SonexBuilders.net

Looking at tires and wondering what people are using in 5.00 x 5 tires. 6 ply or 4 ply Air Hawks?

I use McCreary Air Hawk (Aircraft Spruce PN 06-07710) 5.00x5 4-ply tires and AeroClassic Leak Guard (Aircraft Spruce PN 06-00755). They work well and I recommend them. I changed my first set at 300 hrs and about 500 landings.

Jeff

By switching from standard Sonex tires to 5x5 on all 3 wheels (Nose wheel ) , do we get 1/2” or 1” of extra prop clearance ? I thought it was 1/2” but saw on another post that it’s 2” more in diameter between Sonex and the 5x5.

Concorde wrote:By switching from standard Sonex tires to 5x5 on all 3 wheels (Nose wheel ) , do we get 1/2” or 1” of extra prop clearance ? I thought it was 1/2” but saw on another post that it’s 2” more in diameter between Sonex and the 5x5.

I measured the diameter of the original tires at 290mm vs 330mm for the Airhawks. So 3/4" extra prop clearance is my guess

That looks a lot larger in the picture. I can use all the extra ground clearance that I can get .
Thanks

The 5.00 x 5 tires will raise the prop by about 2" on a tail dragger when siting on its tail on the ground, much less when tail is raised, or on a tri-gear.

David A.

Just a quick note of reference the 5" Air Hawks will NOT fit on the tri-gear nose. The fork is not high enough to accommodate the larger tire without serious modification. Now I have an extra 5" Air Hawk in case one of the mains go as a result of my mistake.

sonex1374 wrote:I use McCreary Air Hawk (Aircraft Spruce PN 06-07710) 5.00x5 4-ply tires and AeroClassic Leak Guard (Aircraft Spruce PN 06-00755). They work well and I recommend them. I changed my first set at 300 hrs and about 500 landings.

Jeff

I purchased the same tires/tubes to go on the Azusa wheels. The tubes that came from sonex had no lock nut on the valve stem whereas the new tube has 2 lock nuts and a washer just hanging loose midstem...the washer and one lock nut toward the tube, the other lock nut toward the valve cap. Did you use the locknuts and washers? I tried to find a datasheet with no success.
Peter

"Ply" is a load rating. You simply don't need 6 ply on a small Sonex. And while the price delta on 4 and 6 has mainly gone away - the weight difference is still there on some brands. No need for (generally) heavier 6 ply.

I remember (almost) reading about aligning the valve stem on the inner tube with a colored dot on the tire to get the balance correct. I just received two new 5 x 5 tires and tubes. The tires have a red dot on the sidewall and another colored dot on the tire bead (I.D. of tire) at different radial. Can anybody shed light on this? Where to place the inner tube fill valve in relation to any marking on the tire?