Tire Replacement Based on Years??

sourdough44

sourdough44

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Just thinking about tires a bit, mains, since a new nose went on 3 years ago.

My main tires are coming up at near 9 years, Michelin 600-6, 6 ply. The plane is hangared, the tires look close to excellent. The tread is full, no cracking or checking of any type. The previous owner had a good amount of quiet time while the plane was hangared, half those years.

I recently read the Michelin plane tire guide. They were much more so into inspection rather than just replace based on years. I may shine them up some once the temps warm up a bit.

So the question is, any reason to think about replacement only based on years? I realize that’s the deal often with trailer tires, or very low mile auto tires. Just some thoughts, annual is still a ways out, thanks.
 
Not a mechanic, but if the tread looks good, with no cracking, I’d fly it and wouldn’t see any reason to replace them.
 
OK, I get it. Just bouncing comparisons from fellow pilots, with the Michelin recommendations mixed in.

As I eluded, the manufacturer advice doesn’t mention anything about ‘years’. I had heard pilots mention preemptive changes. That is due to dealing with blown/flat tires while on the road, trying to avoid.

My particular tires are the Michelins, and in fine shape. I do check the air fairly often, I think I will treat them to a shine.
 
Check and change "on condition" like suggested above. Good tread, no cracks, rubber pliable, holding air (other than slight common refills); your likely good.
 
Don’t know about Michelin, but Goodyear aviation tires are replaced on condition not age. They have no time limit as long as you park them on dry pavement, not on oil or fuel.

Completely different from automobile tires, which should be replaced after about 5 or 6 years.
 
On motorcycles it’s 5-years and in the bin.

But there are clearly different requirements in play here.

As a practice I do chuck my tires earlier than most. I have found that 80% of problems seem to occur in the latter 20% of a tire’s life.
 
In the past week I've watched two aircraft on our runway blow a tire.

In one case the guy taxied off the runway with his tire totally flat. He was lucky he didn't do further damage to his ac. He was now stranded a long way from home. I was doing mx on my plane so I couldn't fly him home.

There second plane blew the nose tire and stopped on the runway. A helpful person got a tractor and placed a strap under the nose and lifted the AC just off the ground and began towing it slowly backwards towards the runway exit. For whatever reason something went wrong and the pilot side main gear simply snapped. The was a Bellanca Viking. I don't know the end result but it was ugly.

I had just changed the nose tire on my plane. It was a good lesson for me to not screw around with tires. It cost me less than $100 to replace my tire and about 1 hour of my time.

A lot of things can go wrong if you blow a tire on landing that can far exceed the cost of a new tire.
 
Unless this thing is sitting outside in Death Valley, 3yrs doesn’t really seem like a issue, I’d go off condition.
 
Lndwarrior said:
In the past week I've watched two aircraft on our runway blow a tire.

In one case the guy taxied off the runway with his tire totally flat. He was lucky he didn't do further damage to his ac. He was now stranded a long way from home. I was doing mx on my plane so I couldn't fly him home.

There second plane blew the nose tire and stopped on the runway. A helpful person got a tractor and placed a strap under the nose and lifted the AC just off the ground and began towing it slowly backwards towards the runway exit. For whatever reason something went wrong and the pilot side main gear simply snapped. The was a Bellanca Viking. I don't know the end result but it was ugly.

I had just changed the nose tire on my plane. It was a good lesson for me to not screw around with tires. It cost me less than $100 to replace my tire and about 1 hour of my time.

A lot of things can go wrong if you blow a tire on landing that can far exceed the cost of a new tire.
Click to expand...

Probably was running it low on air and also had a firm landing

Not many folks seem to keep up with their tire pressures
 
Unless they look like this, I'd keep using them.
IMG_2896.JPG
 
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