Better Tires and Tubes
New 3/26/2011
Updated 6/8/2011
If you're still building, save yourself some inevitible or at least likely frustrations and just skip from your order, the standard Front Aluminum Nosewheel, the Front Tube, and the Main Tubes, and the front axle.  See above, and THIS WRITEUP for the information on the new Matco axle, and also information on the nosewheel.  Basically, just to save inventory hassles, Van's sells us the WRONG nosewheel for the tire that we use, they sell the Matco NW501.25, which will in many cases, have the valve stem stick out too far, and hit the fork on rotation.  They will just tell you to leave the valve cap off, allowing dirt and grime to get into the valve.   The PROPER Wheel is the NW511.25.  Yes, that is right...they sell you the WRONG wheel, on purpose, to save them headaches.  You can just order the WHLNW511.25 from Matco and skip the other one in your kit...and buy the Matco Axle at the same time, because the standard Van's axle is going to cause you headaches in the long run too.  Then, skip the tube that comes with the kit too....get your tubes for all tires from Desser Tire.  What you want for the front is the 500-5 "Leakguard" Butyl Tube with the TR-67 Valve.   So with your new nosewheel, new leakguard tube, and new axle, your nosewheel will be complete and give you hundreds of hours of trouble free service.

Now for the mains...  Personally, especially after switching to the Desser Leakguard tube for the mains (15/600-6 size), I haven't had interference issues on the mains.  However, I've heard from a couple builders who have...the valve cap comes dangerously close to the cotter pin on the nut used to hold the wheel on.  Although I've only used the Van's tube, and the Desser Leakguard tubes, I think the clearance was better with the Leakguards.  But, there is a better way.  What you want is the Desser 15/600-6 "Leakguard" Butyl Tube with the "New Easy Valve".  Once you switch to the Leakguards, you'll be adding air far less often, and the "New Easy Valve" will eliminate any possibility of interference issues for you.  So skip the tubes on your kit order also.  Personally, I've also found that the Desser 15/600-6 "High Performance Retreads" gave better tire life at a low cost, too, so if it were me building again, I'd skip ordering ALL the tires and tubes from Van's, and just order all of them from Desser.  The nose tire is the "500-5 6-Ply Aero Classic Vintage" tire.  Then you'll get all 3 tubes, and 3 tires, from Desser, and the nose axle and wheel from Matco.  The only thing to get from Van's is the Cleaveland main wheels themselves.

Following the above advice should prevent you from having any headaches with your tires and wheels...things that have caused problems for many builders.  Oh, and DON'T FORGET the Axle Extensions!  I think you can still get them from Cleaveland Tools, right here.

Updated Info 2011/06:
Matco Wheels and Brakes Guide
Matco NW511.25 Nosewheel Drawing

Click the below for pictures of actual RV-10 tire installations, so you can see the issue.

Main Gear Tube Stem
Low Clearance (No Cap)
 Main Gear Tube Stem
New Easy Valve
 My Nosewheel Stem
(barely adequate)
 My Nosewheel Stem
(Installed) Clear but tight
My Main Gear Tube Stem
Clears OK
My Main Gear Stem on
Balancer (Tight but ok)



Here are some pics of my new Matco NW511.25 Nosewheel.  Regretfully I do not have any photos of the stem clearance with the nosewheel isntalled.  When you see my old nosewheel lying next to the new nosewheel, look for the yellow valve cap.  Keep in mind that my original nosewheel tube actually cleared the fork by 1/8" or so, and notice how the old tire you can see the cap up above the tire, but the new tire the valve cap doesn't stick out past the height of the tire sidewall.  The clearance with it installed is at least 1/4", and probably more like 5/16", and that is with the Desser Leakguard tube/stem that actually sticks out FARTHER than my old stem!

The New Rim
 New Rim - Note the stem hole is
in the opposite wheel half.
 New Rim - The stem hole goes
through both halves
Stem Height Difference
 Stem Height Difference The complete Matco wheel!



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