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How much should a Michelin main tire 700x6-6ply cost retail?
I like my a&p been going to his shop for years but this tire would have to be come from Columbia to cost as much as I was charged. And I know Michelin makes the best car tires so I assume the airplane ones are top of the line also.
Here are a bunch of different tire prices:Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill Greenwood
http://tinyurl.com/ybtjsm4u
Personally, I like retreads, as they're cheaper and last a lot longer than new tires.
All I ever bought for the club planes were the retreads from Desser, never had a problem & they last as long (or longer than) new name brand tires. Well, as long as someone doesn't land sideways or with their feet on the brakes.
Thanks Marc, Mike, I was charged $345 for one tire, I'm going to talk to the shop owner about that. Its hard, I have used him for years like him, hes helped me out a few times, he knows these planes and he has had health issues. So I dont mind buying a tire from him at retail with some markup ,but this seems like a 50% markup or more. I asked him about retreads and he was not positive about them. I know occasionally in a few planes the retread is to large and can rub in the wheel well. I have used them on another plane.
https://www.desser.com/Aircraft-Tire...-071-313-0.aspQuote:
Originally Posted by Bill Greenwood
$140 plus shipping and handling of course o wait a minute ground shipping is FREE in USA?
Another thing to keep in mind, changing a tire is maintenance that a pilot is allowed to do, no need to pay a mechanic. Of course if you don't do it right the tube will fail prematurely.
That is another thing, I always used new tubes with a new tire & threw the best used one in the back of the plane in a bag for emergency use. Tubes are cheap.
Edit: Also, repack the bearings while you have the wheel off. Use uncoated latex or nitrile gloves from Sam's. Adds 5 minutes to the job.
I went so far as to buy a new inner tube for my Sonex (well, it was an unusual size anyways...) just to keep in the plane. Last thing I needed at a strange airport was to have a flat with no one having a tube.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Switzer
More than likely the mechanic is doing a routine order through Avial or one of the other parts houses. The cost is a bit more, plus the shop is also going to have a mark up, which helps them pay for having unsold inventory sitting on the shelf for you. Add $100 for a leak proof tube, then double the price for the mark up (100% mark up is pretty standard in the motorcycle shops). If you don't like his price, buy your own tires and tubes, then supply them to the mechanic if you want him to change your tires.
If your mechanic isn't keeping tires and tube on hand, then you are likely paying for overnight shipping plus a shop markup. The free shipping is great, but it costs the shop in lost work to have your plane sitting there for a week waiting for a tire, so many shops have their parts shipped overnight.
I had a customer get upset with me because I charged him $250 for a used tire. Of course he doesn't tell people he had a flat at an unattended airport 30 miles away, and that it was evening, so he called me at home, or that his plane was stuck on the runway at night and he couldn't move it, or that when I got there I found that his brake line was also torn off (which I had asked about and he told me it was OK) requiring a return trip to the shop to make up a brake line and haul my bleeding kit back to his plane. So I spent 5 hours of my evening taking care of his problems, drove 120 miles before we were done, and gave him a serviceable used tire and tube only to find that he was complaining about me overcharging him for a used tire. The point being that sometimes there are more to the charges than just buying a tire. And sometimes as a mechanic, you can't win. :D
But if you want to feel good about what you paid for your tires, go price a set of bush tires. :eek:
Where prematurely can be within 5 minutes :-). Agreed - even on certificated aircraft, you can change the tires yourself.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Switzer
Depends on what size you use. for the 5.00x5 tires on my plane, the Monster Retreads from Desser are about $70, and the tubes range from $55 - $80, depending upon material and MFG. But in any case, the MFG's say that you're never supposed to re-use a used tube - it stretches in the tire after the first use and will be difficult to get to fit and not get caught between the rims in an attempted re-use. Given the relative cost of the tube (still not VERY expensive), I try to keep one new nose and one new main tube in the plane all the time, and replace them every few years.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Switzer
I agree that you might as well repack the bearings any time you remove the wheels, but for the life of me, I've never been able to repack 4 bearings in five minutes, even using a packing tool :-). I generally plan 15 - 20.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Switzer