Cleveland wheel broke-

[acroeric]

Just something to look out for- I almost had a BAD day Sunday. We have been chasing a slight vibration that we thought was in the tailwheel wen I landed and felt it through the right brake. It broke where the bead of the tire seats- it was around the inner wheel half about 4 inches. We do land off field some but nothing like the guys up north or out west. It is apparent that it has been broken for a long time and it finally decided it had enough.

This had the Cleveland conversion on it and we have been running 8.50x8 tires.

If it had let loose I would have definately ground looped as the wind was a direct 15kt crosswind.

A new set of wheels will be here tomorrow and we should be going quickly.

[tamarack]

Thank you for the heads-up! What part number wheel was it that broke? Is it an aluminum or magnesium wheel?

Thanks again,

Vickie

[Speedo]

Eric:

Sounds like something I could add to my preflight inspection. Was the break in a place you would be able to see during a preflight? From your description, it sounds like it's in a location that would ordinarily be covered in brake dust.

Eric

[acroeric]

The location is not easily seen- in fact we have been chasing this for a while and have been looking for the source of the vibration.
I have to say that I feel kind of stupid that I did not take it more seriously when we first noticed. From now on at each annual I WILL remove the tires and dye-pen everything.

If you look at the O.D. of the inner wheel half- it broke just where the bead of the tire seats. The crack is about 4" long and goes around the wheel half. It was so bad when we finally saw it that it was lightly hitting the brake caliper. I was literally 1 landing from balling it up.

I'll snap some photos and post them later today. They were not all that old a set of wheels- they were P/N 30-60 manufactured around 1981. The still have the Cleveland/ Parker tag on them.

[HydroCub]

The location is not easily seen- in fact we have been chasing this for a while and have been looking for the source of the vibration.
I have to say that I feel kind of stupid that I did not take it more seriously when we first noticed. From now on at each annual I WILL remove the tires and dye-pen everything.

If you look at the O.D. of the inner wheel half- it broke just where the bead of the tire seats. The crack is about 4" long and goes around the wheel half. It was so bad when we finally saw it that it was lightly hitting the brake caliper. I was literally 1 landing from balling it up.

I'll snap some photos and post them later today. They were not all that old a set of wheels- they were P/N 30-60 manufactured around 1981. The still have the Cleveland/ Parker tag on them.

Take a close look to see if there's a nick along the crack on the inside. Could be that someone took a screwdriver hammered in to break the bead off the rim. I've seen it before (and had my close call).

Proves the old saying... "if something doesn't seem right, there's probably something wrong" Finding out what is wrong is the trick.

~

[gbflyer]

We have them get a lot of corrosion here, which leads to failure. Salty beaches and the magnesium chloride they use for melting ice on the runways, I suspect.

gb

[acroeric]

Here are a few photos of the damage after we cleaned the wheel. It looks like there was a bit of pitting around the areas where the crack started. This could have been the cause for some "ground-a-batics"
[/img]

[acroeric]

forgot the link to my album- here it is

http://www.supercub.org/photopost/sh...00&ppuser=2732