Time for Tire Change on a Saratoga?

jdfrey1

jdfrey1

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Jeff Frey
What is the standard time to replace a tire and tube on a PA32R? I had my local shop replace a main landing gear and the nose gear tire and was charged 7 hours of labor. Seems a little steep to me.
 
buy parts jack whole aircraft remove main and nose 1.5. change tires and tubes clean and repack all bearings 1.5. return tires to aircraft cleaning and checking gear,wires.1.0. swing gear 2 times disconnect power pack and un jack aircraft 1.0 . paperwork .5 . so 5.5 were there any repairs while doing this .i bet there were
 
2 hours is what I've been charged for this.
 
It's not the easiest task in the world but 7 hours seems a little much. I would guess 3 hours should have been plenty.
 
7 hours is fine, especially if disconnecting the gear doors and actually inspecting clearances on a gear swing and reconnecting doors...

Would take me 15 minutes just to get the airplane moved in & out of the hangar. Another 15 minutes to clean up the mess at the end.
 
We charge 1 hour each wheel to break down and reinstall a wheel to the aircraft, that's tire, tube, or both replacement. Why would you swing the gear after r&ring a tire/tube? You certainly don't need to be disconnecting gear door linkages on a PA32 to do this job.
 
Arbiter419 said:
We charge 1 hour each wheel to break down and reinstall a wheel to the aircraft, that's tire, tube, or both replacement. Why would you swing the gear after r&ring a tire/tube? You certainly don't need to be disconnecting gear door linkages on a PA32 to do this job.
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Wouldn't you want to make sure that the wheel and tire don't get stuck in the wheel well when you retract it? That's much easier and safer to do in the shop than going out, flying it, then finding out you can't extend the gear again.

I always try and check any retractable gear airplane I change a tire on for clearance.
 
mondtster said:
Wouldn't you want to make sure that the wheel and tire don't get stuck in the wheel well when you retract it? That's much easier and safer to do in the shop than going out, flying it, then finding out you can't extend the gear again.

I always try and check any retractable gear airplane I change a tire on for clearance.
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Wouldn't the easier solution be to measure the old and new tire, or even look at the side wall to ensure they are the same size? Seems overkill to jack the whole plane up and swing the gear for a simple tire change.
 
Grum.Man said:
Wouldn't the easier solution be to measure the old and new tire, or even look at the side wall to ensure they are the same size? Seems overkill to jack the whole plane up and swing the gear for a simple tire change.
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I've done that when jacks weren't available. The problem is, not all tires of the same size roll out to be exactly the same. Some wheel wells are very generous and nothing would ever get stuck in them but I've heard stories about some that aren't so generous. I seem to recall seeing an FAA publication suggesting jacking and retracting the airplane as well, but don't remember where I saw that right now.
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
AC 43.13-1B recommends a retract test if you install re-treads.
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Thanks. That's where I thought it was but didn't want to commit to saying that without looking first. We'd have a 200 page long thread about me quoting the wrong source.
 
About a hour a wheel sounds about right.

For most privately owned GA planes, which are not ab initio trainers, I don't bother with retreads, tires last ages.
 
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dresser monster retreads are some of the best tires around .anyone who does not swing the gear after a tire change is a fool.your name is in the logbook just before the gear up!
 
Many turbo prop and jet operators don't swing the gear, comes down to what your MM says.

For my plane I don't swing, work plane doesn't swing after ether.
 
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