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What larger tires fit the 4 Place BH without a gear leg fairing modification?

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  • What larger tires fit the 4 Place BH without a gear leg fairing modification?

    I have 7.00x6 tires now. I want to go to larger tires for grass airports that may be soft for one reason or another. What is the largest tire I can run without needing to trim the gear leg fairing? Right now I have 1 inch of clearance. I would like to try the new Dresser 8.5x6 tires but they may be too wide. What are people using today that fit?

    If you have trimmed the gear leg fairing how did you do it? It seems like a messy job given the fabric work required.

    Thanks,
    Mark

  • #2
    I have 850s on mine. There is plenty of room without modification

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    • #3
      What make of tire? I have been looking up the dimensions and the max width varies from tire to tire.

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      • #4
        The only place to be concerned is the little "rib" at the bottom aft of the gear leg. It was a bent up sheet metal part for most of our production, but was later changed by Bob to tubing. I suspect you will be able to go up to an 8.50 tire OK, but perhaps not have room for a big AK Bushwheel. It just depends on the exact positioning of that little rib on the back bottom.

        Cutting into the fabric to cut that off and replace it with a tube is somewhat delicate because of the fabric. But can be done and not look too bad. But does require welding and then a fabric patch. Mark

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        • #5
          Look at the right gear leg Mark, I cut the sheet metal former that Mark mentioned and moved it up to the fairing stiffener above. Carefully cut the fabric along the seam, only what you need to, tack weld with a mig (it's not a structural part) and then reattach the fabric, new tape over the seam, re-shrink and paint. Did both sides in an afternoon. This is more than you will need for 8.50's or 26's but the next former up is a convenient place to go to. The gear legs won't be as aerodynamic but the big tires are a trade off.
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          • #6
            You can run a 26" Goodyear without doing a modification. Even at very low pressure and they never make contact with the fairing, even on the roughest of landing surfaces. These tires are 10 inches wide, and I am using the standard kitset spacers which suit Grove / Cleveland wheels.

            If you want to do the gear fairing modification, the fabric is nothing to worry about. You will find patching is easy enough to do, and takes next to no time. And trust me, if you are adding bigger tires to eventually get into off airport stuff with them, you have to EXPECT to be doing patch jobs pretty regularly. So you could think of it as a practice run in that regard.

            After doing the mod, you can reuse most of your existing fabric by gluing a large patch over the cut away areas, and heat-stretch the fabric tight again. Once painted the patch will still be noticeable if you look carefully, but they look fine - just part of owning a bush plane. Badges of honour.
            Feathering in the new paint is easiest if you used Polytone. Keep the masking tape well away from the painting area, or you will get a paint-ridge when you remove the tape.
            Last edited by Battson; 11-23-2014, 03:23 PM. Reason: Add comment about fabric.

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            • #7
              i had to trim my gear fairing to allow for the 8.50 x 6 tires i am using. i have the cleveland double puck wheels and brakes. the stock gear fairing would cut into the side wall. if you do shorten yours, do it ONCE and allow for whatever tire you might want later. i am not sure if a set of large tundra tires would clear what i did.

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              • Mark Goldberg
                Mark Goldberg commented
                Editing a comment
                Rob, that bottom end "rib" has been replaced a long time ago by a piece of tubing that I think allows most any type of tire. Mark
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