Piper Cherokee tire tube

jmarine225

jmarine225

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Jan 19, 2020
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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.
 
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.
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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??
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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.
 
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