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Corrosion ate my Wheels

AJ85WA

Well Known Member
Hey guys

I pulled apart my wheels today to repack the bearing grease and inspect everything before mounting them to the gear. The previous owner had assembled them probably like 8 years ago and must have left them in a damp area.

I cleaned up all the paint with a wire brush in the drill and these are the issues i am faced with. Most of the corrosion is like the first picture, minor surface damage, but on the second picture it has almost gone all the way through.

What are the best ways to repair this?
Should I clean it up and weld over it? Is it ok to paint over the old surface damage like in picture 1?

Thanks in advance for the help.
AJ
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It looks deep, but how much metal is on the other side of it. (What I mean is is there a sufficient thickness of material under the pitting?) I bought an older Cessna that had been parked in snowy area a few years ago, it had some pitting like this, we cleaned it, filled in pits with JB Weld epoxy and repainted, it worked fine until I eventually bought newer wheel to keep old one as a spare.

It wouldn't hurt to spin balance it (take to a motorcycle shop if you don't have equipment) since it might be unbalanced after repairs.
 
Those are trash in my opinion.
I am pretty familiar with Parkers techinical data but I can not recall seeing anything in regard to corrosion limits. The airframe manuals I am familiar with cover corrosion only in general terms for different parts of the structure and usually call it out terms of percentage or imperical values in regard to how much loss of material is acceptable. Of course, we are talking the certified world here and they are very conservative.
You may very well ride these wheels out for the life of your airframe, but I personally would not use them and there is no practical repair for a wheel with this kind of damage that I am aware of.
 
They look like future lamp bases to me (I have some old engine cylinders awaiting that fate). No way I'd put those on a flying airplane.
 
sometimes you wonder what really happen? could there be any corrosion in other places too? looks unusual to me. good luck. :eek:
 
By the way AJ, good job on the decision to dissassemble the prior builders work and inspect for yourself. Double check your bearings and races to insure they are not corroded as well.

I can not remember why I split my wheels at the first CI, to replace tubes to airstops, or something, but I noticed a funny yellow powder and some light corrosion on the inside of one of the wheels, kind of running along a meandering line. It was relatively minor and cleaned up just fine but I had no idea what could have caused it.
Later it occured to me that during phase I, without wheel pants, my tire must have caught the interest of someones dog. I was still surprised how easily the wheel had corroded with only one application of said dog.
 
Gil, I think some of them are, but not sure. That is ugly and weird. Most of the time the worst corrosion is where the rotor sit against the wheel.
 
Corrosion

Hey guys

Thanks heaps for all the input, I can always count on getting a answer on VAF

JonJay, thanks for the advise on the bearings, I pulled them apart and gave them a good clean and they are like brand new. I will put these wheels aside for a bit while I figure out my next move.

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Some interesting comments on the Cleveland wheels from an experienced Grumman mechanic -

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This happens from a lack of proper maintenance in 2 ways.

1) Too much grease is left on the wheel bearings when they are installed, and the excess is extruded into the hollow center of the wheel.

2) The wrong grease is used, and the components of the grease that cause the lubricant to gel absorb moisture and when held against the bare metal inner surface of the wheel, cause corrosion to rapidly occur.

As a preventative measure, the wheels should be visually inspected at each annual for condition of the wheel and its data plate, the condition and proper torque of the hardware, and by looking through the axle hole with the bearing removed, the condition of the inside of the wheel. A strong light and some rags to wipe away any grease in the "corners" of the cast stiffeners will help identify areas of concern.
 
The wheels shipped by Vans are the Magnesium ones, and if you go to the Cleveland site, you'll see they are lightweight but therefore vulnerable to corrosion.

If you will store/use them in a corrosion vulnerable area, the more standard steel (?) ones might be a better option?
 
Cleveland wheels corrosion

The early kits, at least, were Cleveland wheels - mine are and are magnesium.

I had a set of Cleveland wheels on a certified aircraft that I helped with the annual on. The tires needed replacing and in the disassembly, corrosion was detected but not to the extent in your picture.

I ended up calling Cleveland and got a technical person who gave me strict limits on how much and where corrosion could be tolerated. It has been years so I have forgotten the details but they can tell you. I remember that it was a pretty minimal amount and IIRC, the worst place for corrosion was at the outer rim where the tire bead sat.

The best research I could do at the time was that the wheels (magnesium) should be cleaned by using only CLEAN glass bead blasting followed by a coating of a process similar to alodine (Magndyne??) that was for magnesium metal specifically.

The corrosion was not deep enough (in thousandths) after full cleaning to mandate trashing the wheels so I did the whole procedure and saved the wheels. It was a lot of work. The wheels were not anywhere close to the condition in your pictures. Personally, I would trash the wheel(s).

Cleveland has (used to have anyway) extensive literature on how to care for the wheels and limits, etc.

Dave A.
6A build
 
1 out of 4

Hi Dave

Yer thanks for the input, I might put these together just to get her on her wheels for now and replace them before first flight.

Does anybody Know what a new set costs?
It sucks because I only need 1 of the 4 halves as the other 3 are looking great.

AJ
 
Axel just asked a question about cleaning corrosion off of Cleveland wheels on another list. I agree with Walt, John Jay and the others. Those wheels are junk. Consider what would happen to you and your RV should a wheel fail during take off or landing. JB Weld!!! :eek:
Everything you need to know about care and feeding of your Cleveland wheels and brakes can be found in the factory maintenance manual. You can download it here.

http://www.parker.com/literature/Ai...B Product Catalog Static Files/AWBCMM0001.pdf

Note that there is a special Alodine process for magnesium. If your wheel is an aluminum Matco unit, I would suggest you contact them for info on proper corrosion protection steps for your replacement wheel and it's mate. Bare metal might look nice, but as you have learned the hard way, it's not smart. I hope this helps.
Charlie
PS Great tip about the perils of over greasing the bearings.
 
I was going to ask if anyone has painted their wheels... Or maybe powder-coated them. A good strong barrier to moisture at the start may help?
 
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