runway surfaces and tire wear.

[Dan]

Our airport has a new 5600' concrete runway and it proving to be very hard on tires. It doesnt take long to spot a landing gear allignment problem. I woundering how (if possible) the gear on a cessna 206 or 182 can be realligned and re-cambered to stop the premature destruction of tires on this very coarse surface. Also have a Warrior thats doing this too.
Seems the wear always occurs on the outside of the tire. Ive never heard anything about it or anyone doing this and havent seen anything in the manuals on changing this. I would assume its done with shims if it can be done.

[wxwatcher]

Dan,

Wear on the outside of the tires on a Cessna would appear to be normal due to the type of landing gear they have. The spring steel setup droops a bit when the airplane is airbourne. The first part of the tire to touch down is the outside edge, then the rest as the gear takes the weight of the plane. That means the greatest landing force and wear will be on the outside edge of those tires. Don't think there's a way to address that problem.

The PA28 is different since it has a trailing beam setup. Most of the landing force is absorbed by the main tread of the tire, so there may be a way to "align" them, but I'm not sure.

As for the rough surface of the runway.. Wait until you have rain or some other surface contaminate on the runway and you'll be happy to have that rough surface. Not the best for tire wear, but it does wonders for traction and braking action. :-)

Jerry

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Comments and opinions are my own and do not reflect those of my employer.