Anti-Splat ball bearing conversion
Gentlemen,
Our RV8 main wheels were converted by Anti-Splat two years ago when I got tired of the mess on the wheels and brakes from the horrible stock felt shields. After over 300 hours and 400 landings, the bearings are just fine, and even roll with less friction than when they were new. As Alan noted, cars do not use any key or taper to prevent the inner race from rotating. The washer that is keyed into the axle is to prevent rotation of the washer itself should the inner race rotate slightly. The RV axle system is essentially the same. A spacer between the inner races of the ball bearing would be useful as it would cause the two bearings to share any axial loads, but it would primarily be useful to prevent overloading the bearings by over zealous tightening the nut by the mechanic. Ball bearings of this size need no more than .003" preload. More will cause failure. Many open wheel race cars use ball bearings; the race car axial loads exceed the radial loads when cornering at 2 to 3 lateral Gs. My question is this: why not keep the aircraft aligned with the runway with rudder???? What happened to pilot skills?
Alan, thank you for having the desire and ability to provide the RV community with neat modifications for our aircraft to reduce maintenance and increase safety. Illegitimi non carborundum!
Gentlemen,
Our RV8 main wheels were converted by Anti-Splat two years ago when I got tired of the mess on the wheels and brakes from the horrible stock felt shields. After over 300 hours and 400 landings, the bearings are just fine, and even roll with less friction than when they were new. As Alan noted, cars do not use any key or taper to prevent the inner race from rotating. The washer that is keyed into the axle is to prevent rotation of the washer itself should the inner race rotate slightly. The RV axle system is essentially the same. A spacer between the inner races of the ball bearing would be useful as it would cause the two bearings to share any axial loads, but it would primarily be useful to prevent overloading the bearings by over zealous tightening the nut by the mechanic. Ball bearings of this size need no more than .003" preload. More will cause failure. Many open wheel race cars use ball bearings; the race car axial loads exceed the radial loads when cornering at 2 to 3 lateral Gs. My question is this: why not keep the aircraft aligned with the runway with rudder???? What happened to pilot skills?
Alan, thank you for having the desire and ability to provide the RV community with neat modifications for our aircraft to reduce maintenance and increase safety. Illegitimi non carborundum!
