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TUNDRA TYRES

A

Andrew Griffin

Member
Does anyone know if Tundra tyres (or another type of large tyre) has been installed on an RV?

No - I don't want to fly onto gravel bars or anything like that.

I live in Austrlia and do a fair bit of hunting on a friends cattle property. There are plenty of places to land that are slightly unimproved and I wouldn't mind the extra protecion of larger tyres for when I go hunting/camping. We're not talking really rough ground, just ground thats a little rougher than your average dirt/grass strip.

If anyone has pic's, info or opinions that would be great.
 
Jay Shannon had 6:00 X 6 wheels & tires on his first -9. As far as I know, he never had a problem with them.
 
Years ago, Van's experimented with 6.00x6 tires and wheels on an RV-6. They called it "Bigfoot". The story I heard later was that they didn't notice any significant difference in rough field performance so gave up on the idea.

Karl
 
Check with Michael Ice. He is building a -9 up in Alaska and had a custom pair of gear legs made so he could fit tundra tires (tyres for the rest of the world).

He is not going to fly with tundra tires but the larger axels were needed for the wheels he hopes to install. I seem to remember he said he was going to use 6" wheels and that mandated the larger axles, but I'm not sure.
 
Larger tires

Goodyear mades a Flight Custom tire, size 380x150/15x6.0-5, that works great. It fits directly on a 5.00x5 rim and uses a standard 5.00x5 tube. Its comes in a 6 ply rating. The tire has a larger rolling radius and much wider shoulder than the standard 5.00x5. I will be using it on my RV-6 and it looks like it will fit under Van's wheel pans without any big modification.
Blue skies,
Chuck Brietigam
in the seventh year of building an RV-6
 
Tundra Tires

Hello,

I am the guy that Bill mentioned in Alaska that is going to install larger wheels and tires on a RV-9.

I contacted Harmon Lang, the gent that makes Van's gear and had him make me a pair of gear legs with a one inch longer axle. I then asked Robbie Grove for a set of 6" wheels, same wheels that Cubs use. I also have a different tail sping and tail wheel assembly on order (should be here any day).

Where I live the words Tundra Tires conjure up a different mental image than 8:50 X 6's. Tundra tires are usually 25 to 35" in diameter, try Google for Alaska Bush Wheels to see what I mean.

I will be operating off of lots of gravel strips, I will even be operating off of some beaches, so a little larger tire makes sense for me. How large? I don't really know for sure right now but maybe 6:00 0r 7:00 X 6.

Wheel pants will still fit but if not there are gravel deflectors available or they can be made.

What ever, be safe, have fun, :)

Mike Ice
RV-9
Firewall Forward
Anchorage, Alaska
 
Mike Ice said:
Hello,

I am the guy that Bill mentioned in Alaska that is going to install larger wheels and tires on a RV-9.

I contacted Harmon Lang, the gent that makes Van's gear and had him make me a pair of gear legs with a one inch longer axle. I then asked Robbie Grove for a set of 6" wheels, same wheels that Cubs use. I also have a different tail sping and tail wheel assembly on order (should be here any day).

Where I live the words Tundra Tires conjure up a different mental image than 8:50 X 6's. Tundra tires are usually 25 to 35" in diameter, try Google for Alaska Bush Wheels to see what I mean.

I will be operating off of lots of gravel strips, I will even be operating off of some beaches, so a little larger tire makes sense for me. How large? I don't really know for sure right now but maybe 6:00 0r 7:00 X 6.

Wheel pants will still fit but if not there are gravel deflectors available or they can be made.

What ever, be safe, have fun, :)

Mike Ice
RV-9
Firewall Forward
Anchorage, Alaska
Click to expand...
That is my EXACT plan with my -7. Either 6.00x6 with wheelpants or 8.00x6 with deflectors.
 
Bigger, much bigger!

Hmmm...So... what if someone went with a 20 inch (give or take) tyre? What would it look like? What would the the performance numbers look like? slower naturally. How much slower? Obviously wheel pants would be out of the question.

I would consider doing it, But I'm nowhere near that stage.


Jeff
 
The Little Wheel

Up here in the semi-frozen somewhat north, whistle pig holes can swallow the dinky tailwheel, leading to a crushed rudder fairing or worse, while the 5x5s will roll across with mostly a lurch, not close to a nose-over. These are the same size tires on 172 noses, not a problem unless you get cavalier about strip roughness. Installed fairings really get beaten up. There's about 2" between the fairing and a smooth surface, so even a little depression can lead to dinged and cracked fairings, let alone the possibility of wedging pebbles in the clearance gap. If most of your flying will be off rough fields, I say bare tires and deflectors are the way to go, and you'll have to accept consequential missile damage. The tailwheel is the limiting factor, not just for hole bridging, but also it must be lowered to compensate for taller mains' affect on ground attitude.

John Siebold
Boise, ID
 
Oversize tires

Certainly not tundra, not even as big as my Supercub, but I am putting overize tires on my -4. If you scroll down to the 24th Oct '06 and further down to 4th Aug. you can see details, here.
 
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