..hey for anyone interested in taxing around at the next fly-in airshow, wanting to look cool, I have a set of tandem wheels & tires I might sell! They are 8:00x4 tires. I think larger 6 inch wheels would fit, but you'd need the wheels, etc.

if ya really wanna run thoes tires look for a set of the old race slick adapters, lets ya run a 5 on 5 bolt pattern

Just for info here. I been all over idaho with no problems in my old tripacer before I got the maule. Tripacer had 6.00 x6's. on all three.

...hey, how do you know when the tires are worn too far? I have a set of almost 3 year old 31 inch radials that have 2000 hours on them. They are on a scout. mostly at 1900-2000 pounds and 99 percent of landings have been non-pavement. To me they look ok. There are some shallow cuts or marks. Is there a cord to show or look for at some point?? Thanks for any advise. John

I looked at Bushwheels and 26" Goodyears for my Maule. Problem with the 26" Goodyears is that they are not TSO'd for any production aircraft. No STC for the Maule and field approval not likely in the current FAA environment. A friend had 29" BW on his Supercub. He almost never lands on pavement. They wore out at a rate of $9.00/landing. I decided that my current flight profile couldn't justify the huge tire bill even though the cool factor is tipping the scale in that direction. I'll wear out the 8.50's first then reconsider.

my question still is, how do you know they are worn out?? You can't fly until they blow out, then ground loop. Is there cords or a tread wear indicator that shows some how?

I think I would call Wup at akbushwheels, he would I think be the subject matter expert.

You will start to see cording a "Braker" ply that will start to show before the main body plys are exposed. that will be your tread wear indacator.

Hottshot - thanks, that was the info I was looking for. I don't have anything like that yet. John

I was looking my tires over (31 inch radials - 2000 hrs), and noticed that the valve stems are cracked real bad around them, in the recessed area. Is that something common to Bushwheels?

Another option:

Go to Alaska Bush Wheel's site. Order a set of wheel adapters to put 10 inch tires on your bird. Then you can install 8.50 x 10 tires, for an effective diameter of about 25 inches, depending on pressure, or you can install a set of 29 x 11x 10 tires for about 28 to 29 inch diameter. They are heavy, but this lash up is a LOT cheaper than a set of Bush wheels.

And, pavement use and wear is a non issue with these tires on a light airplane. I ran a set of Gar Aero adapters and 8.50 X 10 tires on my Super Cub for years, and landed anywhere I wanted to land. I've also run the 29's on the adapters, but they are heavy buggers.

MTV

I have several reasons why I went with the 26" Bush Wheels.
The biggest reason as I have stated in other threads is to keep me from sinking down into the larger Ground Squirrel holes that often exist hidden in the weeds and brush just off the actual landing area.

I agree that one can fly in and out of most of our regional Back Country strips with 600x6x6 tires. Most of these strips themselves are not all that rough that I have been into, currently 40+ in Idaho and counting. There are a couple that are a bit rough on one end or the other, but not unmanageable.

Second reason is that the larger tires allegedly give me a better Angle of Attack, and allegedly get the VGs working sooner. All that for a hopefully shorter take off roll. Maybe !?!

Last reason is that while most of the Back Country strips are generally useable by most of us, for occasional use. they are often not all that smooth, and so, do add additional "kinetic impact" / jarring during the roll out and take off.

I have read of a couple occasions where an axle finally gave up on landing and the whole assemble was last seen bounding out of the way. Anytime i can let out a bit of air and considerably soften that "impact", then I am willing to make the payment up front. I have spent some 15-20 yrs doing fairly extreme 4x4 trips and have definitely seen the longer term effects of NOT "airing down" Nufffornow. Chris C.

Anyone seen or tried these yet? Seems to be an improvement on the old Gar-Aero adapters.

http://www.akbushwheel.com/10x10BushWheel.html

Phil

So what do you think about them? Good? Bad? Ugly?

Phil

So are you running the 29x11x10 tires, or the 850x10's? When they say "buffed", I assume that means all the treads been ground off? What's the size difference between them ,the 29" Bushwheels, and & the 850 x 10's?

Eric

Wup,

Any update on the Airstreak 8.50x6? If I got a field approval for 8.50's now could I use that to put on the Airstreaks? I been watchin the bushwheel site for updates but haven't seen any.

thanks,
Jon

MTV


I think those 10" adapters that you mention used to be made by Gar Aero. And have since been bought up by some outfit in Alaska. I was looking for their name, but couldn't locate it. I have talked with them and they seemed nice enough, but I have heard of people having rare problems with them coming apart.

I may be wrong on this, and will probably find out soon if I am, but Wup has a new 10" 1 piece wheel, and I think that would be highly preferred over the adaptetrs I have never seen adapters in his catalog.

That being said, I would think that it would be better(for most, not in extreme backcountry terrain) to run the smaller wheel with a large tire, giving you good energy absorption, less weight and less lateral stress on the equipment if you get a little sideways.

Just my thoughts G

shortfielder wrote: I think those 10" adapters that you mention used to be made by Gar Aero. And have since been bought up by some outfit in Alaska. ........... G

Alaskatundratires.com

whee wrote:Wup,

Any update on the Airstreak 8.50x6? If I got a field approval for 8.50's now could I use that to put on the Airstreaks? I been watchin the bushwheel site for updates but haven't seen any.

thanks,
Jon

Jon--

We are a little behind on that one.. we have the molds now and we will be getting started on that one ASAP

Calling Mr. Wup, Say I put the ABW 29x11x10 wheels with Airhawk tires and the double puck brake kit on.

Can I switch back to my 8:50X6 ? What is the estimated time? Do the new wheels come with rotors? Are they the same diameter as the stock M7 Cleveland’s ? Regards…Rob