Piper Cherokee tire tube

jmarine225

jmarine225

Pre-takeoff checklist
Joined
Jan 19, 2020
Messages
241
Display Name
Display name:
Jmarine225
Recently had a flight tire while in the hangar. Found a pin sized hole in the tube. New Aerostar tube ordered and repaired. Total costs was $389.00 for a new tube and labor. Seems an astronomical price for a flat tire. Anyone have a comparison??
 
Michelin tubes are 150.00. Add a bit of markup and a couple hours labor and you realize why i do them myself.
 
jmarine225 said:
Recently had a flight tire while in the hangar. Found a pin sized hole in the tube. New Aerostar tube ordered and repaired. Total costs was $389.00 for a new tube and labor. Seems an astronomical price for a flat tire. Anyone have a comparison??
Click to expand...
You meant to say AeroClassic, perhaps?
 
I’m a firm believer in Airstops and have had a few problems with AeroClassics, including a brand new one with a hole in it(replaced by Spruce, reluctantly). I talked with Desser at OSH and they suggested keeping their AeroClassics filled around 30-35psi, which is above book for my Warrior but what I do these days. Have never had problems with Airstops.

Changing tires/tubes on Cherokees is pretty easy. A scissor jack under the “knuckle” of the axle makes jacking simple (I undo the brake caliper to move it out of the way - probably not 100% necessary).

Also, I carry a spare tube with me on the road (one for the mains and one for the nose - different sizes)
 
The aeroclassic "leakguard" tubes are somewhat well known for developing that pinhole. It seems like none of the other brands have that problem.

Airplane tubes are unreasonably, outrageously, insanely, stupidly, infuriatingly expensive.

A garden tractor tube the same size is $10. My big farm tractors, with tires taller than me, take tubes that cost less than my 6.00x6 airplane tires. I can find no reason for it other than that's the market will bear. The barrier to new competitors entering the market is just too high.

$400 is about what it cost me last time I got caught with my pants down and had to buy a tube locally. I think the tube was 3/4 of that. I try to keep one on hand, anything but aeroclassic. The same company the makes "airhawk" tires, which i really like, sell an "air trac" tube now for $100. That's what I bought last time. Might suck too, for all I know, but I have a real hard time swallowing $300 for a $10 tube.
 
Jim K said:
Airplane tubes are unreasonably, outrageously, insanely, stupidly, infuriatingly expensive.
Click to expand...
Everything in aviation is wildly overpriced. Some of that is the costs of development and certification, but I suspect (and agree with you) that mostly it's because they are charging every penny that a fairly captive market is willing and able to bear. $800 for an LED light?

Medicine is even worse. Back in med school, I remember participating in a surgery once to remove some dude's gallbladder. One of the endoscopic items used for the actual removal was essentially a snack-size Ziplock on a plastic stick. Fairly sure that item was like $5000 and we had to use two of them because the first one didn't work properly.
 
FWIW: this is one of those parts that can be squeezed into AC 23-27 to use an alternate tube on older aircraft. Stick with a quality tube produced under an SAE or ASTM standard and any knowledgeable mechanic should have no problem signing off as a minor alteration. Finding the right size tube and valve stem configuration can be an issue at times.
 
jmarine225 said:
Recently had a flight tire while in the hangar. Found a pin sized hole in the tube. New Aerostar tube ordered and repaired. Total costs was $389.00 for a new tube and labor. Seems an astronomical price for a flat tire. Anyone have a comparison??
Click to expand...
here in WY where there's more cows than people, that would be $125 for the tube plus one hour labor
 
I’ve had a number of tire issues, but now on a lucky streak. Haha. I keep a nose and main spare in the baggage compartment. One time I got a replacement tube and tire and I cannot remember if it was $300 or $500. Probably $500. Install labor and towing included.
 
Just yesterday I bought two new 6.00-6 tires and tubes from a local flight school for $535. They even threw in a bag of tire talc! Im too stubborn and cheap to pay an A&P for something I can do. My labor including driving to the airport, pulling the wheels and setting the axles on wooden blocks, driving home to change the tires and tubes and driving back to the airport was 3 hours. The worst part was finding that the tires and tubes I had for my kit plane wouldnt work on my 172 wheels, so I called around trying to find the right stuff, then driving 30 minutes each way to fetch it. I could have done it cheaper probably, had I planned better and shopped around, but then I'd pay tax and shipping, so im pretty happy with the results.
 
sansoneservices said:
here in WY where there's more cows than people, that would be $125 for the tube plus one hour labor
Click to expand...


I could see that if the mechanic used the perfectly fine inner tube that the last owner insisted be replaced simply because he had his worn out tires replaced. The mechanic then has $0 cost in the inner tube, sells it to new buyer for $25, charges an hour labor at $100, and does the job in 20 minutes. The added benefit is the owner that is AOG needing a new tube needs not to wait for overnight delivery of a brand new one.


Or that’s what I’d offer if I owned a maintenance shop.
 
Hey man, $14 is, like, two gallons of 100LL! My wife married a feller, not a Rockefeller!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top