Tailwheel Bearings

[Dayton Murdock]

Hi All

Last week I greased my tailwheel (Big mistake) before my trip to Corona ? Corvallis- Home (10.9 hrs).The greasy mess from the tailwheel was all over my rudder and horizontal. After removing the offending component I was surprised that the bearings are of Wheel-Barrel origin! What bearing did you use when replacement was necessary?
Is it time for DJM Mfg to go into the aircraft tailwheel businesses?

[Sam Buchanan]

Originally Posted by Dayton Murdock

Hi All

Last week I greased my tailwheel (Big mistake) before my trip to Corona ? Corvallis- Home (10.9 hrs).The greasy mess from the tailwheel was all over my rudder and horizontal. After removing the offending component I was surprised that the bearings are of Wheel-Barrel origin! What bearing did you use when replacement was necessary?
Is it time for DJM Mfg to go into the aircraft tailwheel businesses?

Not only are they industrial bearings, they are sealed--the zerk fitting is absolutely useless....except for making a mess.

I took the bearings to a local supplier and they matched them up with something they had in stock, don't recall the numbers. Vans sells them for $3.00 each.

[N941WR]

Originally Posted by Dayton Murdock

...
Is it time for DJM Mfg to go into the aircraft tailwheel businesses?

Could be. How many hours do you have on the tailwheel?

[Dayton Murdock]

Just went over 226 hrs on the trip. Time for an oil change and some clean up.

Just talked with Ken @ the Mother Ship and he concurs that a bearing upgrade would be a good thing.
Stand by

[vfrazier]

I have 2 different styles of sealed bearing tailwheel tires available. I've had one on my Rocket for over 150 hours and it still looks like new. I've shipped well over 100 of these with no problems.

I guarantee everything I sell. If you don't like it, send it back.

Vince Frazier

http://www.vincesrocket.com/products.htm

tailwheels, parts, tires, graphics

Coming soon: Flyboy Accessories web store. Pilot and homebuilder goodies for RVers.

[sprucemoose]

Vince,

I thought you quit selling the sealed bearings because of failure. Do you have a new source?

I bought some of the old batch when I bought the SE tail fork last year (a great unit by the way.) I had one go bad after just a few hours. Fortunately I bought 2 spare sets at the time, pressed a new set in and 100+ hours later they still work great. Good cheap bearings but a very high infant mortality rate on them. Really like the idea of a sealed bearing.

[N941WR]

Originally Posted by Dayton Murdock

Just went over 226 hrs on the trip. Time for an oil change and some clean up.

Just talked with Ken @ the Mother Ship and he concurs that a bearing upgrade would be a good thing.
Stand by

Sunday I landed with exactly 200 hours on the -9 and 292 landings and my TW is starting to wobble.

I'll stand by for your solution.

[vfrazier]

Jeff,

Yes, I did have some sealed bearings that were sold separately. They were replacements for Van's bearing and were to press into a Van's wheel.

Those did have a few failures. Even a few is too many, so I dropped them. However, those that didn't fail quickly seemed to have a long life... hundreds of hours or more. Go figure. I know of some that were still going after 500 hours.

My hangar mate still uses them, even though I've offered him one of the new tires. Again, go figure.

The new "deluxe" tailwheel tires that I offer come complete with the bearings already installed in the hub. These tires are 6 ounces lighter than the Vans tire. I've shipped at least a hundred of them and so far have had no reports of any problems with one minor exception. One user reported that his tread split slightly to a depth of 1/16 to 1/8". I don't think that is an uncommon occurrence for any tire that goes instantaneously from 0 to 60 mph. BTW, I sent him another tire although his was probably OK for further use.

Given the history of the new tires so far, I am confident that they are superior to the Van's tire. And I guarantee it by offering a refund or replacement to anyone who isn't happy with them... just like all of my other products.

Fly safely,
Vince
http://www.vincesrocket.com/products.htm

[rvmills]

I just posted of review of Vince's SEGA tailwheel, and have been very pleased. Works great, and no issues with the bearings. Here's the link to the review, with pix imbedded there:

http://www.vansairforce.com/communit...653#post260653

Cheers,
Bob