Can you guys give me an idea of what air pressures you’re running in your Goodyear 26’s?
I’m running them on my 180D.
Thanks

Depends on how hard you use your brakes. I ran 16psi in mine but never tried to stop as sort as I could.

To do that there are a couple of tricks you can use.

1. Apply contact cement to the bead of the tire and rim, that will HELP it keep from spinning on the wheel and shearing the valve stem under hard braking.

2. Absolutely don't do this because it is not approved by anyone. I've seen, and of course I would have never done this, the dust cover (hubcap) screw holes drilled through, smaller than the thread diameter, and sheet metal screws a little longer than the thickness of the rim bead so the screw tips (the pointy end) go into the tires bead, NOT THROUGH THE BEAD, which keeps the tires from spinning on the rim in hard braking. An old sand dragster trick back when we used Mickey Thompson slicks at super low tire pressures. But again, absolutely don't do this.

I run them at 8 psi . And I’m on pavement most of the time .
I did shear a stem the other day but I got lazy and they needed air . I needed to fly
Lesson learned -no lower than 8

Wilson wrote:Can you guys give me an idea of what air pressures you’re running in your Goodyear 26’s?
I’m running them on my 180D.
Thanks

What pressure are you using now?
I have a set of 26" GY's, but in the 11 months it took to get a field approval out of the local FSDO,
my enthusiasm to install them kinda fizzled out-- esp since my current 850's work pretty well for the flying I do.
But I'll get around to installing them one of these days.
To avoid ripping the valve stems I think I'd probably run them at 15-20 psi-- same as my 850's.
They have very stiff sidewalls and IMHO I don't see how running lower pressure would do much about that.

Thanks for all the info guys.
As far as what I’m running now, I’m just getting ready to put them on so wanted some advice before I got them on.
Thanks again

I wouldn’t let them get below 16psi on a Skywagon. They work well at 16-18 psi. Definitely squishier than all of the 8.50s I’ve run. Great all around tire if you aren’t lazy about checking your tire pressure every few weeks.

As Phil said, a lot depends on the airplane weight, and the amount/intensity of braking you use. I've run them on Huskys (a lot lighter than a 180, FYI) at 15 psi.

As noted by sierrasplitter, ANY time you run tires at relatively low pressures, you MUST check tire pressures frequently. In my experience, checking tire pressures is something most pilots almost never do. Want evidence? Look at the wheels and note that the hub caps are in place, and would have to be removed to check pressures. Yes, that CAN be done, but.....

The other thing that can bite you is: Airplane resides in a nice warm hangar. Now, winter comes, and you roll the plane out into....say....+ 15 F weather and go flying. The air pressure in those tires at 8psi is very likely to drop significantly with that sort of temperature change, so pump em up a little higher in winter, and check them frequently.

I try to check tire pressures at least once a month, and more frequently in winter.

Back when I was working for a living, I can't tell you how many times I went to fly a plane, and checked air pressures, and found them down around 6 or 7 psi. These fairly stiff side wall tires can be a VERY low pressures without "looking" like they're almost flat.

MTV

On a 180 I wouldn't go lower than 20psi, I would target around 23-25psi. These tires are not soft like Bushwheels, if you want low PSI get some Bushwheels. These tires are very easy to shear valve stems. A sheared valve stem can be a huge inconvenience! I run mine at 22psi on my Husky, they do fine at this PSI and no danger of shearing a stem. The 26’s are a compromise tire.

I am going with the GY 26’s for the compromise, small enough to not eat up too much airspeed, wide enough and large enough diameter to be comfortable on dirt, gravel and grass strips

I’m flying a stock Pacer . I was running 12 psi until I went out to see CC in the Desert . He/ We settled on 8 . Anything above 12 on my plane makes them seem like rocks

It looks like airplane weight dictates how low you should go. Since they are a compromise tire I will just be looking for the best middle of the road performance out of them. I didn’t really plan on trying to run them down in the Bushwheel pressure range so I’m sure I will error to the higher side of your suggestions.
Thanks again for the comments.

I own a Maule M4 180V, 2300 Lbs gross in PHX, AZ, probably never landed off airport over 2100 lbs. I run my tires at 16-18 psi on pavement. 12-14 lbs off airport. My pressures will go down to 6-8 lbs between flights, I can tell when my pressures may be below 15 lbs by the difficulty to roll the plane out of the hangar. I check my tire pressures after multiple flights or every two weeks. I carry this portable digital air compressor, very capable of multiple uses and extremely accurate. I will lower my pressures to 12 lbs before going into an off airport strip LZ. I usually land with minimal braking in 400 ft. My takeoffs take 600 to 800 depending on weight. If camping or time permitting I will air tires to 16 of 18 psi for takeoff if terrain permits.
Limited-time deal for Prime Members: Tire Inflator Portable Air Compressor, 160PSI Cordless Air Pump for Car Tires, 6X Faster Inflation Air Compressor with Tire Gauge Pressure, Tire Pump
https://a.co/d/fA5YS9C