Are your axles too large?

tonyjohnson · #1 12-16-2007, 12:23 PM

My wheels wont fit over my axels on my 8A main gear.

The manual says that you may have to reduce the size of the axle by using emery cloth in order to get the brake flange to fit over it. I did have to use emery cloth for that purpose, it took about 2 minutes per axle to make the flanges fit.

The wheels are another story. The wheels will not slide over the axle. More specifically, the axle will not go through the bearings on either side of the wheel. It appears that the axle is just under one mm too large.

I have been working for over an hour on one of the axles with emery cloth to remove enough metal to make it fit through the bearing on the wheel. It is not even close yet.

Did any of you have this problem? Any suggestions on how to do this without spending hours and hours using emery cloth?

sportpilot · #2 12-16-2007, 12:28 PM

Put a micrometer on it to be sure exactly how much yur dealing with. The threads might be a bit larger than the barrel. Running the nut on and off might reduce the threads a bit.

tonyjohnson · #3 12-16-2007, 12:51 PM

Claude,

Actually, the threads are smaller than the diameter of the axle. The bearing slips right over the threads but will not go onto the axle. I used a micrometer to determine the .5mm oversize.

sportpilot · #4 12-16-2007, 01:28 PM

wow thats a lot. I was hoping it boiled down to a few thousandths. we had a tight fit on the 9 and bought a roll of crocus cloth and using it in long strips loop it around the axle and polish it like the chattanooga shoe shine boy. keep them arms workin. im not sure about this, but I think that plumbers cloth is a bit more coarse than emory. It also comes in rolls. it sounds like maybe you need to step up one level of coarseness if you can, and then polish away. thats how we did it on the 9

Also If you blue it, then you can easily see where youve been, and where you havent.

Yukon · #5 12-16-2007, 02:06 PM

I had the same problem. A roll of emory cloth made them right.

tonyjohnson · #6 12-16-2007, 05:51 PM

Thanks for the information guys, I will use a more course grade of emery cloth and shine away on them.

Little_Richard · #7 12-16-2007, 06:42 PM

Are you sure it was 0.5mm. Did you use a micrometer or a set of calipers. .5mm comes out to .019 inches. A gear leg with an axle that much oversize would have never made it past the quality control inspections.

chrispratt · #8 12-16-2007, 07:25 PM

Tony:

I had the same problem with one of my axles when I was building my -8. Being new at building, I at first thought it was something I had done wrong. Then I tried the other axle and the wheel slipped on easy as pie.

In trying to get the first wheel on, it got stuck and getting it off was a problem to the point where I bent the retaining clip in the wheel which I had to replace. I called Van's (this was probably five years ago) and was told that this happens sometimes and that I could use emery cloth to reduce the diameter. I told them I'd rather not since someone went to the trouble of bluing the axle and making it look nice, and quite frankly I think it indicated poor quality control. They sent me a replacement at no charge.

So what you're running into isn't a first and I suspect is not unusual. I had hoped that this issue would have been addressed by now, but apparently not.

You might trying calling Van and requesting a replacement. I suggest you check the other axle first to see if it has the same problem.

Chris

tonyjohnson · #9 12-16-2007, 07:48 PM

Good catch Richard.

My initial measurement was off, I misinterpreted the scale. I just rechecked it and found that it is only off by a little less than .005

tonyjohnson · #10 12-16-2007, 07:56 PM

Chris,

Thanks for your post. I did try my other main axle and found it to be oversized to about the same degree as the first one. I then tried to fit the nosewheel fork onto the nosewheel strut and found it also to be oversized, but only by a small amount that should be no problem with a little emery cloth work.