Bearings for rims (and tire tube)

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PoconoJohn
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Joined: Tue Jan 14, 2020 9:07 pm

Bearings for rims (and tire tube)

Post by PoconoJohn »

I have to buy bearings. I have Cleveland 6.00 X 6 type 3 rims. I have a 1.5" axle. The space for the bearing is about 2.5". I'm looking at:
TIMKEN BEARING 13889 and I probably need the pieces that hold it in place too like the snap ring. What about cup, cone, felt or other rings? I attached two photos of parts I see with the bearings. I can't find them at AS&S. Not sure what they are called.

For buying a tube, would it be straight or 90 degree valve? The hole is on the rim surface (not the edge).

Thank you! I'm close to having all the parts needed for the landing gear.

John C
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bearing2.jpg
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taildrags
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Re: Bearings for rims (and tire tube)

Post by taildrags »

John; I've recently been through this with my 6.00x6 Clevelands and scratched my head a lot until I found the correct group of parts to both seal the greased bearings and secure the wheel and assembly onto the threaded end of the axle. I'll dig up photos and parts that I used to see if it will help you. I do have some leftover parts that may possibly prove useful to you.

Oscar Zuniga
Medford, OR
Air Camper NX41CC, A75 power
PoconoJohn
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Re: Bearings for rims (and tire tube)

Post by PoconoJohn »

Thank you Oscar. Standing by.

John C
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taildrags
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Re: Bearings for rims (and tire tube)

Post by taildrags »

John; my wheels are assembled as follows (best I remember). On the inside, Timken 13889 brearing, greased. It's held in place by its taper and by the raised shoulder on the axle. On top of the bearing, one of those felt grease seals sandwiched between two of the thin stainless rings, then that sandwich is held in place with a snap ring.

On the outside, same thing except that I had a heck of a time figuring out how to hold the outer bearing in the wheel without compressing the felt seal and the thin stainless rings that sandwich it. My plane had been using the standard big castellated nuts, but those ended up squishing the felt seal and I knew that wasn't right. Besides that, I had a very hard time inserting the cotter pin through the castellations on the big axle nut, so I really knew something wasn't right. It wasn't. Turns out that what I needed were the nuts shown below to secure the outer bearing, since they are thin enough to slip through the thin stainless rings and the hole in the felt seal. They were a bit too long so I had to put them on my big disk sander to shorten them a bit.

-Oscar
axle nut.JPG
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taildrags
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Re: Bearings for rims (and tire tube)

Post by taildrags »

PS, you'll find the thin stainless rings and the felt seals in the Landing Gear section of the Aircraft Spruce catalog, under Cleveland 6.00 wheels. I'll get you the part numbers.

-Oscar
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taildrags
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Re: Bearings for rims (and tire tube)

Post by taildrags »

John: these are the parts that I used on my wheels.

-Oscar
rings.jpg
PoconoJohn
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Re: Bearings for rims (and tire tube)

Post by PoconoJohn »

That's a big help Oscar. I appreciate your time to gather the info and post.

Thank you!!!

John C
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taildrags
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Re: Bearings for rims (and tire tube)

Post by taildrags »

John; just bear in mind that there are dozens and dozens of variations of these wheels out there, some take different parts for different reasons (which I found out the hard way). The parts that my wheels use may be different from yours. And it looks like you already have very decent felt rings and thin stainless rings, no need for new ones, so it's just a matter of cleaning and inspecting everything and assembling once you have your new bearings all greased up and ready to install. I put on disposable gloves and hand-packed my new bearings by scooping them through the tub of grease (aircraft supply aisle at AutoZone), but the auto places also have a little bearing packer gadget that presses grease uniformly through the bearing by pressing down on it. No need to pay for one of those unless you plan to do a lot of bearings ;o)

-Oscar
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taildrags
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Re: Bearings for rims (and tire tube)

Post by taildrags »

I forgot to mention what I have for tubes. I have flat aluminum wheel covers on my main wheels and they help to keep dust and grit and debris out of the bearings. So, in order to get at the valve stems to check the tire pressure or add air, I either have to remove the wheel covers (3 screws each) or else use valve stem extensions to bring the end of the stem out past the cover. I have not had very good luck with these, as neither my tire filler nor my tire gauge seems to depress the center of those extensions enough to use them, and I've tried several different styles and brands. I just remove two screws and loosen the 3rd enough for the covers to drop away to check pressure or air up the tire, so bottom line with mine, straight or angled stem makes no difference. Might as well add a photo of one of my axles for your information as well, but you may need to click on it for it to appear upright rather than upside-down.
port_axle.jpg
-OZ
whl_covr.JPG
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PoconoJohn
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Re: Bearings for rims (and tire tube)

Post by PoconoJohn »

Thanks Oscar! The photos I posted are from a site selling used rims (like I have) with the bearings, so I was thinking that's what I need, but I wasn't sure what the pieces are called. Great advice on packing bearings and having a wheel cover.

The round axle nut you show screws on the end of the axle, but what keeps the tire in place on the inside? From the plans, seems I can just weld a piece of sheet metal, correct?

John C
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taildrags
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Re: Bearings for rims (and tire tube)

Post by taildrags »

John, not sure what you're asking, but what holds the wheel assembly in place on my airplane is the shoulder on the inner end of the axle. That shoulder rides against the wheel bearing.
shoulder.jpg
PoconoJohn
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Re: Bearings for rims (and tire tube)

Post by PoconoJohn »

Thanks!
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