bearing races on Azusa wheels?

[Klimek]

Rusty,
When it was time to install the wheels, I wrongly assumed the bearing races were seated like they should be. I removed the wheels and took them apart.
I used my press to push the races down to their seats. (this took very little pressure) I have drum brakes now which vibrate badly and seem to either pull
left or right. with my Onex a tail dragger I have to judiciously apply brakes on roll out.
I ordered and have Sonex disc brakes to install when I bring my plane home to my shop to paint. I don't anticipate problems, but you know how that goes.
I have noticed the bearing seats on one wheel are not parallel and this alone will cause brake vibration. This is one item you should check and correct if
needed.
Frank
ONEX 090
~52 hours
going home to paint

[13brv3]

I have noticed the bearing seats on one wheel are not parallel and this alone will cause brake vibration. This is one item you should check and correct if
needed.

Hi Frank,

When I initially drove the inner races in, I noticed they didn't look even on one of the wheels. I measured the depth, and found that they were not straight, so I finished seating them to make them right. On the axles, they appear very true, so I'm expecting no problems.

Cheers,
Rusty

[SNX1508]

And here is the response from Azusa on the proper depth of the wheel bearing races in the Azusa wheels. They should not be pressed all of the way in !!

******************************************************************
tjp@azusaeng.com <tjp@azusaeng.com>

tcooper3@wi.rr.com

Subject: FW: Fwd: Bearing Depth on Azusa-1137 Wheels

Priority: Normal Date: Sunday, December 27, 2015 1:12 PM Size: 3 KB

The race does not press into the bottom of the wheel
half. The inside of the wheel is tapered so it is
probably pressed in as far as possible. The dust shield
should be close to flush with wheel.



------- Original Message -------
From : Azusa Engineering[sales@azusaeng.com]
Sent : 12/27/2015 10:54:52 AM
To : tjp@azusaeng.com; tom@azusaeng.com
Cc : nick@azusaeng.com
Subject : FW: Fwd: Bearing Depth on Azusa-1137 Wheels

Begin forwarded message:From: <tcooper3@wi.rr.com>
Subject: Bearing Depth on Azusa-1137 Wheels
Date: December 27, 2015 at 1:06:20 AM PST
To: Azusa Sales <sales@azusaeng.com>

Good morning,

I have a question on the bearing depth on Azusa
wheels. I have Azusa 1137 wheels, with 3/4" ID
tapered roller bearings. I would like to know if the
bearing races should be pressed all of the way in
until they bottom out, or only pressed in until the
outer edge of the race is flush with the outside of
the wheel?

Thank you,

Terry L. Cooper

[DCASonex]

Good luck with Azusa's advise. If not seated, those races will move and your wheel (and brakes) will wobble. If not seated, their is noting to insure races are at 90 degrees to axle, and nothing to keep them in position. However, they do note that shields should be "close to flush with the wheel" and that only happens when bearings are fully seated. That comment in their reply makes it look like a looks like a CYA memo.

David A.

[13brv3]

Good to hear Azusa's official response as well. This part of their response sounds perfectly correct- "probably pressed in as far as possible. The dust shield should be close to flush with wheel. "

Mine are like that now, but they were not that way when I received the wheels.

Cheers,
Rusty

[fastj22]

To seat the races fully, does not require a great deal of force. They do fit fine fully seated. And every race I've seen in automotive and trailer wheels were fully seated. I'm rather perplexed on their response.

[jowens]

I am not having any luck completely seating the races. I currently have them seated enough that the standard bearings and the dust covers are flush with the side of the wheel but there is still about 1/16" to go for the races to be fully seated on the step in the wheel. I oiled the hub and races with 1 in 3 oil about a week ago and have tried on and off to seat them more. They are seated squarely (whew).

Tonight's attempt was with a 1/2" carriage bolt through a heavy duty 1 1/4" socket through one wheel half, four 2" fender washers on the other side and a tight nut. I put this in the shop vise loosely holding the nut. I then hit it with a 3 pound sledge. That helped seat the races about 1/32" of an inch.

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[sonex892.]

I am not having any luck completely seating the races. I currently have them seated enough that the standard bearings and the dust covers are flush with the side of the wheel but there is still about 1/16" to go for the races to be fully seated on the step in the wheel. I oiled the hub and races with 1 in 3 oil about a week ago and have tried on and off to seat them more. They are seated squarely (whew).

Tonight's attempt was with a 1/2" carriage bolt through a heavy duty 1 1/4" socket through one wheel half, four 2" fender washers on the other side and a tight nut. I put this in the shop vise loosely holding the nut. I then hit it with a 3 pound sledge. That helped seat the races about 1/32" of an inch.

I have Great Plains brakes and recently had a clanging noise develop when braking. Now both wheels had always run with a slight wobble but it was now far worse than before. It turned out the bearings must never have been properly seated.

Lacking a press, I did pretty much exactly what you have described with the bolt and hammer. I was tightening the crap out of the bolt between hammer blows. The bolt gives a great indication that the bearing has moved after each whack of the hammer and confirms when its home.Now finally after 6 years this method got the races seated and the wheels are running reasonably true. They're not perfect but far better than ever before.
Steve
Sonex 892

[DCASonex]

You may have those races better seated than you think. Mine seemed to easily hit a fairly solid bottom when those washers just fit flush with surface. 4 years and a few hundred landings (Many more if counting bounces.) and they have not moved.

David A.

[jowens]

Thanks, David. That is great news!!