C170 wheel and brake change

How to keep the Cessna 170 flying and airworthy.

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Kim22V
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Joined: Mon May 09, 2016 12:11 am

C170 wheel and brake change

Post by Kim22V »

I'm having difficulty putting 31 inch tires and heavy Cleaveland brakes on a 1948 C170. The brakes fit on the left but hit the landing gear leg on the right. Anyone have experience with this?
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beaverbill
Posts: 45
Joined: Sat Feb 03, 2007 7:58 am

Re: C170 wheel and brake change

Post by beaverbill »

What part of the brake is contacting the gear leg? Is it the brake caliper, or the disk? In any event I would think that measuring the component parts, left and right, should lead you to the dimension that is different. There are several different types of axles that can be used on Cessna gear legs. You don't happen to have an unmatched set, do you? This does sound like an unusual situation and I am just throwing out ideas. I have a set of Gar Aero 10" wheel adapters on the Cleveland wheels on my 170. No interference problems with them.
Bill
Kim22V
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Joined: Mon May 09, 2016 12:11 am

Re: C170 wheel and brake change

Post by Kim22V »

Thanks for the input. the caliper hits the leg. I've found that it will fit (barely) if I rotate the axle 180 degrees yso that the looser holes are up, which seems odd since the instructions call for use of bushings in the upper torque plate holes.

When you changed wheels, if there were shims between gear leg and axle, did you reuse or replace them?
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beaverbill
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Joined: Sat Feb 03, 2007 7:58 am

Re: C170 wheel and brake change

Post by beaverbill »

The wheel and brake setup was already on my plane when I got it so I can't speak to any changes that might have been involved there. The shims that fit between the gear leg and the axle are for wheel alignment. They are tapered and put on in whatever orientation that is needed to achieve proper wheel alignment. I think you can do a topic search on the forum for more information on that subject. I will look at my gear and one or two other 170's and see if any considerations come to mind relevant to your problem.
Bill
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beaverbill
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Joined: Sat Feb 03, 2007 7:58 am

Re: C170 wheel and brake change

Post by beaverbill »

I looked at the Cleveland brakes on a couple of 170's today. I will try to describe what I am seeing and maybe you can tell how it relates to your problem. Standing under the wingtip, looking at the wheel assembly, the brake caliper should be at the 9:00 o'clock, or 3:00 o'clock position relative to the axle. Or to express it a different way, directly in front of, or directly behind the gear leg. On my plane there is a minimum of 3/8" clearance between the gear leg and the nearest part of the caliper. Cleveland makes many different styles of torque plates. Is it possible that you have the wrong torque plate for the Cessna installation? Many torque plates might fit the calipers that you are using, but result in the wrong orientation relative to the gear leg.
If you can post a photo of your setup maybe that would help diagnose the fitment issue.
Bill
MARC Alaska
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Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2017 9:58 pm

Re: C170 wheel and brake change

Post by MARC Alaska »

I apologize for digging up an old thread, but I am having the same issue. The caliper is contacting the gear leg. This is on a C170B with the early gear, p/n 0541114. The Cleveland kit is the 199-62 for install of the Bush Wheels. Was there any resolution to the issue Kim22V was having?
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