Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jimmy Young on September 6, 2017 at 7:04pm

Put a tube in it & forget about it. That has worked well for me for 5 yrs now.

Matco is a great outfit. George Happ has taught me just about everything I know with regards to aircraft wheels & brakes. As first-time builders, we're lucky to have access to folks like him.

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Permalink Reply by John Austin on September 6, 2017 at 2:45pm

I've usually had good luck with well-lubed o-rings, but one time I had a rim that simply refused to seal.  I did not want to resort to a tube as I wanted to keep the weight down and useful load up!  I gave it a shot of "Fix-a-Flat" or "Slime," (can't remember which!) and spun it around for a few minutes and it has remained sealed ever since.

John

N750A

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Permalink Reply by Joe Spencer on September 6, 2017 at 5:47pm

John

I carry fixaflat in all my bikes, planes and vehicles. It's saved the day numerous times...rather than change a flat in a driving rain give it some fixaflat. Carry a compressor too. I got a leaking Matco and have so far given it 2 shots of fixaflat. we'll see...

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Permalink Reply by Jim and Amelia Isaacs on September 6, 2017 at 7:36pm

I'm not disparaging Mr. Happ, nor Zenith, but when we've paid $1,135 for a set of wheels and tubeless tires from Zenith, and the Matco instructions include a section on tubeless tires, judging from the responses I'd say there's a problem. It's either a design, material, or installer instructions problem, but Matco and Zenith should get together and solve it. We should not have to put inner tubes or slime or fix a flat in a new aircraft wheel and tire assembly, nor bounce it or hit a tire with a hammer to fix leaks.

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Permalink Reply by Normand Lambert on September 6, 2017 at 8:58pm

HI Charles,

Do you have the Tubeless kit that goes with them ??? Once you've bolted the 2 sides together, there is a big 'O' ring that slips over the joint. Make sure the 'O' ring is where it should be otherwise your rim will always leak. I had one where the 'O' ring got cought between the 2 sides and it was leaking big time.

Anyway, I tried the tubeless route and one rim was always leaking somewhat (slow leak). So, I ordered tubes and I installed them. No more problem.

Make sure the sides fit properly, sanding them smooth where they meet each other might do the trick...

Regards,

Norm

 

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Permalink Reply by Charles Plumery on September 7, 2017 at 7:44am

Thanks to all that have responded, I have fixed the rims the fault lies with me in my haste I didn't think the process through and if I had it would have been self evident.

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Permalink Reply by John Austin on September 7, 2017 at 7:51am

Can you at least give us a hint as to what the problem was?  ;>)

John

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Permalink Reply by Jim and Amelia Isaacs on September 11, 2017 at 1:24am

I hope he does. As a follow up to my situation, removing, inflating, and bouncing the leaking tire at max pressure did not solve the problem. Verified the rim is leaking from the inside where the two wheel halves join, so I'm now shopping for a bead breaker that won't damage those soft rims.

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Permalink Reply by Joe Spencer on September 11, 2017 at 5:53pm

I had tubes in mine for a while and 600x6 6 ply tires for rough off field use. The tubes were heavy duty ones cause that's all I could get on short notice...heavy and expensive. I took those out a while back and got several #s off and intend to sell them. The problem I got with tubes is if operating in the boonies and have a flat we got a bigger problem than if running tubeless.I carry a plug kit and a can of fix a flat...that's worked for me on every motorcycle flat I've had(when running tubeless) and I was back going shortly. Not so if tubeless. So extra weight and money and another potential problem gone when dismounting the tubes.

I had one leaking and just kept pumping it back up with fix a flat and after 3 apps no more leaks.

OTOH, (I haven't done it) if I had a flat and no way to fix it and had to get out I'd just take off on the flat

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Permalink Reply by Joe Spencer on September 11, 2017 at 5:57pm

Jim

I'm not sure why you need a bead breaker...I guess to break the tire loose before splitting the wheel? A big C clamp will break it loose or a shop press or any other number of ways that don't touch the wheel.

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Permalink Reply by John Austin on September 11, 2017 at 6:10pm

Joe,

Did you use 6 ply utility/farm implement tires or "real" aircraft tires?  If utility/farm implement tires, were they a lot heavier than the 4 ply utility tires that Zenith supplies with the kit?

Since I don't need "super STOL" capability, I've been running 600 series 4-ply straight rib tires which are lighter than the 800 series as originally supplied by Zenith.  They work fine but they wear fairly quickly - my mains are getting a little thin after 3 years.  (However, they are only about $75 for three tires!!)  I was thinking a 6 ply might be more durable, but hate to eat into useful load if they are substantially heavier.

John

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Permalink Reply by Joe Spencer on September 11, 2017 at 7:03pm

John

I used 6 ply Mccreary Airhawk a/c tires. 8#2oz each. The 800x6 Carlisle 4 ply as supplied by ZAC weighed 6#8oz and I ran those tubeless. The tubes varied from 1#10 oz to 1#14oz each. So as much as 10# even for the Airhawk/tube combination or 30#/set vs

19#8oz for the Carlisle set. +10#8oz...lotta weight. My 800x6 tires had 400 hours on them and were still ok but I was prepping for a trip to the Utah outback and changed them out.

I wouldn't go to 6 ply unless I had a good reason for it. It sounds like yours are wearing fast maybe you're mostly on pavement? I doubt 6 plies would wear much better if any, just carry more load and more puncture resistant

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