The International Cessna 170 Association

I just installed 29" AK Bushwheels on my 170B. With the proud 180 gear, that is almost brand new, I've got a lot of positive camber. Even with several shims my wheels are not as vertical as I'd like. My concern is uneven wear on my new tires and ground handling. I'd be interested in hearing from any of you that could give me advice. Thank you! Terri

Depending upon the exact gearlegs you have installed... you can have legs designed for approx. 1,000 lbs more weight than the 170. This is why the camber is so excessive.
You are correct in that more shims will be necessary to reduce the camber. Your other option is to rotate the tires on the wheels regularly to even-out the wear.

thanks for the response. I appreciate it...

i have lots of camber on mine but am only running smaller 8.50s tires for the time being. i don't notice any unusual wear on my Good Year's but obviously they are completely different than those fatties. i'm usually pretty light but what does yours do when she's loaded up? what pressure are you using? are you on turf/green stuff for your normal operations?
i'm pretty sure i'm still on the 170b gear but they sure look like 180 gear when you see the plane.
are you Lycoming / c/s powered?

I'm not a mechanic but the 170 that I own went threw this issue recently during an annual where the previous owner had put so many shims on the axel that not only did it exceed the maximum allowable depth in shims but when we pulled the axels off the bolts were badly bent. I would check the maximum allowable shims and not exceed those values. My 2 pennies worth.

Great replies. My IA will be looking my plane in a few weeks. I'm not flying it until after he is done with it. We most certainly did not want to put on too many shims to avoid damaging the bolts. With that said, I don't know what the maximum should be. I'll know once my IA takes a look. Thank you ! Terri

How did this turn out? Did you have a gear alignment done?

I have 180 gear and a lot of camber. I fly light as much as I can. I swap tires around about every 100 hours as I see marked increase in wear on the outsides.