SonexBuilders.net

Good Morning,

Does anyone have any experience using the Slick tires available from Great Plains? They can be found by clicking this link. http://www.greatplainsas.com/sctires.html

I'm interested in hearing how they fit in existing wheel pants, how they handle take off and landing, and how long they last in comparison with the Chen Shin tires from Wicks.

Mervin Friesen
Sonex 122
Jab 2200
235 hours

I've been using them for several years and really like them. They fit the wheel pants with no problem. There's no difference in how the feel in operation from the Chen Shin tires, but they last much longer.

Just installed a set of the Slick tire and I am really happy with the size of these tires. These tires are 12 X 4 X 5.00 and diameter falls right between the larger 5 X 5.00 and the 11 X 4 X 5.00 I was currently using. Easily 1" or more ground clearance under wheel pants than with my old 11 X 4 X 5.00 and they fit the wheel pants nicely. Good price for a set of tires and tubes for $99.

Photo link of different sizes
http://nwawingman.blogspot.com/2016_05_01_archive.html

Great Plains now has a link to another company that sells these tires sets. They provide great service.
http://www.okeefeaero.com/-wheels-tires--axles.html

Friesen5 wrote:Good Morning,

Does anyone have any experience using the Slick tires available from Great Plains? They can be found by clicking this link. http://www.greatplainsas.com/sctires.html

I'm interested in hearing how they fit in existing wheel pants, how they handle take off and landing, and how long they last in comparison with the Chen Shin tires from Wicks.

Mervin Friesen
Sonex 122
Jab 2200
235 hours

I"ve been using them for over a year. Love them. They last a lot longer than the cheap chinese ones. Handling is great. They do fit in stock wheel pants, but just barely.

My Cheng Shin tyres are now due for replacement but they have done 470 landings over 4 years and 250 flying hours, so I thought that was pretty good. I bought a spare 11 x 4 - 5 from a local lawn mower shop a couple of years ago. It is a Carlisle, which I thought was a US brand but just looked and can't find any "made in USA" marking on it which probably means made in China. Does anyone have any experience with these?

Peter

Was just doing my annual and thinking time for new tires so seeing this conversation on the Slicks looked at Okeefe's website for those and noticed they also have the "sealed' tapered roller bearings which reminded me: Yesterday I Installed a set of those that I had purchased from Sonex. Big mistake as far as I am concerned. Aside from the fact that the extra thickness pushes the nuts out to where I would have to drill new holes. The added rubber layer each side made it very difficult to find the sweet spot that is just tight enough to eliminate all play without over tightening and the rubber seal riding on soft aluminum wheel just did not look like it would wear well. The give that results from the added rubber layers would seem even more problematic if used with Sonex hydraulic brakes that push from just one side. Removed them and cleaned and re-installed the old ones. The original large washers by themselves make a pretty good seal. Just wondering if anyone else had thoughts on these.

David A.

DCASonex wrote:Was just doing my annual and thinking time for new tires so seeing this conversation on the Slicks looked at Okeefe's website for those and noticed they also have the "sealed' tapered roller bearings which reminded me: Yesterday I Installed a set of those that I had purchased from Sonex. Big mistake as far as I am concerned. Aside from the fact that the extra thickness pushes the nuts out to where I would have to drill new holes. The added rubber layer each side made it very difficult to find the sweet spot that is just tight enough to eliminate all play without over tightening and the rubber seal riding on soft aluminum wheel just did not look like it would wear well. The give that results from the added rubber layers would seem even more problematic if used with Sonex hydraulic brakes that push from just one side. Removed them and cleaned and re-installed the old ones. The original large washers by themselves make a pretty good seal. Just wondering if anyone else had thoughts on these.

David A.

I have the Sonex hydraulic brakes and installed the sealed bearings last week. I already had a couple of variable thickness washers on my previous non-sealed bearing, so I just removed one washer from the outside so I could still use the same hole in the axle for the cotter pin. As far as the sweet spot, I had to mess with that a lot on the previous bearings, which is why I had a couple of washer thicknesses on each side. But they are now on and I'll see how they hold up over the next year.

Regarding Cheng Shin tires, I have not found anything better. I flew a Sonerai for a long time (4000 landings) averaging about 450 landings per Cheng Shin tire set. Then the tire size I needed was discontinued by Cheng Shin, and I had two sets of Carlisles: one lasting 129 landings, and the next 125. Worse yet was a set of Trac-Gard tires, which wore through in 58 landings. All of these tires were 4.10/3.50 x 6, four ply.

As far as the bearings are concerned I think that I will go back to the original unsealed bearings for the same reasons, drag on the bearings and hard to find the sweet spot. Originally I cut some felt disks to keep the big chunks out. The original unsealed bearings are easier to grease but don't stay as clean as the sealed bearings.

I've read a LOT of posts on tires and tire pressures. It's a little contradictory and confusing.
I'd like input on the Cheng Shin 11 4.00X5 tires.

I operate with wheel pants from paved runways in Texas, where pavement temps are hot for several months.

Various forums tout the advantages or disadvantages of various ply ratings.

Aircraft Spruce has Cheng Shin tires in 8 ply, 6 ply, and 2 ply. The 4 ply tire is tubeless.

Do we need 8 ply? Is 6 ply adequate? I've read of someone who is happy with his 2 ply,.

I wouldn't want to trade potential tire failure to save a pound or two per tire, if that.

Only about a dollar price difference between 8 ply and 6 ply.

Thoughts?