Brakes

[sonex569]

Anyone with Sonex brakes not installed. I am looking for the dimension of the puck front to back. Should have measured it when installing but didn't. Want to monitor the dimension each annual. When they give up I will record that dimension also. I figure each annual will tell me about what I have left before having to replace.

Thanks in advance

Dick
569SX

[Waiex 49]

I recently received my disc brake kit from Sonex but have not yet done the installation.
As delivered from Sonex, the four pucks measure 0.620", 0.622", 0.625", and 0.628".

Any photos or tips and tricks of this installation that you might want to share would be greatly appreciated.

Don Bowen
Viking Waiex N49YX

[mike.smith]

Any photos or tips and tricks of this installation that you might want to share would be greatly appreciated.

You could start here. Might help.
http://www.mykitlog.com/users/display_l ... 801&row=21

[Waiex 49]

Hi Mike,

I have spent a good deal of time going through your kitlogs page. Great stuff!

The only "real world" information I can find on the Sonex disc brake installation is your web page and Jim Hicke's You Tube video. If there is any other published information from those who have done this installation I would love to hear about it.

It seems that this installation requires many small deviations from the Sonex "instructions" in order to make it work. I am trying to collect as much "real world" information on this before I jump into this project.

Word around the campfire is that the single mounting tab provided by Sonex can bend/break under pressures of heavy braking, and that the "fix" is to use the Tracy O'Brien C-90 Torque Plates. http://www.tracyobrien.com/axles.html The C-90 Torque Plates are at the bottom right of the page. On the plus side, these look much stronger than the single mounting tab provide by Sonex. On the negative side, I'll have to find someone to weld these on for me. Your thoughts on this would be appreciated.

My disc brake installation will be slightly different than yours. I am using toe brake pedals from John Gillis and going with the Hegar master cylinders for differential braking.

How do you like your Sonex disc brakes so far? Any info you could share would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Don

[Brett]

My Sonex disc brakes work well. Hold the plane fine and the parking feature is simple and effective. It just tucks into the first stage of flaps for me with or without the flaps deployed.

I badly wish however that I had added toe brakes during my installation. For sealed runways I can taxi around fine but in strong winds like 15-18 kts I can't taxi on a gravel runway. The plane just constantly weather cocks into the wind. We have 3 x runways so the wind is usually on the nose on one of them but just getting to the runway is the issue. I would like to convert them one day.

[mike.smith]

Hi Mike,

How do you like your Sonex disc brakes so far? Any info you could share would be appreciated.

They work well. WAY better than the mechanical brakes. I've had them installed now for 2 years and have not had to replace the pucks. I'm sure I will in the spring, but when I looked at them a couple of weeks ago they were still in good shape. I have everything bolted to the single tab and have not had any issues with bending or loosening. I certainly DID with the mechanical brakes, but the hydraulic brakes put very different loads on the tab, so no issues.

It takes a LOT of pumping to get the brake lines to bleed, so when you do it you need to do it for way longer than you think you should. If the brakes feel at all mushy then you need to keep bleeding. The system is quite solid and un-mushy with no air bubbles in the lines.

I have experienced some minor leakage from around the seal where the plunger enters the master cylinder. Not a lot, but enough to notice a thin film on the floor over time. But not enough to even need to add fluid. But still I never leave my brakes set in parking mode; 1) I don't need to, but 2) I'd be afraid the fluid would leak under pressure over time.

I don't know why the factory holes in the backing plates appear to have no way to work in reality. Maybe I just couldn't see what was right in front of me, but I could not come up with any configuration (up, down, backward, forward) that would make any sense. Hence my having to make my own holes. Would love it if Sonex came out with a YouTube video showing how it's supposed to work.

All in all the switch over was relatively simple and well worth the effort. I can't say I've run into too may situations where I wanted or needed differential toe brakes, but I can see some instances where it would be desirable.

[Waiex 49]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the info, much appreciated.

I'll be doing the brake upgrades when I put the plane down for maintenance this winter following completion of the five hour phase 1 test program for my new engine.

Differential braking is nice to have, but my real reason for going with the toe brakes is that I hate to take my hand off the throttle to reach for the brake lever.

I'll be flying my Viking Waiex to Oshkosh 2017, it will be my first time at the big show. Hope to see you there. Max and I have a house rented, i hope you could join us for a brew and bbq.

Regards,

Don

[sonex569]

Don,

The best I have found for installation was Mike Smith kitlog site. I did have to Use a spacer between the wheel and brake assy, but was about it.
Thanks for the info. Going to APT tomorrow to pull apart and lub. things.

Again Thanks

Regards

Dick