Air Pressure: 8.00x6 Tires

[PapuaPilot]

Is anybody using 8.50 x 6.00 tires? That is what came with my plane. What pressure do our use in them?

[airlina]

Phil, I started out with 8.50s on my Outback but didn't like them for a couple reasons. They sure looked cool but they weighed alot (as I recall I saved 14 lbs-7 per side ) just by going down one size to 8.00x6. With the IO-240 up front, weight savings anywhere you can get it is helpful. And they sure didn't like pavement-because they weighed so much it takes a bit to spin(that inertia thing) them up on landing so you get some directional control excursions on touchdown that always had me sitting up a bit taller on hard surface landings. Going down to 8's hasn't affected where I can land , (mostly grass) and they handle much better on pavement. Sold my 8.50's on Barnstormeres and they went quick. Theres another guy on this site who had a similar opinion on his experience with 8.50's and he sized down to 6.00 as i recall. (you out there Jeff?) I used 20 lbs on the 8.50's when I had them. Bruce

[Av8r3400]

You guys probably already figured this out, but I meant 21x8.00-6 tires...

I have a set of tubeless Grove wheels for my Mangy project and I'm planning to run the same tires there. I don't think I'll go less than 10 psi with that setup, either.

[n85ae]

That would be me Bruce. I'd highly recommend 8.50's to anybody who flies
off pavement a lot, and a has a desire to really fine tune their rudder pedal
skills .... In fact that's where "Whoa Baby!", and "Phew!" became part of
my regular vocabulary

I have 6.00's which I use most of the time for pavement now, sold the 8.50's,
and have a set of 8.00's in the hanger ready to try out this summer.

Regards,
Jeff

Phil, I started out with 8.50s on my Outback but didn't like them for a couple reasons. They sure looked cool but they weighed alot (as I recall I saved 14 lbs-7 per side ) just by going down one size to 8.00x6. With the IO-240 up front, weight savings anywhere you can get it is helpful. And they sure didn't like pavement-because they weighed so much it takes a bit to spin(that inertia thing) them up on landing so you get some directional control excursions on touchdown that always had me sitting up a bit taller on hard surface landings. Going down to 8's hasn't affected where I can land , (mostly grass) and they handle much better on pavement. Sold my 8.50's on Barnstormeres and they went quick. Theres another guy on this site who had a similar opinion on his experience with 8.50's and he sized down to 6.00 as i recall. (you out there Jeff?) I used 20 lbs on the 8.50's when I had them. Bruce

[beeryboats]

Sounds like my educated guess of starting at 25psi wasn't too far off. What do you guys think I should run with my 21" Nanco smoothies? 10psi?
Jay

[Slyfox]

yes, I've used that for years

[Timberwolf]

You guys probably already figured this out, but I meant 21x8.00-6 tires...

I have a set of tubeless Grove wheels for my Mangy project and I'm planning to run the same tires there. I don't think I'll go less than 10 psi with that setup, either.

Are these the same tires you are talking about?
http://www.desser.com/store/products...NDRA-TIRE.html

If so I'd be interested to hear actual height and how they perform?

[Av8r3400]

Yup. Those are what I run. I like them very much.

They are plenty large for the strips I fly into yet they have enough carcass to handle pavement. Plus they cost a fraction of what the "big" tires cost and will last me many times as long.

The diameter of these was nearly exactly the same as my 21x12-8 ATV tires were. I can inflate them to 25 psi for about 22" diameter or at 10 psi for about 20" working diameter (factoring in the "squish" at the bottom).

[Timberwolf]

Awesome. Thanks. Been trying to find information as these are essentially the same size as 8.5's without the price tag.

Seems like most people are running anywhere from 10-25psi in tires around this range without any issues. But the few I've seen that try to run the single digits typically end up with sheared valve stems and a bad day

[Av8r3400]

These are far, far lighter than 8.50s, too!

As a rule I keep to 12 psi with tubes on my current plane. I have the tubeless wheels for my project and may experiment with a bit less on those.