Flexible brake line pics?

[rydfly]

If anyone is especially proud of your brake line setup w/ Cleveland brakes, I'd like to see some pictures of how some of you have routed them. Specifically, what do your flexible lines look like between the caliper and hard lines? There aren't any 170's local for me to look at and I'm planning to make new hard and flexible lines for my own 170B very soon (w/ my IA's support, of course).

Please post or email some pictures my way if possible?

Thank you!

-Kennet

[GAHorn]

That's an AN823 or MS20823-4D fitting (45-deg) on the caliper, and AN832 union between the hose and tubing, and Aeroquip 303 hose with Aeroquip 491 fittings.

Ignore the dirt and grass stains, Ol'Gar will wash/wax it next week.

[blueldr]

Those flexible brake hoses look a lot cooler if you use that flex hose with the stainless mesh on the outdide.

[blueldr]

This computer is giving me fits today!

[bsdunek]

That's a lot nicer than most I've seen. Got to keep that in mind when I run out of Goodyear parts and have to convert.

[rydfly]

Wow, ask and ye shall receive! Thanks for the pictures!

Now let me ask you this... looking at this pic of my own current setup, why do my calipers appear to be mounted the opposite of yours? Mine are on the front of the wheel assembly, yours are on the rear. Does it have to do with wheel pants?

-Kennet

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

George's are mounted on the back. Doesn't have anything to do with panties and George's plane has them. His are originals, from your mounting plates it doesn't look like your airplane panties are. Makes no difference as far as brake performance if their mounted forward or back. Don't know about legality or even if it makes any difference from a legal stand point.

My Cleveland's were mounted on the front on my old plane and the 45º fitting on the caliper directed the flex hose back under the gear to the rear to mate to the metal line like George's does. Can't recall seeing many with the line down the front like yours is now.

[blueldr]

Real tailwheel pilots have double puck brakes and fat tires on their C-170s.

[rydfly]

Heck, if anything I was thinking of putting smaller tires on it so that I could fit the wheel pants.

Here's a pic of the other brake line... see why I'm looking to replace them? Not exactly the cleanest installation.

-Kennet

[GAHorn]

Kennet, in order to acheive "neatness".... think of aerodynamic "drag". Hide as much of the brakeline as possible behind the strut. This also protects it from sticks/grass on unpaved/turf runways, which can damage/dent/displace/collapse the lines.
There are arguments both pro/con about whether the calipers should be fwd or aft. In my opinion, those who favor the theory that fwd better-protects the caliper would do well to remember that Cessna placed them aft, both Goodyears and McCauley/Clevelands, where the axle, wheel, and fairing already protected them. (However, the Cleveland dwgs for the double-puck conversion places them fwd of the axle, most probably for ground-clearance purposes on a taildragger, as that caliper is longer. A flat tire on an aft-mounted double-puck caliper mounted on a taildragger puts it fairly close to the stones.)
In a practical sense, it makes little difference. BUT.... I think the neatest installation will have the hard-lind run down aft of the gearleg, with the flexible line passing OVER the gearleg to reach a fwd caliper. That will also provide the greatest protection for the flexible line from FOD, etc.

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

Come to think of it my flex lines might have run back over the axle and up the gear leg.

One of the things I need to get to is replacing the flexible brake lines associated with the Goodyear crosswind gear on my plane now. These things need to be long because the whole wheel rotates and they tend to hang low to the ground.

[GAHorn]

Come to think of it my flex lines might have run back over the axle and up the gear leg.

One of the things I need to get to is replacing the flexible brake lines associated with the Goodyear crosswind gear on my plane now. These things need to be long because the whole wheel rotates and they tend to hang low to the ground.

Alzheimer's Association: http://www.alz.org/

If you can remember it... .... next time you go to the airport, can you take pics of the Crosswind gear and post them here under a new thread?

[cessna170bdriver]

If you can remember it... .... next time you go to the airport, can you take pics of the Crosswind gear and post them here under a new thread?

I have some old snapshots of the crosswind gear installation on my airplane the day I bought it. If it would be of any help to anyone, I can scan these and post. When I converted to Clevelands, I didn't want to replace the hoses, so I mounted the calipers forward to use up the length. I'd guess that most of the speed penalty for having that loop out in the breeze is on the right-hand side of the decimal point. I've looked and don't have any photos of my Cleveland install, but I can take care of that with a trip to the airport.

[ronjenx]

If you can remember it... .... next time you go to the airport, can you take pics of the Crosswind gear and post them here under a new thread?

I have some old snapshots of the crosswind gear installation on my airplane the day I bought it. If it would be of any help to anyone, I can scan these and post. When I converted to Clevelands, I didn't want to replace the hoses, so I mounted the calipers forward to use up the length. I'd guess that most of the speed penalty for having that loop out in the breeze is on the right-hand side of the decimal point. I've looked and don't have any photos of my Cleveland install, but I can take care of that with a trip to the airport.

Please do.

[GAHorn]

I wasn't suggesting streamlining the line was going to give a noticeable change in speed, I was only suggesting that would be a good measure of a clean installation. But I guess we could also just leave old antennas installed, and forget about fairings, and cleaning/waxing and all those other unnecessary draggy things too, after all, it's only a square-of-velocity penalty. (Green airplanes might not benefit anyway.)

When I bought my 170 it's brakelines drooped down toward the ground and then made a 90-degree bend outward to the caliper. )see the pic below..look at the left brakeline contrasted against the dead grass.) It was UHG-GUH-LEY. And the drooping brakelines posed a hazard on turf strips as the flexible line could be hit by high grass and pull the soft aluminum tubing out of position (it being held only by the spring-clip to the gearleg.)

click to ENLARGE then click on pic again to ENLARGE AGAIN