markserbu
Active Member
I went out to the plane to fly to breakfast with friends today and when I opened the hangar, I saw that telltale dark stain under the left main. So I caught a ride in the back of a 182 and took almost twice as long to get there. ;-) Next week I'll be putting the 4TH SET of brake pads on the left wheel in the 2.5 years since I've owned my RV-8A! The last two sets lasted 71 and 88 landings, respectively. The right set has been replaced once, and has lasted somewhere around 200 landings. I found out that the left master cylinder didn't have a strong enough return spring so I made a helper spring which seemed to cure the slight brake drag that I noticed from time to time, but maybe I need to make another one out of heavier wire. I've read the posts here about folks' brake life, and I'm definitely below the low end of the scale. My question for the gang: Has anyone gotten fed up with the terrible brake life and gone with another manufacturer like Beringer? If so did it make a significant difference? I'm perfectly happy to throw a few thousand bucks at the problem if it'll keep me from replacing brake pads every 70 or 80 flights!
As you can see in the pictures, the pads are worn but it sure doesn't seem like they're worn enough to hyperextend the piston and uncover the O-ring. And you can see that the O-ring looks brand new.
As you can see in the pictures, the pads are worn but it sure doesn't seem like they're worn enough to hyperextend the piston and uncover the O-ring. And you can see that the O-ring looks brand new.