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Front Wheel Axle Spacers - A Permanent Fix

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effectus(at)rogers.com
Guest

Posted: Sun Dec 21, 2008 7:36 pm Post subject: Front Wheel Axle Spacers - A Permanent Fix

Hi Everyone,



I want to share with you the permanent fix that I have come up with for 

the front axle spacer problems we have been having lately. We have seen 

everything from gouging of outer yokes to the bearing spinning on the 

axle due to the loss of bearing pre-load.



I decided to take a real close look at the system to see what the root 

problem is and I found that the spacers provided with the kit, both the 

steel ones delivered with the kit initially and the aluminum ones sent 

out as a fix do not interface with the bearing properly. This is due to 

two issues.



The first is that the mating surface on the bearing for the spacer is 

curved. I contacted Timken Bearing and they sent me the dimensioned 

cross section of that bearing which showed that the curved mating 

surface was a compound curve that melded two radii. This is not an easy 

surface to mate to.



The second issue was that of the wall thickness of the aluminum spacers 

set out by Van's to replace the initial steel ones. The wall thickness 

of these aluminum spacers is .250in. The mating surface of the bearing 

is approx. .187in. This is the steel contact area inside of the rubber 

bearing seal. This meant that the spacer was pre-loading on the rubber 

bearing seal instead of the steel portion of the bearing. In many cases 

this has resulted in the loss of the pre-load as the rubber 

deteriorates. Consequently, there were bearings spinning, yokes being 

gouged and loose wheels which add to bearing wear and shimmy.



I initially thought that I would take the same approach as Ross Farnham 

and machine profiles on the end of new steel spacers so that the 

interface between them and the bearing was close to identical. I called 

Ross and talked it over with him and he said that if he had more time to 

put into it he would have made one of the spacers adjustable. I asked 

him if I could run with that and he agreed it would be the best fix.



So, what I have been able to design is a system where there is a perfect 

interface between the spacers and the bearings by utilizing the Timken 

specifications and the accuracy of CNC machining. I have also been able 

to design a robust and accurate adjustment mechanism into one of the 

spacers so that the pre-load can be adjusted without having to take the 

wheel apart.



Integrated into the spacer design are notches that accept the heads of 

10-24 socket-head cap screws installed on the inner face of the yoke. 

These restrict the spacers from being able to spin on the axle. As well, 

you will now be able to accurately torque the front wheel bolt because 

it no longer has any relationship to the pre-load of the bearings.



The screw adjustment ring is locked in place by two 1/4-20 socket-head 

cap screws that have drilled heads so they can be safety wired.



All of these new components including the hardware is made from 

stainless steel for durability and corrosion resistance.



I just finished installing a set in my front wheel assembly and it goes 

together and adjusts very easily. I will be offering these for sale 

through Mike Lauritsen at Cleaveland Tools. The kits will include all 

hardware instructions and the drill guide used to locate the 

anti-rotation screws.



You can go to my Blog site and read about these and see pictures of the 

RV-10 as well as the RV6/7/8/9 components. It is located at the 

following address: http://www.kitaircraftmods.com



I feel as though I have now installed a permanent fix to this problem 

and I hope that if you are interested in the kit I have put together you 

will go and visit the Cleaveland Tools site. The first 10 production 

kits of each variant will be available sometime in mid January but 

please leave your name with them if you are interested so we can get a 

handle on how many are going to be required.



Many thanks for reading this long post.



Dave Hertner

RV-10 Builder #10164



Effectus AeroProducts Inc.

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bhughes(at)qnsi.net
Guest

Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2008 3:07 pm Post subject: Front Wheel Axle Spacers - A Permanent Fix

David,



Looks like a good solution to the problem. I locked the spacers to the

fork with screws but I am unhappy with the fit between the seal and the

spacers. Please put me down for a set.



Bobby Hughes

40116



--

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