davidv.lewis
Registered User
Hi Everyone!
First let me quote part 43: The following is directly from FAR 43 Appendix (A) Paragraph (C):
"(c) Preventive maintenance. Preventive maintenance is limited to the following work, provided it does not involve complex assembly operations:
(1) Removal, installation, and repair of landing gear tires.
(2) Replacing elastic shock absorber cords on landing gear...." there is more but I dont need it here.
Second, I was a Coatings, Spray-in Bedliner and Spray Foam Contractor for many years and I know coatings, prep work ect...
I have a pair of 26" ABW airstreak tires that Bill installed during the New Holstein '12 show. After many years of service I noticed some cord showing thru. So knowing of several repair methods and seeing several "Rhino Linings" attempts I decided to give it a go.
I decided against going with a Rhino Linings or some other low pressure applied material mainly because you can't control the thickness and dripping that will occur during the application process. High Pressure systems like Line-X or Arma Coatings contain material that dries very quickly but is not as flexible as the low pressure systems so the brush grade was the answer.
Ok so what type to use... Bottomline is most people used the Herculiner and its a solvent based system. Solvents most always work better than water borne systems for many reasons - but I don't have the time to go into that here.
I went to the local Advanced Auto and got the gallon system, got a price break using the "Red Laser" app on my Iphone - it found a lower price from Lowes and I got the price match...
Then off to the local hardware store for a gallon on MEK and Xylene, nitrile gloves, extra brushes, clean shop rags.
I raised the aircraft and jacked the wheels at the supports behind the tires. Cleaned the tires with a good degreaser and washed them twice. I then used a 60 grit sandpaper to scuff the side walls to the "Bead Line" so no shiny rubber remained.
Next step was to clean the tire with MEK, twice - to get any residual material, grease, gunk ect off the tire. I then lowered the pressure to 4 PSI.
Now please understand that the prep is EVERYTHING!!! So follow the directions and be very clean!
Next step was to mix the Herculiner with a drill mixer (Careful not to go to fast and make a mess). I took a large paper soup cup to remove some material from the can to a new can to work from.
Then it was off to the tire. I used a 2" brush to apply a thin tack coat to start off. I coated the entire surface to the side "lines" and let it dry until it was no longer mostly tacky - about 3 hours at 70 F and 70% humidity, in the shade.
The second coat - Brush coat - thick! Again not letting it run off the side lines and keep moving the tire every 5 minutes so it didn't drip until it was tacky - not wet to the touch - 1 hour, same conditions.
Let set overnight to completely cure / harden..
Third coat - I again applied a heavy coat but this time I used the supplied roller. This allowed me to apply an even coat and gave it a great texture finish.
I removed the tires to let them "Bake" in the sun for the remainder of the day and let them dry / cure overnight.
Next day I reinstalled the tires, inflated them to 10 PSI and off I went! ;-)
I used about 1/2 of the gallon on this application.
Worked Excellent! Ill post more photos as they progress with use.
If you have questions my email is cubsfloatsandfun@gmail.com or call me at 318-880-7787.
Thanks and good luck!
Dave Lewis
First let me quote part 43: The following is directly from FAR 43 Appendix (A) Paragraph (C):
"(c) Preventive maintenance. Preventive maintenance is limited to the following work, provided it does not involve complex assembly operations:
(1) Removal, installation, and repair of landing gear tires.
(2) Replacing elastic shock absorber cords on landing gear...." there is more but I dont need it here.
Second, I was a Coatings, Spray-in Bedliner and Spray Foam Contractor for many years and I know coatings, prep work ect...
I have a pair of 26" ABW airstreak tires that Bill installed during the New Holstein '12 show. After many years of service I noticed some cord showing thru. So knowing of several repair methods and seeing several "Rhino Linings" attempts I decided to give it a go.
I decided against going with a Rhino Linings or some other low pressure applied material mainly because you can't control the thickness and dripping that will occur during the application process. High Pressure systems like Line-X or Arma Coatings contain material that dries very quickly but is not as flexible as the low pressure systems so the brush grade was the answer.
Ok so what type to use... Bottomline is most people used the Herculiner and its a solvent based system. Solvents most always work better than water borne systems for many reasons - but I don't have the time to go into that here.
I went to the local Advanced Auto and got the gallon system, got a price break using the "Red Laser" app on my Iphone - it found a lower price from Lowes and I got the price match...
Then off to the local hardware store for a gallon on MEK and Xylene, nitrile gloves, extra brushes, clean shop rags.
I raised the aircraft and jacked the wheels at the supports behind the tires. Cleaned the tires with a good degreaser and washed them twice. I then used a 60 grit sandpaper to scuff the side walls to the "Bead Line" so no shiny rubber remained.
Next step was to clean the tire with MEK, twice - to get any residual material, grease, gunk ect off the tire. I then lowered the pressure to 4 PSI.
Now please understand that the prep is EVERYTHING!!! So follow the directions and be very clean!
Next step was to mix the Herculiner with a drill mixer (Careful not to go to fast and make a mess). I took a large paper soup cup to remove some material from the can to a new can to work from.
Then it was off to the tire. I used a 2" brush to apply a thin tack coat to start off. I coated the entire surface to the side "lines" and let it dry until it was no longer mostly tacky - about 3 hours at 70 F and 70% humidity, in the shade.
The second coat - Brush coat - thick! Again not letting it run off the side lines and keep moving the tire every 5 minutes so it didn't drip until it was tacky - not wet to the touch - 1 hour, same conditions.
Let set overnight to completely cure / harden..
Third coat - I again applied a heavy coat but this time I used the supplied roller. This allowed me to apply an even coat and gave it a great texture finish.
I removed the tires to let them "Bake" in the sun for the remainder of the day and let them dry / cure overnight.
Next day I reinstalled the tires, inflated them to 10 PSI and off I went! ;-)
I used about 1/2 of the gallon on this application.
Worked Excellent! Ill post more photos as they progress with use.
If you have questions my email is cubsfloatsandfun@gmail.com or call me at 318-880-7787.
Thanks and good luck!
Dave Lewis
Attachments
-
IMG_9254.jpg731.6 KB · Views: 843
-
IMG_9255.jpg765.8 KB · Views: 497
-
IMG_9259.jpg734.6 KB · Views: 489
-
IMG_9269.jpg862.3 KB · Views: 573
-
IMG_9271.jpg1 MB · Views: 738
-
IMG_9289.jpg1.4 MB · Views: 590
-
IMG_9256.jpg581.6 KB · Views: 498
-
IMG_9257.jpg636.4 KB · Views: 459
-
IMG_9258.jpg559.7 KB · Views: 489
-
IMG_9260.jpg744.2 KB · Views: 464
-
IMG_9262.jpg743.9 KB · Views: 438
-
IMG_9292.jpg908.6 KB · Views: 555
-
FAA P-8740-15 Maintenance Aspects of Owning Your Own Aircraft [hi-res] branded.pdf1.8 MB · Views: 1,423
Last edited: