Wheel to Wheel distance change

[Chet]

I put 8.50s on my Bearhawk 4-place and it jacked the nose up a little more than I was comfortable with. I had my shop widen the wheel distance from 72 inches to 74 inches (tread center to tread center) and grease pad check it. Does this reduce my gear travel too much to be safe. It did give me a little better over the nose visibility. Thanks for the thoughts.

[Battson]

How did the shop widen the track?
There is a safety notice about this, the maximum track width has been specified.
You will need to review that notice before flying the plane again.

[zkelley2]

And to that do you really need 850s? Most people don't.

[Mark Goldberg]

Bob says 74" is the max gear spread only at gross weight. If you have the gear set at 74" with the plane light - that is not good. You stand the risk of over stressing the gear. You should stick with 72". I found that bigger tires do limit visibility as the nose is higher. But no change in ground handling that I could feel. Mark

[Chet]

Thanks guys. I will have the shop set it back to 72 inches. I have been flying for a year with it at 74 inches with no perceptible problems. I do need the 8.50s since I fly backcountry in New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Arizona. They were an improvement over the 8.00s and 7.00s I used to run. Thanks, Chet

[Bcone1381]

I would bet in 10 hours and 50 landings you won’t even think about the visibility issue.