Do you routinely balance aircraft wheels? (poll)

[FastEddieB]

I was in the process of balancing my Sky Arrow wheels after installing new tubes.

A fellow stopped by and noted that he had never done that and had never had a problem. Said tires were marked with a dot and as long as that aligned with the valve stem he was good to go.

Over a handful of aircraft I've owned, I have noticed shaking, mainly after takeoff, from unbalanced wheels. Hence I always check mine when installing a new tire or tube.

I use a handy device called a "Beemer Balancer", designed for motorcycles but perfect for aircraft wheels as well.

Its not unusual to need weights, as I did today:

So, just curious...

 

[mondtster]

Looks like you put a retread tire on it? If so, I would balance them. The only wheels/tires I’ve personally felt shake after takeoff were all retreads. It might just be a coincidence, but on the other hand maybe not.

I can probably count on one hand how many times I’ve seen an aircraft wheel and tire balanced. It doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be, it just means many don’t. As a general rule of thumb I don’t bother balancing unless a shake or vibration is noted.

I just balanced a motorcycle tire using the same method yesterday. It works well.

 

[FastEddieB]

Looks like you put a retread tire on it? If so, I would balance them. The only wheels/tires I’ve personally felt shake after takeoff were all retreads. It might just be a coincidence, but on the other hand maybe not...

Yeah, these are Desser Monster retreads. That are wearing like iron.

Incidentally, just installing a new tube and reversing the tire on the rim (keeping the valve stem in the same relative location) allowed me to remove three out of four 7gm wheel weights to balance the other wheel. On the one in the photo I had to add 7 gms.

 

[GLMS_NC]

After new tube or tire install, always balance.

 

[Tom-D]

As a general rule of thumb I don’t bother balancing unless a shake or vibration is noted.

Very normal,,if it ain't broke...>

 

[timwinters]

We reverse my tires at every annual for even wear (monster retreads) and then we balance them.

 

[Tom-D]

We reverse my tires at every annual for even wear (monster retreads) and then we balance them.

You should fix your aircraft so it wears tires evenly.

 

[FastEddieB]

I think even a properly aligned landing gear will tend to wear the tire treads on the outside edge.

Why? Because in a crosswind, one generally will land upwind wing down. Hence the outer portion will routinely touch down first, bearing the brunt of the wear from a crosswind landing.

At least such has been my experience.

 

[timwinters]

You should fix your aircraft so it wears tires evenly.

Why? Because in a crosswind,

Additionally, the older Cessnas have spring gear. The gear bows down in flight because it isn't "loaded." When landing, the gear "loads" and spreads. As it spreads, it scrubs the outside half of the tire as the tire travels "sideways" so to speak. The outside half wears more because of this loading action, it's really not that difficult of a freakin' concept to grasp.

And I repack my bearings at every annual anyway, so why not spin the tires around and balance them? It takes me maybe 30 additional minutes.

As you all may recall from this thread: https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/com...ew-monster-retreads-from-desser-today.107945/ My last set of Monsters lasted for 12 years, 1254 hours and 1231 landings.

Considering that longevity, I serious doubt that I have alignment issues as Tom says I do from six states away.

 

[JAWS]

Always the nose wheel.
Used to use an old dynamic balancer that worked well.

 

[James331]

For STOL GA stuff, shy of being super bored, no.

 

[BillTIZ]

After new tube or tire install, always balance.

I’ve never balanced a small aircraft tire. Pay attention to the dot and press on.
You spend time balancing the tire, next renter flat spots it, it is now out of balance.
Most of the time I’ve noticed tire vibration issues, it had been flat spotted.

 

[BillTIZ]

I think even a properly aligned landing gear will tend to wear the tire treads on the outside edge.

Why? Because in a crosswind, one generally will land upwind wing down. Hence the outer portion will routinely touch down first, bearing the brunt of the wear from a crosswind landing.

At least such has been my experience.

Most of my landings are crosswind, especially with the Pawnee. Outer tread wears down in about 6 months. It’s about time to rotate the tires.

 

[GLMS_NC]

I’ve never balanced a small aircraft tire. Pay attention to the dot and press on.
You spend time balancing the tire, next renter flat spots it, it is now out of balance.
Most of the time I’ve noticed tire vibration issues, it had been flat spotted.

Not me. I have had brand new tubes and tires require balancing before landing number one. And the dot process didn't work. Takes so little time and the strut and shimmy damper thank you.

 

[Timbeck2]

Most of my landings are crosswind, especially with the Pawnee. Outer tread wears down in about 6 months. It’s about time to rotate the tires.

How do you figure? The only thing you're doing is making the tire rotate backwards from where it was, but the wear is still the same. In order to "rotate" the tire for more even wear is to remove the tube and turn the red dot around to the "wrong" side opposite of the valve stem.

 

[Timbeck2]

Additionally, the older Cessnas have spring gear. The gear bows down in flight because it isn't "loaded." When landing, the gear "loads" and spreads. As it spreads, it scrubs the outside half of the tire as the tire travels "sideways" so to speak. The outside half wears more because of this loading action, it's really not that difficult of a freakin' concept to grasp.

And I repack my bearings at every annual anyway, so why not spin the tires around and balance them? It takes me maybe 30 additional minutes.

As you all may recall from this thread: https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/com...ew-monster-retreads-from-desser-today.107945/ My last set of Monsters lasted for 12 years, 1254 hours and 1231 landings.

Considering that longevity, I serious doubt that I have alignment issues as Tom says I do from six states away.

How is taking one main tire and placing it on the other side going to fix wearing on the outside of the tire? It is still wearing on the outside, its just turning backwards from where it was. Only way to make the tire wear on the inside is to turn the tube around.

 

[Timbeck2]

We reverse my tires at every annual for even wear (monster retreads) and then we balance them.

By "reverse" if you mean taking the wheel apart and putting the valve on the opposite side of the tire from whence it came, then disregard the above.

 

[Stewartb]

The back country operator’s perspective. I’ve never balanced an airplane wheel. Other than for 850s on my wheel skis I haven’t flown anything but Bushwheels for close to 20 years. Not only are Bushwheels unbalanced but sometimes they aren’t perfectly round. No big deal on gravel and other unimproved surfaces and no big deal at the speeds my Cessna or Cub operate at when on the ground. Balancing would be a waste of time.

 

[Stewartb]

By "reverse" if you mean taking the wheel apart and putting the valve on the opposite side of the tire from whence it came, then disregard the above.

What? Don’t your valve stems come out of the wheel, not the tire? Turning the tire is common to even out tread wear, even with Bushwheels where the valve is in the tire. To do it requires disassembly of the wheel so being that I don’t get much tread wear on loose surfaces I don’t bother with it.

 

[Timbeck2]

When you quote somebody, read the quote. I said opposite side of the tire. I never said anything about where the valve stem comes out. Kind of a stretch to think otherwise. Maybe it is semantics but rotating the tires from one side of the plane to the other isn't going to even out wear issues. Rotating the tire on the wheel will.

 

[Dan Thomas]

Additionally, the older Cessnas have spring gear. The gear bows down in flight because it isn't "loaded." When landing, the gear "loads" and spreads. As it spreads, it scrubs the outside half of the tire as the tire travels "sideways" so to speak. The outside half wears more because of this loading action, it's really not that difficult of a freakin' concept to grasp.

Many pilots often touch down in a bit of a crab. And many pilots touch down at a higher speed than necessary. Both of these, especially together, will scrub off that outer tread.

 

[Dan Thomas]

I’ve never balanced a small aircraft tire. Pay attention to the dot and press on.
You spend time balancing the tire, next renter flat spots it, it is now out of balance.
Most of the time I’ve noticed tire vibration issues, it had been flat spotted.

You might get away with the mains unbalanced, especially if you don't care about the vibration. But nosewheels need dynamic balancing to stop the massive wear to steering components that happens when shimmy is a chronic problem. Like I have pointed out many times before, shimmy is primarily a dynamic imbalance issue, NOT a shimmy damper or steering component wear issue. Automobile tires used to shimmy a lot when I was a kid and they only got static balancing. When dynamic balancing came along, it changed everything. And it reduced the wear on the tires and steering stuff.

I used to balance those nosewheels, and even with worn components the shimmy stopped.

 

[Kenny Phillips]

When you quote somebody, read the quote. I said opposite side of the tire. I never said anything about where the valve stem comes out. Kind of a stretch to think otherwise. Maybe it is semantics but rotating the tires from one side of the plane to the other isn't going to even out wear issues. Rotating the tire on the wheel will.

I think that saying "flip the tire on the wheel" would get the point across to me, as "rotating" is its normal job.

 

[flyingbrit]

You might get away with the mains unbalanced, especially if you don't care about the vibration. But nosewheels need dynamic balancing to stop the massive wear to steering components that happens when shimmy is a chronic problem. Like I have pointed out many times before, shimmy is primarily a dynamic imbalance issue, NOT a shimmy damper or steering component wear issue. Automobile tires used to shimmy a lot when I was a kid and they only got static balancing. When dynamic balancing came along, it changed everything. And it reduced the wear on the tires and steering stuff.

I used to balance those nosewheels, and even with worn components the shimmy stopped.

So how do you dynamically balance a nosewheel? The balancer in the OP looks like a static balancer, as are the "bubble balancers".

 

[SoCal RV Flyer]

I think even a properly aligned landing gear will tend to wear the tire treads on the outside edge.

Why? Because in a crosswind, one generally will land upwind wing down. Hence the outer portion will routinely touch down first, bearing the brunt of the wear from a crosswind landing.

At least such has been my experience.

Look at pictures of fixed-gear planes in flight. On many (especially those with spring gear), the mains have noticeable positive camber, so it's inevitable that the outside edges will wear more quickly. That initial "chirp" when you first touch down has gotta burn a lot more rubber than simply taxiing along, when the weight of the plane compresses the gear and reduces positive camber.

It was pretty obvious when I was fitting the wheel pants, as weight has to be off the gear to align pants correctly to the airstream.

I got an extra 60-70 hours out of my mains by "rotating them," or more correctly, de-mounting each main tire and swapping them side-to-side, keeping the direction of rotation the same.

 

[Tom-D]

Look at pictures of fixed-gear planes in flight. On many (especially those with spring gear),
View attachment 66887

When the weight is on the spring gear, it is supposed to be vertical, and directly ahead, + 1 degree out, 0 Degrees in. with the aircraft in a level attitude and weighted to gross weight,
When this is correct on a taildragger with the tail down will create a slight toe out appearance and a wear pattern of inboard tread wearing first.

 

[Dan Thomas]

When the weight is on the spring gear, it is supposed to be vertical, and directly ahead, + 1 degree out, 0 Degrees in. with the aircraft in a level attitude and weighted to gross weight,
When this is correct on a taildragger with the tail down will create a slight toe out appearance and a wear pattern of inboard tread wearing first.

Those numbers do not appy to all airplanes. The service manual specific to the airplane will have the relevant numbers. Some taildraggers call for a bit of toe-in, for instance. Rolling resistance and braking forces are part of the engineering behind it all.

 

[Dan Thomas]

So how do you dynamically balance a nosewheel? The balancer in the OP looks like a static balancer, as are the "bubble balancers".

Yes, that's a static balancer. You can buy appropriate dynamic balancers made for motorcycle wheels and adapt them to aircraft. Or you can find an ancient mechanical dynamic balancer like I did and convert it. Or you can build your own like I did after I changed jobs and needed another machine. Or you can learn, with some practice, to do it manually, though it takes much longer. You remove all the grease from the bearings and put them in the wheel and run the axle and spacers together, hold the ends of the axle and keep the spacers against the bearings, and hold that wheel against a wire wheel and spin it. You can feel static imbalance (both hands shake up and down together) and dynamic (one hand shakes more than the other and the wheel can be seen to wobble). Now you start fooling with lead weights and some little blocks of high-density foam to hold them in place, and do it again. Wear eye protection, for Pete's sake, since wire wheels spit their wires sometimes and the lead weights might decide to fly out. You don't need the wheel spinning at all that much speed, either. Add/subract weights, experiment with placement on both sides, and after a half-hour or less you can often get it spinning as smooth as silk. Stick the weights on firmly, cleaning the wheel beforehand. You don't want them falling off and becoming FOD. Sure, it takes time, expensive time, but what is the cost of new steering parts? What are the costs of fixing instruments and radios that don't appreciate being vibrated like that? Or a whole nosewheel leg that works itself loose on the airframe? Or the tire that rapidly wears out?

 

[timwinters]

By "reverse" if you mean taking the wheel apart and putting the valve on the opposite side of the tire from whence it came, then disregard the above.

By saying "reverse" and "spin the tires around", I meant turn them around on the wheel, not rotate.

 

[Tom-D]

Those numbers do not appy to all airplanes. The service manual specific to the airplane will have the relevant numbers. Some taildraggers call for a bit of toe-in, for instance. Rolling resistance and braking forces are part of the engineering behind it all.

They do that to compensate for the tail down attitude. where the most of the taxi wear occurs
My post above was in response to the picture which was a taildragger, tricycle gear is a different procedure.

 

[Tarheelpilot]

When you quote somebody, read the quote. I said opposite side of the tire. I never said anything about where the valve stem comes out. Kind of a stretch to think otherwise. Maybe it is semantics but rotating the tires from one side of the plane to the other isn't going to even out wear issues. Rotating the tire on the wheel will.

When pilots reference rotating tires it means on the wheel, Not the airplane. All of the ag aircraft I flew required tire rotation to get full use of the tires.

 

[Timbeck2]

By saying "reverse" and "spin the tires around", I meant turn them around on the wheel, not rotate.

Roger. I think I realized that after I posted.

 

[Timbeck2]

When pilots reference rotating tires it means on the wheel, Not the airplane. All of the ag aircraft I flew required tire rotation to get full use of the tires.

Some pilots. Its obvious after reading flying forums that a lot of pilots don't know a hill of beans about their aircraft. I read one the other day of a guy complaining about "fluid" near his right main and was wondering if it was hydraulic fluid, brake fluid or fuel.

 

[Tarheelpilot]

Some pilots. Its obvious after reading flying forums that a lot of pilots don't know a hill of beans about their aircraft. I read one the other day of a guy complaining about "fluid" near his right main and was wondering if it was hydraulic fluid, brake fluid or fuel.

There’s that

 

[Tom-D]

Remembering that balance is a weight over a moment thing, most 5 & 6 inch wheels and tires don't have enough moment to generate much shake.

Until they get really bad.