I have a Cessna 182K that I want to setup to handle backcountry flying. Currently, it is stock.

We will be primarily in the SW Texas mountain/desert area near Big Bend National Park. We will be landing on mostly unimproved desert areas of a ranch along with some dirt/rock strips and some trips to small paved runways (to Alpine, TX for supplies).

I have seen photos of Cessna 182’s with Alaskan Bushwheels and the Airglas front fork.

I probably don’t need the biggest tires, but if we are going on just need, I would not have an airplane at all...so I am wondering just how big of tires that you can reasonably put on a C182.

It appears that the Airglas front fork allows 8.50 x 6. I am just not certain the best main tires to use.

Does anyone have experience with 182 tundra tires that they could share?

Thank you in advance, KJ

Here are some photos of what I was thinking of...

We went with the Airglas fork, we have 8.50's on the mains and an 8.00 nose. Weight is a factor, these early 182's have very little useful load as it is. The other is speed, we see 125 MPH in cruise.

Thank you Scott. Looks very good. I like the straight tail.

What was your speed before the big tires? How much does it help on the rough runways?

Does it take an STC for the 8.50 mains?

KJ

We lost about 5 MPH indicated, we had the standard sized tires. 5.00 nose and 6.00 mains. They smooth out the bumps. It isn't really necessary to go that big for where we take it. The 182's Achilles heel is the nose wheel mount. The Airglas STC allows several different sizes of which 8.50 is one.

Thank you Scott. Great info.

So many 182s have firewall damage. I am careful to keep the nose up, but am concerned about the rough fields.

Is there a preventative C182 firewall reinforcement?

I have seen repair doublers, but they did not sound like a preventative measure.

I am not sure if the big tire lessens the likelihood of firewall damage or will increase it.

It seems logical that the vertical shock load from the extra tire absorption would be less, but the horizontal load from drag and the weight of the big tire and fork would be more.

KJ

Keith
We have 8:50s on the mains and an 8:00 on the nose with the air glass fork.

Always go one tire size down on the nose.

The firewall is what it is. The bigger nose wheel will help roll over an unseen gopher hole but only the 206 has a markedly beefier nose wheel set up.

I have a 6x6 on the bose and 8’s on the mains. This is a big improvement over stock.

Erwin:

Thank you. Would love to see a photo of the setup, if you have time. Do you run lower air pressure or full pressure?

KJ

Erwin:

Thank you. Would love to see a photo of the setup, if you have time. Do you run lower air pressure or full pressure?

KJ

I checked out your website for the ranch, it looks like a great place, and really nice website!

Do you really need big tires? Not trying to spoil anyone’s fun and I don’t know what your exact needs are but it seems like you would be shuttling supplies around a local area and not just landing in random places for the heck of it? I put oversized tires on a plane once and it is a HUGE amount of unnecessary drag most of the time. I did it for about a month and then switched the plane back to stock. Fortunately I was just out the cost of the tires and did it myself.

One thing I never liked about the 172 and 182 I owned was the mounting of the nosewheel to firewall. It’s seems about 60-70 percent of them probably have damage in the past. Would much rather have one of the designs where nosegear is mounted to the engine frame.

I had a 182 in the past, and it was slow enough with stock tires and wheel pants. It would have been even more of a dog with giant tires on it. We have a guy I know at a local airport that put this giant tire/Airglas nosefork combination on his plane and (in my opinion) it just looks (disproportionate) silly and out of place. He spent a lot of time, money and energy to convert it and then doesn’t even take it anywhere you would need it. The airplane has never made any trips where his tires have been of any use. I flew a small plane over 3000 miles a few years ago down the Alaska highway, through Canada all the way to the East coast. Never needed oversized tires and landed on lots of dirt and gravel strips.

It seems like if you are using ranch strips and flying in familiar areas you could just try it with the wheels pants off at first. I’ve watched a lot of interesting YouTube videos of bush planes on giant tires landing in all kinds of crazy places, a good pilot should be able to avoid landing on giant rocks through prior planning. I get enough excitement from mountain biking, don’t need anymore self induced drama when flying!

We ran larger, smooth/dimpled main and nose wheel tires on our 182's and 206's working our cattle ranches in the Northern Sierra Madre of Chihuahua. That kept rocks that could lodge in the grooved standard tires from being flung forward and damaging the prop.
A consideration for restraint in the tire size is the occasional need to fly to more distant areas, like Midland, or El Paso, to pick up clients or supplies. Then you will appreciate the faster cruise speeds. I am sure a compromise can be made for your needs in the field.
In my 180, after many trials in size, to include bordering on the ridiculous, I have opted to keep a set of 8:50's mounted and ready to install in place of my 7:00's, which I use for most of my operations. That can be done in 30 minutes. (Of course, I don't have to contend with a nose wheel).
I much admire the Cessna 182, and believe that when properly operated, can be a superior mount for bush operations, especially in short airstrips.
A good person to consult can be found playing great C&W at La Kiva from time to time. He is a great stick, and I am sure most willing to share his knowledge. Just ask for "Alpha Whiskey", and you can tell him "Turbo" sent ya.
I attach a picture of my 7:00's, with factory speed mods. I use them to go into many fire strips in the Black Mountain range of NM, and AZ, reserving the big ones for the real rough stuff at my ranch.
Best,

TN

"doesn't even take it anyplace you would need it"

That seems to be pretty common; like jacked up pick up trucks, and SUV's people buy that never leave the pavement. Now we're seeing it on airplanes with the same mentality involved. Oh well, it's their money.

Even up in Alaska. I dropped in on the folks at Airframes AK, and F.Atlee Dodge. All were of the opinion that 95% of the Bushwheels they sold were for show only, and wore out fast on pavement. The other 5% were serious operators working out of tundra and muskeg.
Kinda reminds me of the bumper sticker in an old pickup: "Stop the insanity.... Get doctors and lawyers off of Harleys".