Okay, okay, I know variations of these three dumb questions have been discussed ad nasuem, but I've been trying to figure these couple of things out online and in the forums and I can't seem to get the answer I'm looking for. Without further adieu, here are my three dumb questions:

1. I must be lacking in the man-hood department, but would someone just tell me what 6.00x6 means. What do the dimensions mean? Section width - huh? Why can two 8.50x6 tires look completely different?

2. Do us 182 owners have any choice in size of tire without STCs, or is it 6.00x6 and 5.00x5 and nothing else per the aircraft's TC? Without making mods, can a bigger tire be installed, and if so, what?

3. If it wasn't already obvious, I'm not a huge backcountry flier. Would like to be, but location and career right now trump my ability to get into the out-of-doors as much as I'd like. How many of you do the annual fly-Idaho trip with completely stock airplanes? I learned to fly in Idaho, as it were, and I don't think we used anything other than the stock-no-wheel-pants set up, but that was 15 years ago. I'm good for about one trip per summer, and indian creek and johnson creek type stuff - not mile high and dirty devil. I think that looking at pictures of all ya'lls beautiful planes on the side of some mountain has me itching to get out my credit card - someone set me straight here.

Thanks in advance for helping me with my three dumb questions!

tire size- the last number is the height of the rim the first number is the tread width and, on most aircraft tires, the sidewall height. for example a 800x6 is 8in+6in+8in= 22in tall and 8in wide, in theory, as with pants there is a wide diference depending on manifacturer.

182- you can install any size tire on the aproved model list(should say in flight manual) im not a 182 expert but somthing like 800x6 mains would be the biggest, knowing cessna.

johnson creek- guys have taken jets in there!

Here is a pretty good explanation of tire sizes and what they mean dimension wise. You are asking about "type III" sizes.

http://www.goodyearaviation.com/resourc ... atires.pdf

As for tire options on the 182 without STC or 337, there aren't a lot. Early 182s (56-early 60s) there are no Cessna options. Mid 60s sometime, not sure of exact year, there became an option for HD nose fork and 600-6 nose tire. Still 600-6 on mains though.

Check the parts list for your plane to see if there is the HD option. I found my parts list on microfiche at my A&Ps office. Mine is a '59 and I know for sure no HD option.

To my knowledge, and it's limited at best, this is the only legal option. However if you want to take on the 337 and field approval process you can put on HD206 fork or one from a 310 and possibly
something else. These forks will allow a 600-6 and maybe a 700-6 on the nose, but you will still have to get different main size approved, too. This probably cost less $$, but significantly more
time and trouble depending on your FSDO.

After thourough research, talking to my A&P and the FAA FSDO, I chose to go with the Landes fork
STC. It is more expensive up front, but fast, legal, STC papers, well built, and gives you several tire size options.

Just what I've learned lately. Hope it helps.
RWM

RWM wrote:
After thourough research, talking to my A&P and the FAA FSDO, I chose to go with the Landes fork
STC. It is more expensive up front, but fast, legal, STC papers, well built, and gives you several tire size options.

Just what I've learned lately. Hope it helps.
RWM

Exactly what I did to my 58 182. When I bought the plane, it came with the 206 fork not knowing that just a log book entry by the mechanic who installed the fork was a big no no . I decided to go with the Landes Fork for the same reasons RWM mentioned.

I like having the 850's all around. It raised the plane up a bit. I can almost stand up straight under the wing. And the fatter tires make for a smoother ride on rougher asphalt or dirt strips.

Nope......I'm still dumber.... .......good questions!

58Skylane wrote:[quote="
I like having the 850's all around.

What did those tires do to your cruise speed? What does it true?

RWM wrote:

58Skylane wrote:[quote="
I like having the 850's all around.

What did those tires do to your cruise speed?

Well, I really don't know I bought the plane and starting training in it right away. Didn't do much cross country flying and if we did, I didn't think to pay much attention to the speeds. My first annual with the plane was within a year of buying it and change over of the front fork and tires.

What does it true?

Again, I don't do much cross country flying and when I do, pull the power back to sip on the fuel.

But, best GS I've seen was about 148mph


And that was down low on the deck . Not sure what the settings were. I think on this trip, I was pushed most of the way in trying to beat Wx.

Ahhh, you know what, I had seen that Goodyear link, but failed to realize that the charts on the right have the actual dimensions. I thought it was just lists of more tires (if you look, the data on the left isn't really that helpful). That pretty much explains it.

Would still like to get some comments from you one-trip-a-year folk. Any proudly stock 182s out there?

Mine is stock. I can't justify the cost of larger wheels/approvals for the areas I fly into.

Rough isn't generally the issue- it's prop clearance. I give my nose strut slightly more pressure, install a rubber plumbing coupling on the lower end to prevent collapsing all the way, load way aft when I go, and use nose-down trim tab to help keep the nose up when taxiing. I still have to mow the grass a bit in early July if I am really eager to fish some of the better spots in Idaho. The extra 2" of tire and 1" extra axle distance of the larger forks (Landes?) I've seen might make the McCauley a lot happier on occasion. The sandier strips in Utah are another area they would have been handy on occasion.

Otherwise, it's something I contemplate from time to time, but if I did, it would, at best, only slightly improve the landability of a very few strips in the areas I fly to. It's not going to suddenly make it possible to land in my friends' pastures around here.

skiermanmike wrote:Ahhh, you know what, I had seen that Goodyear link, but failed to realize that the charts on the right have the actual dimensions. I thought it was just lists of more tires (if you look, the data on the left isn't really that helpful). That pretty much explains it.

Would still like to get some comments from you one-trip-a-year folk. Any proudly stock 182s out there?

'57 182 stock wheels in my hangar. I love it.

Thanks for the comments, guys. Guess there is a small contingent of us, shall we say, hardcore stockists!