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Fiberglass work on the wheel pants
- Thread starter Jettison
- Start date
Lots of RV guys and gals use the West System with their calibrated pumps.. I asked a local builder who does lots of composite work and he used Jeffco epoxy on Lancairs. That what I went with. I got the medium speed hardener, sometimes I wish I had slower hardener, definitely don’t want anything faster. I bought a cheap digital postal, scale from Amazon and I do the mix by weighing out the ratio (10 to 2.2).
MacCool
Well Known Member
I'm a believer in reinforcing the mounting holes. I had to repair all three wheel pants after landing at a pancake breakfast with the worst-maintained grass field in the state. Cracks at the fairings, cracks at all the mounting holes. I couldn't conveniently get anyone to fix them, so bit the bullet and just did it myself. I got a lot of advice here. After fixing the cracks, I reinforced the mounting holes with a couple of layers of twill weave 3K/220g carbon fiber on the inside (Amazon). I used West epoxy and mini-pump, with 207 slow hardener (Amazon). I had them re-painted at a local body shop using some kind of two-part poly, was careful to maintain the mounting hole locations so they were easy to re-drill and countersink when done. I used a mounted laser to double check. Worked out fine...I hate fiberglass work but this wasn't too bad as a winter project in my nice warm workshop.
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FlyingDiver
Well Known Member
Where's the after pics? 
MacCool
Well Known Member
I don't have good closeups but I'm satisfied with the results.Where's the after pics?
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Pretty much any kind of epoxy that is available locally in small amounts will work.
West is easy to work with and readily available, scrounge some from your mates.
judoka5051
Well Known Member
Should have had a V8! (or posted my solution earlier)
Hey all,
I hade the same issue in a previous RV. I chose to embed a piece of aluminum into the aft wheelpant to solve this issue. The new plane has them too since I live on a grass strip. The plates are barely noticeable and have the added benefit of deleting the tinnerman washers. Next time I'll probably add a small one to the
fron pant too. So now you've got a plan 'B' to consider.
Regards, Lance
Hey all,
I hade the same issue in a previous RV. I chose to embed a piece of aluminum into the aft wheelpant to solve this issue. The new plane has them too since I live on a grass strip. The plates are barely noticeable and have the added benefit of deleting the tinnerman washers. Next time I'll probably add a small one to the
fron pant too. So now you've got a plan 'B' to consider.
Regards, Lance
Small tidbit...it's routine to see countersunk screws in wheelpants, but there isn't much merit in terms of drag reduction, in particular when the screws are accompanied by big CS washers. A countersink generally results in a knife edge at the ID of the hole. Composites tend to demonstrate poor bearing strength, so a knife edge is really weak.
An AN526 provides full thickness bearing. A nylon washer protects the paint.
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An AN526 provides full thickness bearing. A nylon washer protects the paint.
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JonJay
Well Known Member
Dan - I think it’s routine ‘cause that’s the way it has been done thousands of times and most of us are sheep.
Did you also reinforce where the brackets sit?
I reinforced the bracket area per plans and used flush screws with no tinneman for about 800 hours and then had one wear through. Added the tinneman washers and all is good.
However, the flat bracket does not fit the curvature of the wheel pant. I am just now starting to notice some slight “telegraphing” of the bracket edge on the outside of the pant. It’s structurally fine, for now, my guess being it just took a bunch of years and hours for the glass to sort of form to the bracket. I like Larry’s suggestion, or, one could reinforce the pant and lay the bracket in a slurry to fill the gaps.
Always learning.
Did you also reinforce where the brackets sit?
I reinforced the bracket area per plans and used flush screws with no tinneman for about 800 hours and then had one wear through. Added the tinneman washers and all is good.
However, the flat bracket does not fit the curvature of the wheel pant. I am just now starting to notice some slight “telegraphing” of the bracket edge on the outside of the pant. It’s structurally fine, for now, my guess being it just took a bunch of years and hours for the glass to sort of form to the bracket. I like Larry’s suggestion, or, one could reinforce the pant and lay the bracket in a slurry to fill the gaps.
Always learning.
PilotjohnS
Well Known Member
Gell coat
But they still have that gel coat layer. Should I sand down the gel coat to the bare fiberglass before i bond on additional fiberglass or micro balloons using epoxy resin?
But they still have that gel coat layer. Should I sand down the gel coat to the bare fiberglass before i bond on additional fiberglass or micro balloons using epoxy resin?
MacCool
Well Known Member
That's how I did it, then a few layers of fiberglass. I did use microballoons to smooth out and even the filled layer.
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Yes, typically 4 plies 9oz.
I've done that before, although offhand I don't recall on what. Flox, worked great.
PilotjohnS
Well Known Member
boat
When I got done reinforcing my wheel pants, they looked more like boat parts. Right down to the 12 oz cloth....
When I got done reinforcing my wheel pants, they looked more like boat parts. Right down to the 12 oz cloth....
Front Wheel Pant
When I was doing my front wheel pant I reinforced the front bottom with 3 layers of carbon fiber. My thinking was if the wheel started to roll under and the Lip Skid needed some help the front shell would not scuff off as fast as fiberglass. At leas that is what I hoped would happen. After laying up the carbon fiber I didnt notice much difference in the sanding over fiberglass to make smooth so it may have been a waste. one thing for sure is the front cup is very rigid and almost no flex where the carbon fiber is.
When I was doing my front wheel pant I reinforced the front bottom with 3 layers of carbon fiber. My thinking was if the wheel started to roll under and the Lip Skid needed some help the front shell would not scuff off as fast as fiberglass. At leas that is what I hoped would happen. After laying up the carbon fiber I didnt notice much difference in the sanding over fiberglass to make smooth so it may have been a waste. one thing for sure is the front cup is very rigid and almost no flex where the carbon fiber is.
