SonexBuilders.net

Does anyone have the part number for the nose wheel bearings? My nose wheel came with the same tapered bearings as the mains with a 3/4in hole in the cones. This tends to be a little sloppy around the 5/8in axle bushing. Sonex doesn't list the bearing separately, only a new wheel with the bearings installed.

I ordered 1 3/4in X 5/8in bearings on Ebay, but upon removal of the races I learned the O.D. is actually 1.781in.. In case you think Metric makes more sense, it comes out to 15.77mm I.D. and 45.24mm O.D..


Just for the record..........a 3/8in carriage bolt works very well for removing the bearing races from the wheel. .

I’m thinking you might be able to use a Azusa 8258 shown here: https://azusaparts.com/product/tapered-roller-bearing-cone-58-id/ which is an Azusa 8256 with a spacer for the ID. The 8256 on the mains has the weird 1.78” OD.

My nose wheel has an Azusa 8206 sealed bearing which has a 1.375” OD with 5/8” ID and appears to be what Sonex is currently selling.

Would either of these work?
https://www.amazon.com/Timken-Tapered-R ... B0071B0Y48
https://www.amazon.com/uxcell-LM11949-T ... B07SJFS6NG

It would appear I have 3 main gear wheels in my possession as a 1.78 O.D. with a .675 I.D. bearing seems to be made of unobtanium.

Bryan, what's used on the nose wheel is a sealed 5/8 I.D. ball bearing. Those links you gave are now in my archives when I need to swap out the main bearings. Thanks.

ampzapper, that would be an elegant solution if the preload on the nose wheel bearing were adjustable. As it stands, any preload would be controlled by the spacer bushings and would be a PITA to make for anybody except David Amsler..

Thanks Group.

An anatomically correct nose wheel is in my future here @Area 51%. .

Since you dragged my name into this, here is my two cents worth.

I do not have a nose wheel on mine, and my plans are in my cold hangar at the airport, but think you may be making this more complicated than necessary. First ask Sonex to replace your third main gear wheel with a nose wheel with proper bearings. If any resistance to that and there are no other differences between the nose and main gear wheels, then make a sleeve to fit over your axle bolt to increase the diameter from 5.8" to 3/4". The sleeve should have an accurate ID and ID to match the axle bolt and wheel bearings, but its length only needs to be something a bit SHORTER than the length through the two bearings when they are pressed into the wheel. 1/16" short should not effect anything. Look at your main gear wheels, you do not want any spacer BETWEEN the tapered roller bearings.

I have trouble understanding how anyone in Florida manages to stay inside long enough to build anything, It is easy up here in the frozen north where the temp is 15 degrees below freezing with lake effect snow and seeing the sun has been a rare occurrence.

David A.

It would appear the only difference between the nose and main wheels is the bore diameter to accommodate the different ODs of the tapered VS sealed ball bearings.
The bushings I referenced reside between the fork and bearing to keep the wheel/tire centered.

I have a replacement wheel on order.

Six of the first 13 mornings of December have yielded a coating of ice on the bird bath here in sunny warm Florida. After 10 O'clock......it's Mother Beautiful airplane building weather.
Being from Michigan originally, I too had no idea the sky was supposed to be blue. A little frightening at first.