SonexBuilders.net

Hi ya'll,

So the plans say that the two halves of the wheel need to mate flush with no gaps between them. They also say that if there is a gap it is probably caused by flashing at the bolt holes. So I checked my wheels and there is no flashing problem at the bolt holes. But if I hold the wheel up to the light I see a small even gap all the way around the wheel (maybe 1/64"?). From looking through the gap at the light I can see that the cause is those little cone shaped alignment nubs. This is all tested without the bolts being torqued down, so possibly that would help.

Have you also seen this? Any recommendations for a fix? I tried grinding off the tip of each of the nubs (in case they were high) and the gap remains.

I hope you had a nice weekend ;-).

Kevin

Hi Kevin,
Are you installing the sonex hyd. Brakes? Mount the heavy steel disc with the allen flush bolts, and i'd use a lock washer with the nylocs, some have reported recently the nylocs coming loose maybe from heat transfer. Did you use some talcum baby powder inside the wheels and tube? Torque it all down it should pull tight. Let us know.

WaiexN143NM
Michael

Kevin,

The tubed wheels just aren't that critical. The Azusa wheels work just fine but, their not a work of art. I've used mine for over 500 hrs and converted to hydraulic brakes (Sonex) about 100 hrs ago. No problems ever. Just make certain you pump your tires up around 50 Lbs air pressure,(ignore the 30lbs max part) or you run the risk of spinning a tire on the wheel under heavy braking. If that happens it's instant flat with a valve stem ripped out of the tube.
Not happened to me but I know some that have. I initially ran about 35lbs and found my stem twisted off funny one day and it didn't take long to figure out why. Keep up the pressure and all will be fine.

Larry
Waiex 121YX

WaiexN143NM wrote:Hi Kevin,
Are you installing the sonex hyd. Brakes? Mount the heavy steel disc with the allen flush bolts, and i'd use a lock washer with the nylocs, some have reported recently the nylocs coming loose maybe from heat transfer. Did you use some talcum baby powder inside the wheels and tube? Torque it all down it should pull tight. Let us know.

WaiexN143NM
Michael

Thanks Michael, yep - hyd brakes. Alas, when I torque everything down I still see a tiny gap between the two halves. I'm kinda guessing now that they are all like this and the gap just isn't big enough to pinch a tube. I'm going to go ahead and mount tires/tubes and assume if it good enough for a kid's go-cart then it is good enough for my airplane. ;-)

Kevin

Hi kevin,
What larry said is exactly correct , dont worry the rims are not perfect, and yes, thats what we use for tire pressure. 50 psi. We also marked on sidewall of tire a white
line to indicate where the valve stem is, very easy to rotate plane on ground to line up for tire pump ups.
WaiexN143NM
Michael

Note of caution on air pressure. The 50 PSI may be okay for standard small Sonex tire, but is way too much force on the wheel if using the larger 5.00 x 5 tires. I have disk brakes and have found that about 23-25 PSI works quite well with the larger tires.

David A.

Hi david,
Good to know. Yes we are using the standard small sonex tire. With your bigger tires, can you still use the sonex wheel pants?

WaiexN143NM
Michael

WaiexN143NM wrote:Hi david,
Good to know. Yes we are using the standard small sonex tire. With your bigger tires, can you still use the sonex wheel pants?

WaiexN143NM
Michael

Yes managed to stretch standard wheel pants to fit over the larger tires and GP hydraulic disk brakes by splitting bottom side and inserting wedge shaped pieces about 3/4" wide at widest. The brake calipers themselves do protrude, a bit. but all else is covered.

David A.