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Michelin Air Stop Nosewheel Tube discontinued?

D

dbier99

Well Known Member
I'm looking for a Michelin Air Stop tube for the nosewheel of my RV6A - but am not having any luck finding it a the usual places including Aircraft Spruce. I saw a post here (VAF) from earlier this year from someone else having trouble finding it - so I suspect they discontinued it. Does anyone know for certain?

NOTES:
1) Vans shows the following info for the version they sell: "11/400-5 Aero Classic Inner Tube TR-87" https://store.vansaircraft.com/desser-tube-for-nose-wheel-u-lamb-tube.html
2) Aircraft Spruce sells the Azusa 15-04651 tube - Never heard of them so no idea of quality, but one of the comments indicates the valve stem is offset and won't work with a spit rim set-up like I have.
 
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gasman said:
My nose tube from Van's holds air the same as my airstop mains.
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Good to hear. This has come up for me because last Frday the nose wheel went flat during taxi after a smooth landing and after inspecting the removed tube there was a small tear/hole in the sidewall - which we're guessing was from getting pinched (possibly due to low pressure).

My son and I have only owned the plane for a year and thought we did a decent job of checking air pressures and never noticed them being unusually low but want to take every precaustion to have tubes that hold air as best as possible. We were lucky there was absolutely no damage to the rim or wheel pant and want to minimize the changes of it happeneing again.
 
Do yourself a favor and check pres regularly (every 3-4 months), low pres will always cause a flat, the nose wheel is especially important, low pressure/flat may cause the fork to dig in and contribute to a nose over, if that happens, you're gonna have a really bad day. Before I switched to the tubeless Beringer I would change the wheelbarrow tube every annual.
 
Walt said:
Do yourself a favor and check pres regularly (every 3-4 months), low pres will always cause a flat, the nose wheel is especially important, low pressure/flat may cause the fork to dig in and contribute to a nose over, if that happens, you're gonna have a really bad day. Before I switched to the tubeless Beringer I would change the wheelbarrow tube every annual.
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Absolutely agree with increasing our pressure checks! But you bring up another longer term option - replacing the front wheel/rim with a tubeless configuration. Would love any suggestions you have that could save me some time/mistakes in regards to making that conversion. Did you convert to tubeless on the mains too?
 
dbier99 said:
Absolutely agree with increasing our pressure checks! But you bring up another longer term option - replacing the front wheel/rim with a tubeless configuration. Would love any suggestions you have that could save me some time/mistakes in regards to making that conversion. Did you convert to tubeless on the mains too?
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Beringer nose wheel, Michelin tire/tubes in the mains.
 
Tubes with tubeless type nose tire

Many decades of riding and racing motorcycles the strong advice was DO NOT use tubes inside tubeless tires. Maybe “Old Wives Tale”?

The 11/400-5 8-Ply Aero Classic Nose Gear Tire for RV-6A/7A/8A/9A from Van’s is a tubeless tire. It’s my belief that the inside of the tubeless nose is not intended to be used with a tube. I’ve seen multiple RV tubeless nose tires where the tube has worn the inside of the tire until the cord is exposed which then pinches the tube causing a flat.

I switched to a Beringer nose wheel that supported tubeless operation after having a flat nose tire at KSEA due to the cord pinching the tube.
(My temporary repair at KSEA was to line the inside of the damaged tire with the old tube and then install a new tube.)

I wish Matco made tubeless main wheels for -3, -4, -6, -7, -8, -9 and -14.

Regards,
 
Roy Thoma said:
Many decades of riding and racing The 11/400-5 8-Ply Aero Classic Nose Gear Tire for RV-6A/7A/8A/9A from Van’s is a tubeless tire. It’s my belief that the inside of the tubeless nose is not intended to be used with a tube. I’ve seen multiple RV tubeless nose tires where the tube has worn the inside of the tire until the cord is exposed which then pinches the tube causing a flat.

I switched to a Beringer nose wheel that supported tubeless operation after having a flat nose tire at KSEA due to the cord pinching the tube.
(My temporary repair at KSEA was to line the inside of the damaged tire with the old tube and then install a new tube.)
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Good info! I noticed the Vans supplied tire was designated as tubeless. I'm going to look into the Beringer conversion option.
 
Grove used to make a tubeless nose wheel as well. They make a great product if you have trouble finding the Beringer.
 
dbier99 said:
Good to hear. This has come up for me because last Frday the nose wheel went flat during taxi after a smooth landing and after inspecting the removed tube there was a small tear/hole in the sidewall - which we're guessing was from getting pinched (possibly due to low pressure).

My son and I have only owned the plane for a year and thought we did a decent job of checking air pressures and never noticed them being unusually low but want to take every precaustion to have tubes that hold air as best as possible. We were lucky there was absolutely no damage to the rim or wheel pant and want to minimize the changes of it happeneing again.
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Besides the good advice to check the pressure often, I found that LOTS of talc/baby powder between the tube and the tire are the secret. I had several flats in the first couple hundred hours, and none since copiously using the powder. Without the powder, the tire sidewall seems to progressively stretch the sidewall of the tube until failure, which appears as a crack in the tube.
 
I have been inspecting and maintaining RV’s for decades.
The two primary causes of nose wheel flat tires is lack of enough talc and operating with too low of air pressure.
I don’t believe it has anything to do with a tube inside of a tubeless rated tire.
Keep in mind there are THOUSANDS of these airplanes flying with a tube in the nose tire. The number of flats that seem to occur in the fleet are a small percentage of the total.
If it was directly related to a tube in a tubeless tire. It would be a chronic problem.
 
Leakguard tubes for nose wheel....
spruce.JPG
https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/lgpages/aeroClassic2t_06-00716.php
 
gasman said:
Grove has them....

View attachment 48205
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Indeed, but only for the nose.

I’ve had a Beringer on the nose for about 9 yrs, remarkable improvement in performance, reliability and maintenance when compared to the original. Makes me loath the old school main wheels.

But I don’t think there is a tubeless/sealed bearing replacement option for the main wheels, short of a full Beringer wheel and brake conversion. That’s why I think it’d be hugely popular, if Matco or anyone produced it.
 
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Grove also makes a tubeless rim for the mains, the trouble is finding a tubeless 6 ply 5.00x5 tire for them last time I checked.
 
Walt said:
Grove also makes a tubeless rim for the mains, the trouble is finding a tubeless 6 ply 5.00x5 tire for them last time I checked.
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Thanks Walt. Having trouble finding a 5 inch tubeless Grove main wheel online, can only find 6 inch, does anyone have a link?
 
dbier99 said:
I almost missed this post about the Leakguard tube being avaialble for my nose wheel - Thanks! However, based on the product comments it's unclear if the tube has a centered or offset valve stem - so I will do some more digging to find out.
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Not the same as a Michelin leak guard... and definitely not the same quality.
 
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Walt said:
Not the same as a Michelin leak guard...
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I think I'm getting cross-eyed with all the reading/searcing I've been doing. So...
1) The good Michelin tubes are called AirStop, not LeakGuard - correct?
2) Michelin AirStop tubes do not appear to be made in the size I need for my RV6A's nosewheel (11/400-5)
3) The LeakGuard tubes listed at Aircraft Spruce for $43 are made by Aero Classic
4) The synthetic rubber nosewheel tubes sold by Vans (https://store.vansaircraft.com/desser-tube-for-nose-wheel-u-lamb-tube.html) also appear to be made by AeroClassic - but are only $16. Anyone know if they are the same tube or if the one called LeakGuard and sold by AS is better quality?
I'm willing to pay more for a tube that is less apt to lose air over time.
 
dbier99 said:
I think I'm getting cross-eyed with all the reading/searcing I've been doing. So...
1) The good Michelin tubes are called AirStop, not LeakGuard - correct?
2) Michelin AirStop tubes do not appear to be made in the size I need for my RV6A's nosewheel (11/400-5)
3) The LeakGuard tubes listed at Aircraft Spruce for $43 are made by Aero Classic
4) The synthetic rubber nosewheel tubes sold by Vans (https://store.vansaircraft.com/desser-tube-for-nose-wheel-u-lamb-tube.html) also appear to be made by AeroClassic - but are only $16. Anyone know if they are the same tube or if the one called LeakGuard and sold by AS is better quality?
I'm willing to pay more for a tube that is less apt to lose air over time.
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Van's tube is used in thousands of RV's. I need to fill mine twice a year and is MUCH easier than the mains.

Purchase this... https://www.oreillyauto.com/search/v/a/145142/automotive-truck-2018-ram-1500?q=tire+talc and powder a generis amount in the tire and work it around so it is well coated. Do the same to the tube. It's over kill to do both, but it's the best thing you can do for the tube... short of keeping the pressure correct.

On my RV6A, I fill the mains to 40#. And the nose 45#.

I know people that run this $16 nose tube in their mains, and have been doing it for years. I don't recommend it. Just saying.
 
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