Optimal wheel alignment?

[dreamer]

Hello,

Working with an IA here installing Cleveland wheels and brakes on my Experimental Clipped Wing T-Craft. (will have the original wheels and brake parts for sale at some point). My question is: What is the optimal alignment of the wheels? Straight?, toed in? toed out? (how much?) Any consensus here?

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks!

Lynne

[Pearson]

Re: Optimal wheel alignment?

I think the wheels are supposed to be toed in very slightly. This has been discussed on this forum before, so you should be able to do a search and find a thread that will tell you how much toe in is needed. Also be careful when you are "adjusting" the toe in that you don't warp your gear legs.

Please contact me about selling your old wheels and brakes, at
neat1s @ yahoo.com. (remove the spaces in the address)

[dreamer]

Re: Optimal wheel alignment?

Thanks Richard,

I searched the archives and found a variety of opinions on the matter and not much consensus. I found a broader discussion on supercub.org. The thread is titled "Toe In Toe Out".

The majority appears split between "straight" and "slight toe-in". I think we'll go with a very slight toe-in since there don't appear to be any actual specs (I have the Taylorcraft BC12-D maintainance manual).

I have two original wheels and brake assemblies and one pair of heel brakes (I think the others were removed when the airplane was converted to single place).

Appreciate your response!

Lynne

[VictorBravo]

Re: Optimal wheel alignment?

Toe-OUT causes instability on the ground, and fosters groundlooping tendencies quite a bit.

Toe-IN opposes groundlooping tendencies and makes the airplane more stable in general. HOWEVER if you land with one wing low in a slight crab that same toe-IN now tries to pull the landing gear hard inboard under the airplane and roll you onto your downwind wingtip.

My best advice, for whatever it's worth, is ZERO toe-in or toe-out. You are guaranteeing yourself to not build in any problems that could bite you later.

[n6346m]

Re: Optimal wheel alignment?

I agree with the straight or very slight toe-in. I have found that if you want to know what your toe-in or toe-out may be or whether both gear legs are the same, take off the wheels, borrow a pair of skis and slide them onto the axles. Be sure they are off a Taylorcraft or have the adapters for the tapered axles. The tips and tails of the skis will tell you the story a lot easier than any other method I can think of. When I first put skis on my L2-B I found that my left gear had a lot more toe-in than my right just by looking at it. I swapped the skis from one side to the other just to confirm that it wasn't one the skis that was bent. Just my 3.4 cents worth. (You know that it costs the government 1.7 cents to make a penny)

[Larry Lyons]

Re: Optimal wheel alignment?

So simple yet so elegant. Very nice idea.
Larry

[VictorBravo]

Re: Optimal wheel alignment?

So simple yet so elegant. Very nice idea.
Larry

For those of us closer to desert than snow, just take two pieces of 3 or 4 foot angle iron or square tube, set them up on bricks touching the sides of the tires, and compare the front/rear distance apart same as the ski trick.

Now kiddies, you have to have two equal tires inflated to equal pressure, of course, and all the bricks should be the same size

[astjp2]

Re: Optimal wheel alignment?

I am 1/8" toe in 18" foreward of the c/l of the axle. It keeps the gear from squating when I am fully loaded and taxi's like a dream. Tim