Power Kite Forum

Big Foot tires

BEC - 30-4-2013 at 04:27 AM

I had a couple issues with my wheels loosening up so....Buggy Danny told me to use some type of part from an old bearing to make a spacer....Any idea if you can just get them from any hardware store or is this a McMaster Carr type of item?

I also had a tire go flat numerous times...broke the bead (well I didn't....Chad did.. thanks) put grease on bead and re inflated. It was flat again the next day...All new tires, rims, etc so...suggestions that would relate to old parts are void...
I guess now to 2nd question... What size tube do you put in there? A barrow and it just inflates to bigfoot size or is there an actual bigfoot tube size? Not dealing with that problem again...

Have to say it....WILDWOOD BUGGY BASH ROCKS!


BeamerBob - 30-4-2013 at 06:30 AM

You probably got sand in the bead. You would need to rinse it out or maybe use compressed air. Bigfoot tubes are big ones, not barrow sized. A tube would solve your problem. I never had this happen to me with my bfls. How much pressure do you run? I found that 7-10 was about right depending on the surface. Soft for lumpy ground, and hard for low resistance on hard sand.

van - 30-4-2013 at 07:08 AM

You mentioned loosening up ... you mean the wheel came off?? Use a locking nut on the axle side. I've never had a BF tire come of the bead before , usually the opposite issue of it not coming off when you want it too. I use a tube in my front since it's a split rim. You can get the inner tube from any lawn mower place like Tractor Supply. They have the ATV size inner tubes, that's what you need. They run about $15 to $20.

BEC - 30-4-2013 at 07:21 AM

Thanks Bob & Van....

Van...that's all I needed to know..tractor supply up the road I will pick up a tube and be done with that. Tire and rim were brand new and never on the beach so air leaking was before it even had sand on it. Maybe the valve stem????

Wheel loosened up with a lock washer..It was a small one for my 12mm bolt to flexifoil...I also wore the flange out on a top hat spacer for the 12 to 15mm for PL wheel and bearing....I will look into this a little more now that I know what is spinning and not spinning when the wheel is on.

Don't know if this was a factor but I was kinda (some will say a little more then kinda) tearing it up on the soft sand with big foots on. People said my wheels were flexing all over the place.....Holy Crap though was that FUN!

Van I will be in touch soon for a VTT bag for the back...(extra kite, lines and some tools)
FYI... The seats that you did for Scott and I were so awesome...HUGE IMPROVEMENT! :thumbup:

awindofchange - 30-4-2013 at 10:12 AM

Check your rim. We had one rim here that had a larger than normal molding line on it and this was just enough to let the air out. What we had to do was to sand down the molding line (casting line) on the inside of the bead so that the rim had a good bead against the tire, that fixed the issues. The molding line was just enough to not allow the tire to seat up firmly against it and air was slowly leaking out.

We also have actual big foot tubes in stock if you can't find an aftermarket one at your tractor supply store.

rocfighter - 2-5-2013 at 12:09 PM

Brucie you can go with a barrow rim and hope it doesn't explode before it reaches the size of the bigfoot tire. OOORRRRRR you can go by the size on the tire and get the right size tube.
I hope you get back out there soon. You made my day with your enthusiasm.
Dave.

bigkid - 2-5-2013 at 03:07 PM

depending on which bigfoot tire you are using a barrow tube will work on the duro but not the Nanco. the nanco 21x12 are much bigger than the duro 21x12