Ed, I've been told by very knowlageable people that a 5:00x5 tire should fit on a wheel that started using a 4:10x5 tire.Considering going with the 380 main tires and a modified front fork on my 9a, with a 5x5 front tire. Is a new front wheel required for the larger tire, or can the stock one be used?
Considering going with the 380 main tires and a modified front fork on my 9a, with a 5x5 front tire. Is a new front wheel required for the larger tire, or can the stock one be used?
Planning a shop to do it. But still in the planning stage. BTW, do you know what aluminum Vans uses for the fork? 6061 I'm guessing...Ed,
Are you modifying the fork yourself or a shop is doing it for you?
Yes, these threads have many comments regarding the nose wheel bending. There are also many threads of people making the change. It seems a significant number involve the nose of the front leg contacting the ground and catapulting the rv on its back. So does the bend cause the leg to dig into the ground and flip the plane, or does the leg dig into the ground, bend the leg, and flip the plane?? Seems either could occur. The bend seems to be in the thinner section of the leg proximal to the fork, not at the fork. The 11-4 is a 10.5" diameter, the 5x5 is 13.5". This swap raises the nose 1.5" over stock. Dropping the axle 1.25" gains 2.75" over stock height. It seems this gain plus the wider front tire would lessen the risk of a ground rut, hole, etc grabbing the axle causing as a flip. Yes the bending torque on the nose leg itself does increase. My front weight is 253lbs. If we assume a moment arm of 8.5" ( est normal fork) we get a force of 179 ft/lbs bending load on the leg. Increasing to 9.75" (est) increases the force to 205 ft/lbs. A high G load landing will increase this exponentially.Could I suggest a thorough review of why nose legs fail is appropriate before fitting a larger wheel?
Assuming you have the original nose leg, it will fail in bending (it will curl up backwards like a snail) when the load imposed by the wheel reaches a certain level. A larger wheel increases the bending loads on the leg, will decrease the load you may put on the nose wheel before the leg fails and will increase the likelihood of failure over the standard set up.
You may decide it is a reasonable way ahead in your case, but please consider all the factors.
A 380x150 tire is only about 1" greater diameter (raises the axle by 1/2") than a 5.00x5 tire.
Well, the tailwheel option is out. I already sold the gear to Ed
Ed , I have 12 years on a 5 X 5 nose .give me a call and I will share some data. 815 291 8864Maybe a trade in the future!
C'mon Vlad, nothing special but where?I visited a place today. Nothing special just a backcountry strip, recently cleaned by volunteer pilots. I would be more comfortable with a bigger wheel, coming with a passenger, camping gear and more fuel...
View attachment 58708
Well, the tailwheel option is out. I already sold the gear to Ed
C'mon Vlad, nothing special but where?
Are you able to post a photo of how you did this please? I'm not sure if you just cut the bottom edges higher, or did more extensive fiberglass work?Consider this before installing a bigger wheel.
During a flip over I believe it is the drag from the bottom of the fibreglass nose cone contacting the ground that starts the strut fold under sequence. In a standard installation there is a gap between the inner surface of the nose cone and the nut/bottom of the strut. I modified my nose cone to eliminate this gap by raising the bottom surface of the nose cone. The bottom of my nose cone to ground clearance has increased to 3.8” which is about the same as a Piper Cherokee. After hundreds of landings on grass and gravel strips I have never even had a scratch on the lower nose cone surface.
Fin 9A
Australia
Post from 17 years ago.Are you able to post a photo of how you did this please? I'm not sure if you just cut the bottom edges higher, or did more extensive fiberglass work?
I measured the gap between the floor and the lower edge of the nose wheel cap and it is 2.75". If the wheel pant is off then the gap from floor to gear leg nut is 4.00"
Finley,Consider this before installing a bigger wheel.
During a flip over I believe it is the drag from the bottom of the fibreglass nose cone contacting the ground that starts the strut fold under sequence. In a standard installation there is a gap between the inner surface of the nose cone and the nut/bottom of the strut. I modified my nose cone to eliminate this gap by raising the bottom surface of the nose cone. The bottom of my nose cone to ground clearance has increased to 3.8” which is about the same as a Piper Cherokee. After hundreds of landings on grass and gravel strips I have never even had a scratch on the lower nose cone surface.
Fin 9A
Australia