Grease your new Van's tailwheel!

Lindamon · #1 02-21-2014, 04:31 PM

It did not occur to me for some reason to do this at some point during the build, I guess I assumed they came pre-greased. So at just under 50 hrs on my craft, I heard awful noises as I pushed her in the hanger yesterday! I hooked up the grease gun, and it must not have been pre-greased at all, it took a bit of pumping to fill it. Probably will replace it with a sealed bearing wheel now anyway, but just a heads up for others who may miss this like me.

Brantel · #2 02-21-2014, 05:13 PM

The grease fitting on the Van's unit goes into the hub and little to no grease hits the bearings till the entire hub is full. Then it slings out all over the place till it is empty and the cycle repeats.

Most replace this sub standard part for a real tailwheel.

Sam Buchanan · #3 02-21-2014, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lindamon

It did not occur to me for some reason to do this at some point during the build, I guess I assumed they came pre-greased. So at just under 50 hrs on my craft, I heard awful noises as I pushed her in the hanger yesterday! I hooked up the grease gun, and it must not have been pre-greased at all, it took a bit of pumping to fill it. Probably will replace it with a sealed bearing wheel now anyway, but just a heads up for others who may miss this like me.

The Vans tailwheel comes with sealed bearings. Greasing it does nothing other than making a mess.

I've found shooting some aerosol lubricant into the bearings will quiet them down if they start sounding dry. I usually get several years from one set of bearings with occasional shots of the aerosol. The bearings are inexpensive, I keep an extra set in the hangar.

Lindamon · #4 02-21-2014, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sam Buchanan

The Vans tailwheel comes with sealed bearings. Greasing it does nothing other than making a mess.

I've found shooting some aerosol lubricant into the bearings will quiet them down if they start sounding dry. I usually get several years from one set of bearings with occasional shots of the aerosol. The bearings are inexpensive, I keep an extra set in the hangar.

Hmm...what is the zerk fitting for if they are sealed? I do have the cheaper one: http://vansaircraft.com/cgi-bin/stor...roduct=t-wheel

I am going to upgrade to one with sealed bearings.

Pat Hatch · #5 02-21-2014, 06:24 PM

These were industrial cart wheels that Vans adapted for the RVs. The grease zerk doesn't really apply for the RV application since Vans added the sealed bearings. You can order an extra set of bearings from Vans for a few bucks.

Also, the grease zerk that comes with the fork is pretty useless in its own right. Best to take the fork apart to grease.

Lindamon · #6 02-22-2014, 06:12 AM

The other tailwheel Van's sells (http://www.vansaircraft.com/cgi-bin/...uct=LW-t-wheel) advertises sealed bearings, but not the one I have. It wasn't a dry bearing sound I heard, it was a crunching sound. If I am wrong, and they are sealed, that doesn't say much for the quality of the bearings at fifty hours!

After greasing them via the zerk the noise went away, no fuss, no mess. Where did all that grease go if those bearings are sealed? I put in around 1/6 of a tube before it came out of the side slightly. But I'm no expert, perhaps you are right. In any case I will be replacing the wheel with a better one.

I don't have the Vans fork, I upgraded that to the AP one I think it is, as I live on a field where the taxiways are grass and the runway and ramp asphalt and concrete, and I didn't want to catch the vertical on the Van's fork. I should have upgraded the wheel at the same time.

Pat Hatch · #7 02-22-2014, 06:34 AM

Damon,

By all means, keep the Vans tailwheel as a spare if you upgrade. I think you will find that all that grease did was fill the cavity between the bearings, which is quite large! I would order a new set of bearings from Vans for $6, I believe, sounds like you just got a bad set or they corroded while you were building.

I have the light-weight tailwheel as well, works great, you'll love it.

Danny King · #8 02-22-2014, 07:14 AM

Several years ago I called Dayton Murdock and ordered his new light weight, sealed bearing tail wheel, and I'm very glad I did. Like everything from DJM it is first class. He is an RV-4 builder and produces products that every RVer can appreciate. I replaced the Doll's original Van's throttle quadrant with DJM's deluxe throttle quad that Dayton modified just for me, and I was amazed at the quality and function of it.

I had all the problems discussed in this thread with my original tail wheel including replacing bearings, and grease thrown everywhere. The DJM tail wheel fixed all that, and it's good looking as well!

DJM has an add on VAF's front page. Check it out.

I just noticed that the link posted by Lindamon is the DJM tail wheel.

http://www.vansaircraft.com/cgi-bin/...uct=LW-t-wheel

Lindamon · #9 02-22-2014, 07:27 AM

Thanks guys, the order's in. Pat, good point about the bearings deteriorating here in FL while I was building. It's a struggle to keep all my tools from deteriorating!

Neal@F14 · #10 02-22-2014, 07:37 AM

I use the composite tailwheel from Flyboy Accessories and like it a lot. It's got sealed bearings too and doesn't sling grease. It's a bit cheaper than the DJM wheel.

http://www.flyboyaccessories.com/Del...ire-p/1001.htm