Condor Retread

OkieFlyer

OkieFlyer

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Andrew L.
Picked up a Condor retread from Desser that the A/P shop had sitting around in the back. Anything wrong with those? First time I've had to change airplane tires, so no experience with different brands and whatnot. Got tire and tube for a hunnerd dollar bill. Sounded like a deal to me.
 
It’ll last forever if you ever figure out how to land straight. So that means it’ll prolly last 6 months...snark, snark, snark
 
Six Desser Monsters on Condor cores, no complaints, they love me long time.
 
Roger. Figured they were good tires, but I thought I'd see if there were any pireps. Thank ya.


Clark1961 said:
It’ll last forever if you ever figure out how to land straight. So that means it’ll prolly last 6 months...snark, snark, snark
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I want to disagree, but I can't. ;)
 
Isosceles said:
Sure, it's 25% cost savings, but it's only 90 bucks, why bother????
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Because my last Dessers lasted 12 years, 1254 hours and 1231 landings because the tread is so much thicker. And they weren't even worn out yet, I'm replacing them because they're starting to show signs of dry rotting.

I can't speak from experience on the stock Michelins but I'd bet they would last about half that long. And, if correct, then the savings is over 50% (or 100%, depending whether you have a history of selling shoes or not).
 
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timwinters said:
Because my last Dessers lasted 12 years, 1254 hours and 1231 landings because the tread is so much thicker.
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My Dessers wore out about 3X faster. Of course things like pavement and weight might not have helped.


timwinters said:
they're starting to show signs of dry rotting.
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Don’t know about Desser’s rubber compound, but Goodyear specifically has no age limit for its aviation tires, so long as they are kept dry, not in a puddle of oil, and out of the weather. It’s unlike automobile tires.
 
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Isosceles said:
And a the inner tube is $50 and you have to replace them each
time...
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Is this a hard rule?

I replaced a main tire on my 1985 172 last year. The inner tube was still in perfect condition so I decided to re-use it. I checked it for a date of manufacture, out of interest; and it had been produced in 1984, it was the original tube!

I did put in a new tube.
 
The fact that my inner tube lasted 33 years and was still going strong suggests that maybe the advice is a little on the conservative side.
 
NoHeat said:
I’m not Isosceles, but

see the last paragraph:
https://www.desser.com/images/Aero_Tube_SellSheet.pdf

And page 12
https://www.goodyearaviation.com/resources/pdf/aviation_tire_care_3_2017.pdf
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Manufacture and/or supplier recommendations do not equal "hard rules." Though I personally would never install a new tire without a new tube.

With that said, I turn my tires around every year or two at annual. Using their reasoning I would need to buy new tubes every time I do this and I certainly don't.



....
 
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Well $100 for the tire and tube isn't that far from normal retail.

But here's my .02 on it.

If it's in a trainer or something where you're doing tons of touch and goes on pavement, retreds are just fine, think the 208B and U206 I used to fly had air streak retreds or something like that, we did LOTS of take offs and landings and they were great.

Now if this was on a plane operating on grass, or one that's not seeing a ton of take offs and landings, I'd probably go new, just because I'm going to be rocking those tires for YEARS.



NoHeat said:
I’m not Isosceles, but

see the last paragraph:
https://www.desser.com/images/Aero_Tube_SellSheet.pdf

And page 12
https://www.goodyearaviation.com/resources/pdf/aviation_tire_care_3_2017.pdf
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Hold the phone! So the people trying to sell me tires and tubes say I should buy their products more frequently?! Get out!! Lol


Tube wise I'll replace them with a new tire, or if they get much beyond 5 years, because they are cheap and I take the wheels off for annual anyways.

Also a REALLY good idea to carry a spare tube in your plane and know how to change it.
 
Don't remember where it was, something about a used tube being stretched out too much to be re-installed correctly. Like re-using a crush washer - you can get away with it most but it's not right
 
Here's a reason to avoid retreads...on my Cherokee, the clearance in the wheel fairing is so close, that if I use a retread (the retreads are slightly thicker), it rubs.
 
tawood said:
Here's a reason to avoid retreads...on my Cherokee, the clearance in the wheel fairing is so close, that if I use a retread (the retreads are slightly thicker), it rubs.
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It'll only rub for a little while...
 
Clark1961 said:
It'll only rub for a little while...
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You might want to talk to your AP about that, the wheel pants shouldn't fit that tight, if there's that little clearance and you land on a muddy, snow, etc field you might have a interesting landing.
 
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