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Nose Gear

B

Brambo

Well Known Member
Ok, today I finished putting together the nose wheel. I used a previously discussed technique and installed stakes (a la Roberta) in the mushroom spacer. When the wheel is inserted between the fork and the axel nut is not on, the wheel does not spin (in other words you cannot spin it with you hand), but does turn reasonably well. After putting the nut on and applying the correct torque (160#) for a 3/8? bolt, the wheel takes a fair amount of effort just to turn. Is this normal? If not, how do I fix it?

Bill Rambo
RV-7A
 
Ouch, to much torque

Brambo said:
After putting the nut on and applying the correct torque (160#) for a 3/8? bolt, the wheel takes a fair amount of effort just to turn. Is this normal? If not, how do I fix it?
RV-7A
Click to expand...
As I recall the torque required for the nose wheel bolt (axle) is much lower than 25# I cant remember off the top of my head so check the manual for the correct value.
 
NOOOOOO!

You do not torque the axle bolt up like a standard nut/bolt...In fact its a good job the torque setting is low because you can very easily damage the wheel bearings by doing that.

So back off the nut so the wheel spins freely. You just want to take up the slop i.e the wheel should not move side to side but only just.

The problem the stake are trying to address is to stop the spacers from spinning...It used to be the axle nut was over tightened to stop them spinning...Causes way to much drag ont he nose wheel and is bad for the bearings.

Now you have the stakes the axle can actually be loose and they won't spin.

To tighten the nut by hand until all the play is just taken up.

Frank
 
Ok, but even with the nut off, the wheel does'nt spin freely (like the main gear). Is this normal?

Bill Rambo
RV-7A
 
One of two things

It is either the nose gear fork squeezing the spacers into the bearings (unlikely) It should just slip in there with a little bit of play.

Also the wheel is small and the grease alone could be stopping it from spinning. But it certainly should rotate easily.

The important thing is there is no (or very little preload) to the bearings either by the bolt being tight or the fork naturally squeezing the wheel assembly together. If it is being squeezed then you could carefully file off a few though from the height of the spacer, although it would be better to do that in a lathe.

As I said I would be very surprised if it was being squeezed by the fork though.

Frank
 
Dust covers

Brambo said:
Ok, but even with the nut off, the wheel does'nt spin freely (like the main gear). Is this normal?

Bill Rambo
RV-7A
Click to expand...
The little rubber dust covers built into the bearings may be the friction culprit. Just make sure you don't overtighten the axle bolt.
 
frankh said:
It is either the nose gear fork squeezing the spacers into the bearings (unlikely) It should just slip in there with a little bit of play.

Frank
Click to expand...

OK, this might be the problem. I had some difficullty pulling the fork apart enough to slip the wheel in. So I guess the solution would be to bend the fork slightly so that the wheel slips in easily?

Bill Rambo
RV-7A
 
frankh said:
The important thing is there is no (or very little preload) to the bearings either by the bolt being tight or the fork naturally squeezing the wheel assembly together.
Frank
Click to expand...
This is just the opposite of what I heard one time from a bearing engineer.
He said the worst thing you could do for bearing life was have them run too loose. He said they must have some preload.
He claimed that as long as you could turn a wheel by hand, it was not too tight. He said you absolutely must not ever have any slop, so starting with it a little on the tight side when new was probably better.
 
Last edited:
The instuctions tell you to only apply 7-10 ft lbs of torque (page 10-7) if you are following Van's method. Using the stakes requires no preload of the bearings or very slight preload. You are only removing any side play in the bearings. You will still have drag from the seals and grease. The wheel will not freewheel like the mains, but it will rotate with considerably less force than when using the Van's torque method.

I would not bend the fork. You may create alignment problems. If you are able to get the wheel and bearings in, you're fine.

Hope this helps,

Roberta
 
Thanks Roberta, I was thinking the same thing. Bending thick pieces of metal is usually not a good thing.

Bill Rambo
 
My nose wheel definetly turns hard. I've left it for now but will be one of the things to get corrected. The nose wheel fork pinches WAY to hard on the spacers. I'm just going to have a machinest reface them for a good fit, that should solve the problem for me. Probably you're having the same issue with yours.
 
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