Wheel and Brake HELL!

19 posts in this topic

Posted

Well another day, another problem...

This is a post warning others that sometimes being cheap and finding older wheels can make life miserable!

It all started with me preparing for large tires.  I knew I wanted double puck calipers.  The Magnum came with single pucks, so I sold them and bought some double puck calipers from Ed here on the forum.  I went to mount the discs and calipers I bought and the discs did not fit my Cleveland wheels.  So, I learned that wheels and discs are not interchangeable.

Luckily Ed had the wheels the brakes came off of so I bought them.  I thought my problems were solved....nope.

I installed my ABW 31" tires and when I went to install the calipers they were rubbing the tire!  I realized that I probably needed a spacer and while searching for one of those I found out that certain wheels have the disc closer to the wheels than others!

Alaskan Airframes sells a kit including four 1/8" spacer and longer bolts.  However, with even 1/4" of spacer the calipers barely clear the tire!

So, a friend with a water jet is cutting me a 1/2" spacer.  If you go this route, you must pay close attention to the caliper pins to see if they are still able to stay in the rotor plate.  If they don't stay seated you will need to use an axle spacer to push the tire and disc/caliper outboard.

THE POINT OF ALL OF THIS IS:  It is a real PITA trying to save $ and make a usable setup!  By the time I finish I will have a system for about 1/3 the cost of a new set, but the time invested is ridiculous!  I could take the whole system apart blindfolded after doing it about 3 times today alone!  Maybe buying new is smarter in the long run?

I'll take some pics and post them later.

Good luck to the next guy,

Ron

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Posted (edited)

Ron,  I am sure sorry to hear that you have had this much trouble trying to get the large tires to work.  I was hoping I was making your time and budget easier by selling you parts a lot cheaper than new ones.    Even if you had bought new wheels, disks and brakes you might have had the same problems.   That is something to consider when you go from small tires to huge ABW.   I guess the easiest way is to find someone with a setup that works with the big ABW and copy that. 

EDMO

Edited by EDMO

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Posted

If a guy has deep pockets and puts a premium on his time, it's probably best just to hire out the job. Especially if it comes under the heading of 'conversion'.

 

The less depth your' pockets have (I don't even have pockets), the more important it becomes to enjoy a good challenge. Customizing anything may or may not be expensive. It does, however, most often require a significant investment in time.

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Posted

I guess the bottom line to this thread is:  If you don't know if it will work, then you might save time and $$$ if you find someone who has done it and will share the info before you start.  Sometimes this is hard to do and takes a lot of searching. 

This site was made for that.  Thanks again Leni.  EDMO

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Posted

Ed,

You did give me a deal on those, and you did me a huge favor!  This post was not me upset with you at all...

I just couldn't believe that there were so many variations of the same 6" wheel!

I now have a 1/2" spacer for each wheel and am now waiting on the longer bolts to ship.

I just wanted others to know that it probably isn't as simple as slapping tires on...

I took a day off from working on the plane and feel much better about it now.  It felt like I was moving backwards there for awhile.

 

Ron

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Posted (edited)

Ed,

You did give me a deal on those, and you did me a huge favor!  This post was not me upset with you at all...

I just couldn't believe that there were so many variations of the same 6" wheel!

I now have a 1/2" spacer for each wheel and am now waiting on the longer bolts to ship.

I just wanted others to know that it probably isn't as simple as slapping tires on...

I took a day off from working on the plane and feel much better about it now.  It felt like I was moving backwards there for awhile.

 

Ron

Ron,  Your post didn't upset me - I was just sorry that you had so much trouble changing to the big tires - Now I am wondering if my 800x6 tires are going to be a problem with my Grove wheels and brakes.  Probably not as much as yours.  Something to think about before going bigger, or HUGE!  EDMO

Edited by EDMO

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Posted (edited)

Ron,   You haven't actually tried those brakes holding static with the huge tires and big engine?  You may need triple-pucks.... :<)  EDMO

Edited by EDMO
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Posted

Ed, now you're just stirring the pot again! ;) 

 

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Posted

Ron,   You haven't actually tried those brakes holding static with the huge tires and big engine?  You may need triple-pucks.... :<)  EDMO

Ed, now you're just stirring the pot again! ;) 

 

Well, those brakes held the twin engine Piper, but it only had 600x6 tires - I don't know how they will act with 360 and Balloons on the wheels!   EDMO

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Posted

brembo-drilled-brake-disc.jpg

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Posted (edited)

Double pucks better hold it or I will just throw one of these out when I need to stop :)

 

IMG_1519.JPG

Edited by RDavidson
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Posted

I put the cleaveland wheels and brakes on my 30" airstreaks.  they had 600X6 on them originally.  maybe I need to see what spacers you made that your talking about.  I never had any issues.

:BC:

 

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Posted (edited)

I put the cleaveland wheels and brakes on my 30" airstreaks.  they had 600X6 on them originally.  maybe I need to see what spacers you made that your talking about.  I never had any issues.

:BC:

 

There are certain Wheel/ Brake assemblies that work without spacers...I think 40-75, 40-60, and 199-62.

There are a lot of different numbered wheels out there, and a lot of post on other forums about needing spacers, so I know I'm not completely crazy :o 

I got my bolts this evening, so I will hopefully have this solved tomorrow.  I'll take pics and post them.

I attached pics of the spacer that came from Alaskan Airframes (1/8" thick).  Next is my drawing of the new 1/2" thick spacer.  Then finally my buddy entering the numbers into the cad program and putting lightening holes in it to save a little weight.

 

Ron

IMG_1499.JPG

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IMG_1516.JPG

Edited by RDavidson

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Posted

The 1/2" spacer did the trick!

The pics are hard to see what is really happening...I painted my wheels black, so everything washes out, but here is the finished product.

 

IMG_1521.JPG

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IMG_1529.JPG

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Posted

Might have been a P.I.T.A. but now it looks HELLA GOOD! :beerchug:

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Posted

Hell yeah it looks good.  nice solution!

:BC:

 

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Posted

I had no idea that a water Jet could blow through 1/2 with that precision, that's really cool, looks nice,

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Posted

Time for blast off !  Looking good, man!

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Posted (edited)

Thanks guys!

After fixing the brakes I left on a trip and brought two STOL Aircraft Magazine issues and they did a write up on the new aluminum Alaskan Airframes wheels.  Guess what the main benefit other than weight savings is?

Spacing between the wheel and rotor to prevent tire rub!  I should have read this last week...it would have given me more confidence in what I was doing.

 

By the way it is a cool magazine that is published quarterly...This issue covered Planes, guns, dogs, airports and everything STOL.  What more do you need?

 

IMG_1544.JPG

Edited by RDavidson
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