown Field for gas on Thursday and was back-taxiing on the runway and turning onto the exit when the left tire went BAM and suddenly I wasn't rolling very smoothly. I got permission from ground to shut down and got out to pull it across the hold short line and then pulled it over to the side and went to hopefully find a dolly to put under the wheel. There was one at hand, lucky me. I sat on the back of the tug and held the prop as we towed it to the ramp. I had a couple new (real) Cheng Shins I had bought on eBay and I have an accumulation of tubes and old tire carcasses in the hangar so all I needed to do was get back to Gillespie and load up tire changing gear and the replacement tires. A hangar neighbor with a Skymaster had landed just behind me and gave me a lift back to my hangar. I continue to have luck in my reserve account it seems. The blowout could have happened when going fast and done damage to my rotor and caliper. There was a dolly at hand - use of which prevented doing damage to rotor & caliper while pulling the plane across the rough old WWII era concrete. There was someone immediately at hand to give me a lift back to Gillespie. I was planning on going out to a remote desert strip (Giant Rock - currently uncharted) on Christmas Day and the trip to Brown was to fill up for that flight. The tires were smooth but the cord wasn't showing so they didn't look THAT bad . . . . I would really have been in a pickle if this blowout had happened out in the middle of nowhere. Giant Rock was once an annual gathering place for UFO contactees back in the 40's, 50's and 60's, but these days only an occasional sand buggy might pass by. There's nothing there except the largest free standing boulder on the planet. The nearest paved road is many miles away. It wouldn't have been a merry Christmas. *********** The plane originally came with a set of slicks that Great Plains sells but they vibrated badly and I couldn't get them to balance, plus they didn't easily fit inside the pants. One side would rub sometimes. So I replaced them with some Cheng Shins from Desser Tire and they were great. I got 189 landings & takeoffs and quite a lot of touch and go's with those tires but Desser stopped selling them by the time I wanted new ones and I never found an easy source. That's how I wound up with the other oddball brands. They all worked okay but none lasted as well as Cheng Shins. These new Cheng Shins I just put on the plane I accumulated over months of watching on eBay. The sellers each only had one tire. They are on my watch list but don't pop up very often. The wheel pant was slightly damaged but the Rosenhaun rotor is still fine even though it was forced to act like a wheel while on a very hard and rough surface. I had to pull it by hand for some distance to get it clear of the runway and taxiway. I've got some tire questions for tire-knowledgable netters but I'll do another post to keep this one from getting any longer. The take-away from my experience is don't put any tires on your planes that say TON-KEEP on the side. I don't know how I got such crappy tires from Aircraft Spruce but I'll talk to them about it once the holidays settle down. Mike KSEE ____________________________________________________________ Heavy rains mean flooding Anywhere it rains it can flood. Learn your risk. Get flood insurance. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/549f59d9aa85a59d904b0st03vuc
