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Wheel pant fit on 380*150-5 tires are tight.

riobison

Well Known Member
I'm installing my new Vans PR wheel pants onto my RV4. Installing as per the instructions with the 1" clearance on top of the tire etc. But considering that I'm running 380*150-5 tires and I'm not going to be able to get 5/8" to 3/4" clearance between the pants and the tire on the inside (brake rotor side)

If I keep trying to trim to get closer to the 5/8"+ the wheel pant will be cut so far up that there will be a lot of tire exposed and that the pants will be useless.

Options:

I can run them and see what happens.
Try and make new brackets to move the pants inward another 1/4" or so (not likely)
Or go back to the original 500*5 tires.

Just wondering what everyone else has seen and done?

Thanks

Tim
 
It has been done

If you know how to manipulate the search function, you will find numerous threads about this issue.
But i also don’t find the answers for my questions with the search function even so i know i there is a thread about my issue......

Here is what i did.
I am running the 380*50-5 tires on my -8 to get a better/larger footprint/weight distribution when operating on grass or soft soil. Works good so far.
With 1” clearance on top the brake caliper will touch the lower, inward bent section of the wheel pant.
Get your holesaw and cut a 2” hole where the interference occurs.
Messure twice, cut once!
Get a 4” styrofoam ball (or anything round with your desired radius) cover it with cling film or cover it with wax or release agent.
Place it in the hole from inside the wheelpant. Tape it into position from the inside and do 3 to 4 layers of glass fiber. Use Epoxy.
Let it cure, remove the ball, do one more layup on the inside.
Fill it, sand it, finish it, paint it.

Done!

Looks like that.
 

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The other option is to reduce the top clearance down to 1/2". Its what you end up with if you originally ran 500x5's with 1" clearance then switched to 380's. Make sure the joining screws are 1/4-3/8 and you should have zero issues.
 
In addition, define your mission

I suppose, that you want to go to the larger tires for the same reasons i did.

Nick is absolutely right with his suggestion. However, you should consider ground clearance from the wheelpant as well, especially when you want to go an grass/unimproved surface runways. They are not as flat as a concrete, asphalt or tarmac runways.
I have friends who taxied across some bumps, cracks or whatever and the aft part of the wheelpant made ground contact, destroying them!

If you reduce the distance on top of the tire to the wheelpant, you will reduce ground clearance of the wheelpant.
If you are a speedfreak, operating from smooth surface only, you can go nuts about how far your tire is protruding from the wheelpant and get those extra knots out of your plane. Nothing wrong with that.

If you can spare one ore the other knot, your tire may stick out the wheelpant as far as mine. You may not have the fastest RV there, but you don’t have to worry about surface smoothness as much.

It depends from where you plan to operate and where you want to go.

As there must be a reason to switch to larger tires in the first place, it is your choice.
 
When I originally fit my PR wheel fairings, I fit them to 500-5 tires, but anticipated going to the 380-150x5 later, so I set the wheel fairing a little high. I didn't note the actual height in my journal, sorry, but it was probably 1-1/4" or so.

Setting the wheel fairing higher creates an interference with the brake caliper. So make a cut-out in the wheel fairing to clear the caliper. Then, I made a fiberglass bulge piece to cover over the brake caliper. What you would call a blister fairing. Same idea that Larry ("Daida") described, but rather than a portion of a hemisphere, it is contoured to cover the shape of the cut-out you will get when you relieve the fairing for the brake caliper.

I have the mold for that blister fairing, and I have made a few sets for other people. If you would like a set, $45 will do it. Just send me a PM with your details.

The bigger tire does of course requires a bigger cut-out in the fairing, and shows more tire outside than is typical. The plus side is that you can fit a bigger wheel chock in the back. I can almost get a 2x4 in behind the tire. In fact, that would be a really good gauge on how high to set your fairing. You won't notice a change in cruise speed. It might be detectable by careful before and after measurement, but I didn't see it. Don't cheat on the 5/8" clearance near the sidewalls of the tire. It is amazing how much the tire flexes and distorts in a cross-wind landing. I got a minor rub once - lucky it didn't hurt anything, and I opened the clearance more. I have seen a wheel fairing get completely torn up by a hard tire rub.
 
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The other option is to reduce the top clearance down to 1/2". Its what you end up with if you originally ran 500x5's with 1" clearance then switched to 380's. Make sure the joining screws are 1/4-3/8 and you should have zero issues.
Same here - I just had to open up the sides a bit to allow enough clearance around the tires. Wheelpant inspections so far show no rubbing anywhere, and not all of my landings have been greasers, as some of the landing judges at my airport have reminded me. :D
 
380’s

Any of you have to shim the brake disc away from the new 380 tire?

Don Broussard
RV9 Rebuild in Progress
57 Pacer
 
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